For the last 20 years the U.S Justice System has been undergoing a major expansion. Currently, there are 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States, 1 million of them being African American males. 1 out of every 4 black men will go to jail in their lifetime and black men are 6 times more likely to be convicted than a white man. These racial disparities in the criminal justice system only solidify the stereotypes of black men being some type of “boogie man”. The large, dangerous, loud, gun-wielding, gang-banging, menace to society type that everyone should fear and despise. In Richard Wright’s Native son , Bigger is typecast as this threat to society, however, in reality he is nothing but a product of his environment and society's views that are thrust upon him.
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But in actuality Bigger Thomas was nothing more than a product of his rat-infested, run-down environment. Living in a foul one-bedroom apartment, forced to single handedly take care of his family at such a young age. He is full of resentment of how he lives. However, when Bigger begins working for the Dalton’s we see another stereotype of black men,“He has, infact, been close to docile, stereotypical black character found in plantation literature afraid to look a white person in the face” (qtd. Bryant 264).
Similar to reality, to most there are two stereotypes of black men that people like to point out, the ruffian, that is often involved with gangs, drugs and in and out of jail. And on the other hand, you have the compliant, obedient, Uncle Tom type of black person. To provide a clearer example, in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird .Tom Robinson is seen as a stereotypical violent black man, when he is actually the more docile and subservient
But in actuality Bigger Thomas was nothing more than a product of his rat-infested, run-down environment. Living in a foul one-bedroom apartment, forced to single handedly take care of his family at such a young age. He is full of resentment of how he lives. However, when Bigger begins working for the Dalton’s we see another stereotype of black men,“He has, infact, been close to docile, stereotypical black character found in plantation literature afraid to look a white person in the face” (qtd. Bryant 264).
Similar to reality, to most there are two stereotypes of black men that people like to point out, the ruffian, that is often involved with gangs, drugs and in and out of jail. And on the other hand, you have the compliant, obedient, Uncle Tom type of black person. To provide a clearer example, in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird .Tom Robinson is seen as a stereotypical violent black man, when he is actually the more docile and subservient