The Evolution of Racism and Prejudice as Depicted in Black Boy. those horrible, violent and demeaning acts actually mold him into a better and more

Transcription

1 The Evolution of Racism and Prejudice as Depicted in Black Boy How does Wright change in response to the racism that is shown towards him? Did all of those horrible, violent and demeaning acts actually mold him into a better and more understanding person? The book, Black Boy, is steeped in the idea of racism. Even the title delivers a punch with its blunt implications. Wright is not afraid to say that he is a literally a Black Boy ; instead of using more politically correct terms such as African-American or colored, he just comes right out with it. The early part of the book is mostly set in Jim Crow Jackson, Mississippi and although Wright moves many times, to Mississippi, Arkansas and finally New York, he finds that racism is prevalent everywhere, not just in peoples actions, but also attitudes. However, throughout the story, Wright himself changes as a response to the prejudices he encounters, finally becoming a mature and free adult. Some literary devices are used to help display the changing effect of racism on Wright s life including: first-person narration, word choice, and the use of compare and contrast, along with others. The young Richard is naïve in the knowledge of relations between blacks and whites. Though I had long known that there were people called white people, it had never meant anything to me emotionally, (Wright, p. 23). This is, of course, before he is aware that racism actually played a huge role in his life; it s subtle and he hasn t yet directly encountered it. He often poses innocent questions to his mother who rebuffs him violently, the standard response of loving mothers to anything white-related. One time, he hears of a white man beating a black boy and thinks it understandable because he just assumes that they are father and son. When his mother corrects that misunderstanding, Wright is very confused. I brooded for a long time about the seemingly causeless beating of the black boy by the white man and the more questions I asked, the more bewildering it all became, (Wright, p. 24). However, he still does not know

2 how to act around the puzzling mystery of white people. The first-person narration is important to make sure the people reading it can experience the emotions and nuances firsthand. We, as readers, see things through the eyes of a 5 or 6 year-old Richard who is so baffled by this quandary of the relationships of blacks and whites that his mind is completely dominated by this question. As Richard begins to grow older, he learns to hate white people even while fearing them. Meanwhile, the young white children have also been taught to hate those subhuman blacks, understood to be little better than creatures. Perhaps it is this mutual hate and fear that leads to the violent encounters. We were now large enough for the white boys to fear us and both of us, the white boys and the black boys, began to play our traditional racial roles as though we were being guided by instinct, (Wright, p. 83). Reading between the lines, the word choices in this sentence imply that the adult Wright, reflecting back on his childhood, no longer hates the whites. Instead, he knows it is not their fault for acting this way. They were simply born and bred to continue on the racist tradition of many generations. This passage hints at the later maturity and forgiveness, but for now, Richard is only a little boy, just beginning to learn that blacks and whites have different parts to play in the world that they live in. This realization intensifies even more when he travels to Memphis, Tennessee, and takes a job at an optical company running errands and washing eyeglasses. He meets another black boy named Shorty who is in fact intelligent and sensible but in the presence of whites, he would play the role of a clown of the most debased and degraded type, (Wright, p. 227). The whites enjoyed it when Shorty clowned about and even begged for money, allowing them to kick his bottom in return. However, they are suspicious of Richard, who never allows his dignity to be lowered to that standard (begging and stealing), even though he too tries his best to play the part

3 of a stupid black boy, once referred to as that nigger-being-a-good-natured-boy-in-the-presenceof-a-white-man pattern (Wright, p. 234). Wright contrasts himself to other black boys who let their fingers stick to everything they touch and don t really know their own self-worth. When Richard moves to New York, he is at first disappointed that it doesn t seem as grand as his expectations of it were. My first glimpse of the flat black stretches of Chicago depressed and dismayed me, mocked all my fantasies, (Wright, p. 261). However, he notices that there are no for white or for colored signs that dictate the separation of the races as in the South. He contemplates these differences, such as a white man voluntarily sitting by him in the streetcar, while still intuitively feeling that all whites are still prejudiced and even going as far to project the racism onto them even when no such thing existed. Only one answer came to my mind. I was black and she did not care It was not until I had left the delicatessen job that I saw how grossly I had misread the motives and attitudes of Mr. Hoffman and his wife, (Wright, p ). Richard continues to contrast his current situation with how he s lived his whole in the South. Humans are generally creatures of habit and, in this case, Wright is no different. He takes a long time to come to terms with the new environment. Though I had fled the pressures of the South, my outward conduct had not changed. I had been schooled to present an unfalteringly smiling face and I continued to do so despite the fact that my environment allowed more open expression, (Wright, p. 273). Richard continues to explore this new North, getting a new job in a prestigious medical research institute. He then finds that, even though attitudes in the North are better, everything is still not all rosy. He witnesses separation in the lines of white and black nurses and the distance between his own job as an animal caretaker versus the white doctors and researchers. Never had I felt so much the slave as when I scoured those steps each afternoon The white people still plopped

4 their feet down into the dirty water and muddied the other clean steps, (Wright, p. 307). Although there isn t as much racism displayed in the North, there is still the inherent unthinking negative attitude towards Negroes. That would take much more time and effort to be completely eradicated, as though it were a contagious disease that spread easily and had no cure. Later on, Richard would find that racial hate could really be abolished as seen in the Communist Party he joins but there are always other adversaries that stand in the way of complete acceptance by other people. I had fled men who did not like the color of my skin, and now I was among men who did not like the tone of my thoughts, (Wright, p. 369). He specifically chooses to compare the words color and tone which are practically synonyms to emphasize his situation. Basically, he s saying that he s out of the pot and into the fire. However, Wright does not lose hope even with this disconcerting realization and continues to fight using his chosen method, writing. I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to fight, to create a sense of the hunger for life that gnaws in us all, to keep alive in our hearts the sense of the inexpressibly human, (Wright, p. 384). It is important to understand that not all of these events happened exactly the way they are told to Wright himself, but instead, he uses this book as a shout to the world for all the black boys living in America during that period. He is careful to show how the numerous encounters with whites could and did just happen to anybody who was black. Also, remembering that Wright is writing this story as an adult reflecting upon his childhood makes it easier to understand certain exaggerations and also some omissions. This book is not just an autobiography; it is an account of the racial prejudice that permeated and changed his life. It is

5 both fiction and nonfiction and is invaluable in the way it can be generalized to any black boy living in America at the time.

6 Bibliography Wright, Richard. Black Boy. Classic. 1. New York, NY: HarperCollins, Print.