Richard Wright's Black Boy as a Catalyst to End Racism Essay

Ever since the humans have been separated into different ethnic groups racism has existed on Earth. The idea of racism has existed since the beginning of time but today racism is not as prominent as it once was but it still lives. Racism is kept alive through microaggressions or the eununciating of an offensive and racist comment. During the Great Depression, racism was in its prime, Harper Lee’s renown novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, brings the ideology of racism to light. Throughout the novel, Lee delivers a powerful message on the topic of racism which is the white community’s racist mindsets about black people has caused colored people to be unjustly tried in court, be dehumanized, and receive unnecessary hostility constantly by the white

The Shadow of Hate helps illustrate the evergoing history of racism that is portrayed within the United States. It emphasizes that since the beginning of United States history to the present day, racism still remains a critical topic that many individuals need to be informed about. While this film talks about racism in the United States as a whole, it goes deeper in pinpointing specific racial groups that received the cruelest treatment throughout U.S. history. Once finishing the film, I found myself mesmerized by the fascinating stories and clear depiction on how the severity of racism has had an impact on the past as well as how it will influence the future. It truly shows that racism is still prominent in society, considering people from the past condoned to this type of behavior. When finding the points made throughout the film, I was able to categorize them and look at them through all three sociological perspectives- the interactionist, the functionalist, and the conflict paradigms-to understand the deeper meaning behind them.

“The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.” US Representative, John Lewis said this in his return to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial he spoke on 54 years ago, during the March on Washington. Racism has been around since the beginning of time, but it is not human nature. Racism is something that is taught, and given the amount of time that has passed since To Kill A Mockingbird and the March on Washington, one would think that racism wouldn’t be a serious issue any more. Although race relations have improved along with other social issues from the time of To Kill Mockingbird, racism and discrimination are major problems in today’s society.

In Richard Wright’s novel, Black Boy, Richard is struggling to survive in a racist environment in the South. In his youth, Richard is vaguely aware of the differences between blacks and whites. He scarcely notices if a person is black or white, and views all people equally. As Richard grows older, he becomes more and more aware of how whites treat blacks, the social differences between the races, and how he is expected to act when in the presence of white people. Richard, with a rebellious nature, finds that he is torn between his need to be treated respectfully, with dignity and as an individual with value and his need to conform to the white rules of society for survival and acceptance.

Throughout the book, Richard shows ignorance when it comes to race issues. He often doesn't know how to respond or act when he is being harassed about his race. This ignorance comes from his family refusing to tell him about what was happening in the world when he was a child. At one point, his mother even slapped him for asking about why there was segregation and about why his grandmother is “white” (46-48). These events and actions in his youth would lead to him being ignorant of these issues in his adulthood, which would lead to Richard being isolated from both the black and the white communities. First, one example of his separation from the black community is when Richard refuses to steal from white people. “More than once I had been called a ‘dumb nigger’ by black boys who discovered that I had not availed myself of a chance to snatch some petty piece of white property that had been carelessly left within my reach”(199). The other boys call Richard out because he refuses to steal. He does this because he was raised not to steal from white people while the other boys were raised to take advantage of their position in life and use it to their advantage. This gap between knowledge of how one should act leads to Richard being isolated from the other boys and others in the black community. Likewise, Richard ignorance of race issues leads to a rift between him and the white community.

Desires of all types plague the human mind constantly. Certain desires are obvious and necessary, such as food and water. Others are more unique to humanity, such as education, respect, and love. When something or someone seems to stand in the way of an important yearning, desire becomes hunger. Over the course of world history, minorities have been repeatedly denied some of their most basic desires. An example would be the treatment of African-Americans in the United States until the later twentieth century. In Black Boy, Richard Wright characterizes his own multi-faceted hunger that drove his life in rebellion throughout the novel.

Throughout American history, relationships between racial and ethnic groups have been marked by antagonism, inequality, and violence. In today’s complex and fast-paced society, historians, social theorists and anthropologists have been known to devote significant amounts of time examining and interrogating not only the interior climate of the institutions that shape human behavior and personalities, but also relations between race and culture. It is difficult to tolerate the notion; America has won its victory over racism. Even though many maintain America is a “color blind nation,” racism and racial conflict remain to be prevalent in the social fabric of American institutions. As a result, one may question if issues and challenges

This change in racism is why both authors stress the need to understand the very specific brand of American racism as it changes throughout time. Looking backwards and forwards in time proves to be an integral method of displaying the concerns of history as it pertains to the future.

The idea of racism has evolved and has become less prevalent throughout the last century. Schools and public areas are unsegregated, voting rights, racial slurs being considered as unacceptable behavior etc. American sociologist and race theorist, Howard Winant states that’s “The ensuing approaches increased recognition of racial injustice and inequality, but did not overcome the discriminatory processes” (Winant,2000)Although the United states has come a long way to try to end racism, one cannot ignore the fact that it still exists. It is something that may seem invisible in society, but everybody knows that it still thrives and that it’s racial attitudes affect the way our society functions. One of these invisible forms of

to critically discuss the history of race relations and what that history means today is quite the task. Here, there are two levels of racism white people must examine: a) personal racism, and b) structural racism. The first level, personal racism, is the easiest to discuss, critique and change. On an individual level, it's simple to rectify peoples' views and behaviors. On an institutional level, the processes are much more complicated and challenging. Without doubt, a combination of popular education, symbolic actions, creative enterprises, direct action campaigns, alternative electoral parties and civil disobedience will be necessary. Anti-racist organizing also requires an infrastructure. At the same time, the Left is broke. Thus there are few material resources for such endeavors. Until this dynamic is rectified, antiracist movements will continue to fluctuate, as there is simply no permanent infrastructure available to address, challenge and dismantle institutional

Richard Wright’s memoir Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth recounts the author’s personal experience growing up as an African American male in the Jim Crow South, as well as his initial years in the North in the late 1920s. While it is a personal account of one man’s life in this time period, Wright’s memoir also sheds light on the broader role of black men in American society in the early twentieth century, particularly with respect to race, gender, and class relations. By no accident, insight on these relations can be gleaned from the title of Wright’s memoir itself. I argue that Wright chose the provocative title Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth in order to both utilize shock

     Richard Wright's novel Black Boy is not only a story about one man's struggle to find freedom and intellectual happiness, it is a story about his discovery of language's inherent strengths and weaknesses. And the ways in which its power can separate one soul from another and one class from another. Throughout the novel, he moves from fear to respect, to abuse, to fear of language in a cycle of education which might be likened to a tumultuous love affair.

keep your mouth shut or the white folks Ôll get you too." As a teenager Wright

The United States is the most racially diverse nation in world history. The United States draws its strength from this diversity. The contribution of individuals of every race, ethnicity, religion and socio-economic background has built America into the world’s most powerful nation. And, yet, racial, ethnic and socio-economic strife that derives from misunderstanding and ignorance remains the nation’s most intractable problem. As a result, demagogues, nationalists, and other bigoted individuals and organizations are able to exploit this misunderstanding to promote hate-filled, exclusionary, and repressive policies and agendas. This cycle repeats itself during each national election cycle, and can be seen as the basis for the rise of groups

The emergence of fascism during the early 20th century provides people of today with several lessons to prevent a similar example of this kind of racial discrimination from ever happening again in the future. Indeed, understanding how the ideology of fascism emerged while comprehending how that period of history has contributed to the modern world is important to people to today because it can help to prevent oppressive or tyrannical extremist nationalist regimes from becoming more prominent in the 21st