Question

in this excerpt, taylor describes her childhood visits to mississippi and the segregation she experienced there. all of the laws that enforced racial segregation from the end of reconstruction in 1877 through the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950s were known as jim crow laws. these laws affected almost every aspect of daily life.
on those trips back to the south, which was still home to us, trips back to mississippi, i experienced segregation first - hand. i experienced not being able to try on clothes in department stores. i experienced not being waited on by store clerks until all white customers had been waited on. i experienced being told to go to the back door of ice - cream parlors, just to get an ice - cream cone. i experienced derogatory1 racist remarks because i am black, and i experienced the signs. signs that read white only, colored not allowed. signs on hotel windows, signs on restroom doors, signs on restaurant windows, signs above water fountains. signs, signs, everywhere. white only, colored not allowed. they hurt my soul. despite all that, when i was a child and my family made those trips to mississippi, i still had a love for the south. there was the south of racism and bigotry2, but there was also the south of family and community and history, which filled me with pride.
1derogatory: expressing a low opinion or showing a lack of respect
2bigotry: the treatment of a group with hatred and intolerance

1. turn and talk: how might taylor have drawn on her own experiences in the south when writing this scene from cassies perspective?

Explanation:

Taylor likely drew on her personal experiences of racial - segregation in the South, such as being mistreated in stores and seeing discriminatory signs. These firsthand experiences would have helped her vividly portray Cassie's perspective, capturing the emotional pain and the complex feelings towards the South.

Answer:

Taylor could have used her own experiences of not being waited on in stores, being told to use back - doors, and seeing "White Only" signs to write from Cassie's perspective, conveying the hurt and the complex relationship with the South.