Racism In The Black Boy By Richard Wright

The Jim Crow Laws were a major part of American life for a very large portion of our relatively short history. The laws, which were finally abolished in the 1960s, enforced legalized segregation nationwide. From public transit to dining, as well as public restrooms and everything in between, the stretch of the Jim Crow Laws affected every aspect of our society. For example, it was illegal in South Carolina to serve food to whites and blacks in the same room (sourcethis). While the complete and total racism experienced during the times of the Jim Crow Laws is not entire prevalent, there are plenty of different aspects of it lingering in our society today. With the recent public outcry against police brutality, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the racial intolerances of the …show more content…
In 1946, Richard Wright officially became an expatriate (one who lives outside of his native country). While nobody could be blamed for their desire to leave after living through the inhumanity that was the Southern United States during the first half of the twentieth century, Wright’s reasoning was not that of escape. In his novel Black Boy, the author wrote of his reasons for leaving the United States: “I was not leaving the south to forget the south, but so that some day I might understand it” (source this). Even for someone who had to endure the atrocities first-hand, Wright understood that the only way to move on from something terrible is to embrace the fact that it happened. We must take his stance as well, regardless of our personal opinions on the matters. It would be foolish to expect racism to completely end, as there are plenty of people who were simply raised to be racially intolerant. We do have the power to learn from our mistakes of the past and move toward a future where racial intolerance and cruelty is no longer a template for the front page of every newspaper in the