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  • Essay / American Oppression in Black Boy Essays by Wright Black Boy

    American Oppression in Black Boy Growing up as a Negro in the South in the early 1900s is not so easy, as some people tend to suffer different forms of oppression. In this case, it happens in the autobiography called Black Boy written by Richard Wright. The novel is set in the early 1900s, somewhere in the Jim Crow Deep South. Richard Wright, who is obviously the main character, is also the protagonist. The antagonist is not a specific person, as he takes many different forms called "oppression" in general. The main character overcomes this “oppression” by rebelling against the common roles of black Jim Crow society. Richard Wright's character was affected from his early childhood by the effects of societal oppression, but he became a great American author despite these negative factors in his life. Today, everyone faces some form of oppression. One of the forms that Richard faces is called societal oppression. For example, after seeing a “black” boy whipped by a “white” man, Richard asks his mother why the incident happened. His mother says, “The ‘white’ man didn’t whip the ‘black’ boy… He beat the ‘black’ boy” (31). This quote shows racism, which is society's way of keeping Richard Wright and all other black people in the South down. Another example is when he is at the station with his mother, and while they are waiting for the train, he sees something he has never seen: "...for the first time, I noticed that there were two lines of people at the station. at the counter, a “white” line and a “black” line” (55). This excerpt demonstrates how this scene of Jim Crow laws keeps a certain group of people apart, which is also another form of societal oppression. Societal oppression occurs again when Richard is "hanging out" with his friends and their conversation leads to the topic of war. One of his friends really gets into the subject and says, "'Yeah, they send you to war, make you lick those Germans, teach you to fight and when you come back, they're afraid of you'" (90). This quote means that "white people" put "black people" on the front lines to defend our country, and when they come back, they cannot accept them, so they oppress them in different ways, which is societal oppression. The last example occurs when Richard wants to borrow a library card and therefore thinks to ask his boss. After thinking about it for a while, he knew he couldn't ask him, because he knows the boss is a Caucasian Baptist, and Richard thinks he wouldn't be able to accept the fact that a "black" boy », like Richard, would like to read and cultivate his intelligence. This would be considered societal oppression, as he knows that his boss does not want Richard to be enlightened by books, which keeps him away from the light of knowledge. These are examples of societal oppression that Richard Wright overcomes and reaches the top alone. Internalized oppression is a difficult thing to overcome. One of the ways that Richard Wright encounters internalized oppression is when he sees a "black" boy being beaten by a "white" man, then he automatically thinks that the "white" man is the father of the boy. "...Didn't all fathers, like my father, have the right to beat their children? A paternal right was the only right, in my opinion..." (31). This excerpt shows internalized oppression because he thinks it is okay for a parent to mistreat their child, which makes the child believe that beating a child is okay and only a parent can beat them. Another..