The fight in Black Boy In the penultimate chapter of Black Boy, Richard participates in a very unusual way in a boxing match with Harrison, another employee of the "black boy". Although it seems unlikely at the start of the chapter, Richard eventually gives in to Harrison's demands to fight. The culture behind this fight is pretty obvious: white employers want to see black boys fight like a “dog or a rooster” for their entertainment. The ideology behind this event would therefore be the assumption of white men, like most members of the southern culture discussed in this book, that blacks are inferior to whites. This idea is not consciously implemented in the minds of employers, but it is an aspect of the culture that they take for granted. However, in the minds of Richard and Harrison, such a fight would be degrading. However, Harrison needs the money the white men offer him for the fight. For Harrison, it is not so much an ideology that influences his choice, but a need, that money is necessary to survive. For Richard, however, a deeper influence could push him to fight. Throughout chapter 12, Richard resists the idea of ​​combat. Even at the beginning, when the white men try to make him believe that Harrison wants to harm him, he is suspicious and intelligent enough not to be trapped. Later, when Harrison urges him to fight, Richard says, "I don't want to fight for white men." I am neither a dog nor a rooster. » » However, almost immediately afterwards, Richard accepted the fight. What caused this sudden change of heart? Maybe call them ideologies, but there is a combination of factors that drive Richard to fight. First, Richard feels a loyalty to Harrison as a colleague and fellow "black boy", as evidenced by Richard's narration: "Harrison and I knew each other casually, but there was never the slightest problem between us” and “Harrison I was black and so was I; I ignored the white man's warning and spoke face to face with a boy of my own color. "Secondly, the ideas that the employers sow in the minds of Richard and Harrison are seeds of doubt that both men can stifle for a while, but which eventually grow and flower. Richard tells us: "We were playing with the idea of ​​death without any reason that stemmed from our own life, but because the men who led us had pushed this idea into our minds” Perhaps, in these words, the fear of unemployment or, even worse, of. death at the hands of white men, also caused Richard to fight. In doing so, Richard felt that he had "done something impure for which I [he] could not properly atone." white men, Richard helped maintain the status quo of superior white society. This fight certainly maintains the status quo in Southern culture at that time Black submission to the white man was accepted and expected every day. by allowing himself to fight, Richard feels that he has not only let himself down, but also his entire dream. Throughout the book, Richard tries to change cultural norms, and by fighting Harrison, he has abandoned those norms, if only for a moment, and allowed himself to help the culture he is fighting for so hard to change. The cultures of black and white, in this scenario, are both in conflict and mutually supportive. It seems that black culture supports white culture, to the extent that black boys participate in fights organized by white men. However, these fights degrade at the same time.