Bob Jones's View On Racism

Bob Jones View on Racism 1. For Bob, Life in the US is a struggle for minorities - Bob’s view on racial discrimination in the US is one of his greatest struggles, but it is opposite to the belief of Alice, she can easily cope with the changes in the society where she grew up. The differences in their belief are because of their upbringing; Bob is from Ohio, while Alice is born in Los Angeles, California. Because of Bob’s struggle, he often thought that he is in trouble “living every day scared, walled-in, locked up, I didn’t feel like fighting anymore” (Himes, 4); he often compared himself to white men. He worked in the yard as a mechanic and every time there are white leaders, Bob felt so tight inside and the only place he felt safe was in bed asleep, he was scared to tell anyone, every day he need to hide his fear. This inner struggle keeps the feeling of dying every minute to fight for life; he kept on wondering why, “everything I do or say seems wrong” (Himes, 166). 2. Bob actively resist racism – Bob has too much hatred in white people even if he says, “I could not make it if I knew that unless I found a niche and crawled into it” he …show more content…
Bob get even with white American race; he face racism as a major issue - There are several instances in the novel that Bob also tried to scare and humiliate white men and women to take revenge, for example during the dice game, he felt relief and powerful if he is in control of the game that makes all the differences in his life if he sees that they have no chance to win a game. But when the white man insulted him about his winnings, he kicked and snapped the guy who scolded him and called him nigger, he lose his tolerant instantly when confronted with white men and he often tried to reassure his power and masculinity to any other guy just to prove his worthy image (Himes, 181). Bob also tried to murder a co-worker in the shipyard who called him a nigger, saying that I’d kill Johnny Stoddart and let him hang there for