Black Boy
Black Boy by Richard Wright is an autobiography of a young black boy growing up in the South in the 1920s. ... During Richard’s first encounters with racism he hears that a “black” boy was beaten by a “white” man. It never occurs to Richard that anyone other then a boy’s father has the right to beat him. This is his first exposure to the racist atmosphere in the South where it is acceptable for a white man to beat a black boy, or even a black man. ... When approached by a white police officer, Richard recalls the story of the white man beating the black boy and fears the same will happen to him. ... This is one of Richard’s first tastes of the futility of aspiring to become something in the South if you are black. ... The summer before Richard enters the 8th grade, he takes a job as a water boy in a brickyard. ... ” (180) This demonstrates the extreme disregard white people in the south had for the welfare of black people. ... Olin, and the white employees of a competing optical shop try to instigate a fight between Richard and the black employee in the other shop, Harrison.