Black Boyssssss

After reading Black Boy chapter 15, I picked one of the parenthetical quotes (yeah yall like that word don't it?) on page 272. It's a rather long passage so I am only going to quote the parts of it that I want to talk about. When talking about how he feels that in order for white Americans to understand the Negro's problem, that it would take a much tougher America. The whites during this time were too fixated in color hate, that change was too complex a situation for it. Then Richard says, "culturally the Negroe represents a paradox: Though he is an organic part of the nation, he is excluded by the entire tide and direction of American culture". This comment here made me think of when Richard had first arrived in Chicago and he worked for the immigrant couple as a porter. I believe the couple had a pretty decent business, meaning that it brought in a decent amount of income, and Richard comments then about how he was born in America, therefore a part of it, but he is still at the bottom most rung in society compared to immigrants who aren't even from this country. They were allowed to have their own business operating a store, and live in a neighborhood that Richard wasn't even allowed in. I think that goes back to what he was saying about America, that they are so fixated on their color hate, that they won't even let their own natives live and prosper.

The End of Part One

After reading the end of part one of Black Boy, I felt that Richard made a very smart move by making the decision to move to Chicago. The South would never suit someone like Richard because it would be, for a long time, harder for blacks to live there. Though the North wasn't all peaches and cream during that time, because they had a lot of prejudices towards blacks as well, the people there wouldn't be as violent towards Richard and his family. It would be easier to start a life there. Another reason the South would never be suitable for Richard because he had too creative of a mind. In a southern world where blacks were only supposed to be subservient, kiss ass, and act unnatural, would be too much for Richard to handle after a while. Just like the boxing incident, where Richard's white co-workers set he and Harrison up to fight, Richard wouldn't be able to do that forever. After that fight he felt angry at himself and at the whites, and I don't think he would have been able to handle that after a time. Because as all these incidents build up where the whites are causing him to have these suspicions against his own race, and basically wanting him to do what they want, Richard wouldn't be able to live with himself. He needed to be able to pursue his dreams of becoming a writer.

Black Boy Capítulo diez

Richard's moral dilemma is that he is against stealing because he has always believed it to be wrong, and even when he was going hungry and hadn't had food in days, he wouldn't steal. But at this point in the book he's itching to get out of the South and get to the North because he's afraid for his own life. He knows that he can't continue to live the way he's living, because if he does, then he could get himself killed. He's making some money bringing liquor to prostitutes, but he could be making more stealing and this could speed his flight plan up. I think the question we're supposed to blog about is a really difficult one. I'm holding two contradictory ideas in my head. I believe that stealing is wrong, and I agree with how Wright felt about selling those tickets. He thought that it was not morally right. But at the same time desperation makes people do crazy things, I've never been hungry like he has, or gone through racial persecution in the same way he had, so I'm not sure what I would. Like now when I haven't eaten all morning i'm pretty much dying, so if I was in his situation I would probably have stolen already. And I think that would have been okay. The white people during this time in the South weren't ever going to give blacks a handout if they asked for it, there wasn't really anyway that Wright could have gotten the money in the same amount of time that he needed it. Basically it was either, he get the money and leave or he be killed. And I think when it boils down to it, that Wright is justified for stealing. He didn't do it just for fun or being rebellious or greedy, but he did it because he had to. Him stealing wasn't going to hinder the white man like the black man was already hindered. They could easily make more money and replace what was lost in a short amount of time.

Black Boy Capítulo nueve

Griggs and Richard were having a conversation about Griggs getting Richard a job. Griggs said that he knew of a job, but that he didn't know if Richard could handle it because of the way he acted towards white people. Griggs said that Richard needed to learn how to live in the South. I think that what Griggs is saying is that Richard needed to learn to subdue himself to whites. He couldn't go around thinking that they were equals. He wanted Richard to realize that being black in the South was very very dangerous and that if he didn't straighten up his act then he would get himself killed. To live in the South meant that Richard had to get out of white people's way, to always say yes sir/no sir or yes ma'am/ no ma'am, and to act like he was always conscious that he was and would always be more inferior to them. Griggs said that living in the south meant that you had to think before you said, or committed any action in the presence of white people.

Black Boy Capítulo ocho

After reading chapter 8 of Black Boy, I think that Richard Wright was completely justified in refusing to say his speech. When the principle presented the idea to Wright that he wrote a speech for him to orate at graduation, Wright had every reason to refuse. He was asked to create a speech which not only took up his time, but made him think about what exactly he wanted to say and use up his energy imaginatively. Wright didn't have to impress anyone, not even if they were white. How much more stupid or inferior could they think he was even if his speech was bad? Though the superintendent who came to the graduation might have thought that the speech from the valedictorian reflected the school, even if the school was topnotch he wouldn't have viewed it any differently than he already had because it was ran by a black man. I think Wright, like in previous instances, was fed up with people trying to tell him how he was going to do things, or how they wanted him to do things. I think Wright said something really important. He made the point that he was chosen to be valedictorian and the students wanted to hear what he had to say; what he was feeling. He wanted to do the right thing, and not be bought over by anyone.

Black Boy Capítulo seis

In the sixth chapter of Black Boy, Richard Wright becomes angry at his Uncle Tom. After Wright's grandpa dies, his family needs money, and so they need people to rent out some rooms in their house. They invite Uncle Tom's family to come live with them. One morning Uncle Tom awakens Richard and asks him for the time. Richard replies by stating the time. Uncle Tom asks him if that time was correct that he had and Richard says that it may be a little slow or fast, but for the most part it's around the right time. Uncle Tom then becomes angry because he thinks Richard's response was sassy. He then preceded to whip Richard, but Richard doesn't allow him to because he grabs two razor blades and threatens Uncle Tom. The main reason that Wright is pissed at his uncle is because he's tired of always getting beaten and hit for things that he does or says that aren't actually disrespectful. He wasn't about to get beaten by a man who, until that point, been in his life. Richard earned his own money, paid for most of his meals, and basically was an independent; he hadn't had any support from this man who was but a stranger to him.