The first line of this piece was in a way, sickening. The fact that Richard felt he needed to learn how to "live as a Negro." Growing up as a white kid in a white town, I only ever had to learn how to be a kid. As ignorant as that sounds, it's the truth for about 90 percent of the kids in AP Composition. We all just fit in where we grew up and we never really looked past that. This article opened the eyes of all of us and there is no denying it.
Throughout this story, it was apparent how much black people tolerated in these Jim Crow days. They tried to thrive and better themselves so they could be like the white people. When Richard was at his first job, he was treated pretty well for a black teenager. Once he felt comfortable in his job, he wanted to learn more and climb the ladder that has become called the "American Dream." People are denied their rights to climb the ladder day in, and day out, for various reasons. Nobody deserved to be denied this right the way Richard was. He was beaten and scarred for life after this incident. He never fully recovered from this traumatic event and never fully tried leaping up the ladder again. Richard continued to test boundaries when he hopped from job to job, but he either would get ran out of the job, or he would run away from it out of fear for his own safety. It's a tragedy that he couldn't follow some sort of dream.
When Richard was given a ride with the group of white boys on the outside of their car, he was hit in the face with that empty whiskey bottle. His elbows and shins were bleeding, and he was clearly dazed. It was clear that the white boys felt pity for him and felt that what they had done was wrong.
The problem with that was that everybody kept acting this way because that is the way it had always been. They knew no other way because that's how they were raised. These actions seems so primitive to us as we sit here looking back on some of the darkest times in our history. Just as we are being raised to be plugged into a wall at all times, they were raised to feel superior to black people. Obviously these are of two very different levels of severity, but they have the same concept. As wrong as it was, it took some major courage for people to stand up and end this misjustices. Though it took time, people came to their senses as best as they could, and things started changing.
I have to say that I like the way you put parts of your post into current terms, Jordan. Towards the end of the post you said, "Just as we are being raised to be plugged into a wall at all times, they were raised to feel superior to black people." This was a great analogy, and helps to show that the whites didn't even feel like they were doing anything wrong. Like you said they had grown up with Jim Crow Laws, and it would take some brave people to fight back against this "way of life".
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your concept of understanding the social stigma within Jim Crow. It's completely true that these white people were raised to be abusive towards blacks just as African Americans where beaten to understand their inferior position. The only thing that I disagree with you on is that "they tried to thrive and better themselves so they could be like white people". African Americans have grown to have a unique culture. Many times, when oppressed, the inferior find pride in who they are and become stronger in their identity. I don't think that blacks ever wanted to be like whites. They most accurately desired to be treated equal or at least handled well. To say they saw the complexion of their oppressors and envied them like super stars, may not be accurate. Especially when these skins are the ones that raped, murdered, and plundered their families. They probably wanted the rights and privileges associated to that skin color but not the skin.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up as a majority I definitely agree with you when you said that "we all just fit in where we grew up and we never really looked past that." This article brought to light that there are people who have to make an effort to fit in with where they live. The days of the Jim Crow laws were definitely dark times in our history, but we have grown a lot since then and hopefully we will continue to grow. I liked how you connected Richard's job experiences to the ladder of success and the "American Dream." Hope you enjoy what is left of your summer!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Jordan. There were many sickening parts of this story. I believe that Richard exhibited courage by continuing to challenge the limits with which he was given by the Jim Crow system. He finally decided to attack the abusive, harmful system through literature, and he swayed many people this way. It took safety in numbers in order for the demonstrators to survive, and even then they were harassed by mobs and were sprayed by fire hoses. The Jim Crow system was a nasty one, and I think Richard Wright contributed to his dream of making the world a better place and eliminating Jim Crow through his literature.
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