Picking Cotton: Our Memoir Of Injustice And Redemption

Given the themes of racism, and of a black man who is wronged by both the Southern justice system and a white person’s accusation, the word “cotton” has connotations of slavery. Slaves were used, abused, and robbed of their freedom by whites to pick cotton, a mainstay of Southern industry in the antebellum era. When Jennifer picks Cotton out of the lineup, she also takes away his freedom and places him in horrible circumstances that he cannot change. At the end of the book, when she says “Thank God I picked you” (281), and he agrees, it is an inversion, framing her choosing of him as the act that brought them into each other’s lives. 

While Ronald is incarcerated, he is committed to remaining peaceful and free most of the time. This is often framed as his reluctance to become another animal. The inmates are kept in cages likes beasts, and he believes this is one of the things that leads them to begin behaving like beasts. During the brief time when he has Judy the kitten, it is clear that even the kitten has more freedom than he does. Racist cops like Sullivan also make a point of demonstrating that they consider black men little better than animals, but are mere animals acting out their brutish natures.