Black Boy is an autobiography by Richard Wright, who grew up during a period of racism against blacks. He says "This is the culture from which I sprang. This is the culture from which I fled", referring to the way he was brought up to believe that everyone hated him, and his fear and anger toward white people.
Richard had an unstable home life and lived in many different places throughout his childhood. His father left, and his mother struggled to support him and his brother. Many of the people who he was forced to live with were not fond of him and it seemed that everyone hated him. He was beaten by numerous people in his youth including his father, his Aunt Addie, and grandmother. "For a moment she hesitated, then she struck me with the switch and I dodged and stumbled into a corner. She was upon me, lashing me across the face.
Sign for "colored" waiting room at a Greyhound bus...
Richard & Friend
the gang + Richard DawkinsI leaped, screaming, and ran past her and jerked open the kitchen drawer; it spilled to the floor with a thunderous sound. I grabbed the knife and held it ready for her."(page 126) This beating influenced violent brick-throwing fights in school, and angered him into threatening his Aunt Addie and Uncle Tom with knives. He was constantly put down by the people around him. "You are evil. You bring nothing but trouble!"(page 157) His aunt even led to believe that he was dead to her, his grandmother, and in the eyes of the church. He was also brought up to believe that whites were evil. "They kill us. They keep us from voting and getting good jobs"(page 154).
Richard's terror was the white people. He had heard numerous stories as a boy about the torturing and killing of blacks. He experienced many examples of...