I enjoyed reading "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" by Richard Wright because it was simple, direct, and had a real sense of purpose. Although, reading about the segregation system in the south upset me. It was hard for me to read about how unfair people of color were treated even though they worked so hard and were very kind. Throughout the reading, it seemed to me that Richard was trying to make the best out of what he had. In the beginning on page 548, Richard said, " Nothing green ever grew in that yard. The only touch of green we could see was far away, beyond the tracks, over where the white folks lived. But cinders were good enough for me." The simple things made him happy. When Richard and his friends got into a fight with a few white kids and Richard became injured, I couldn't believe how his mother treated him. She was outraged for him getting into a fight with the white kids and even beat him. There was no sympathy for Richard, and I think that's what he wanted. I do understand that Richards mother was trying to protect him from white people, which is why she acted like that, but I think a little sympathy and love would have been good. Maybe they could have talked about it instead of his mother using verbal and physical abuse. He had already been through enough.
As I continued to read this story, I made a connection with Frederick Douglass. Richard Wright reminded me of him. Wright had the same drive that Douglass had, which was the desire of learning a trade. They both also went through many hard times while they were growing up, and both wanted to do things that society wouldn't allow them to do. I also thought they were both very clever and smart because they knew what to do in difficult situations. The way that Frederick learned from the white children, and the way that Wright acted in the elevator towards the white man taking his hat off for him are examples of both of them being smart and clever.
Richard Wright learned so many valuable life lessons at all of his jobs. He learned to do only what he was hired for, not to ask to learn anything new, and to mind his own business, paying no attention to whats going on around him. He had to learn the hard way at his first job. Pease and Morrie seemed to like Richard at first and they all seemed to talk a lot together. But once Richard asked them if he could learn a new trade things changed. Pease and Morrie became very upset with Richards request, and they changed towards him. They no longer talked to him anymore, and became very cruel towards Richard. They both soon drove Richard out of the job by giving him no choice but to leave, in less he wanted to get hurt very badly. On page 551 Richard said, "If I had said: No, sir, Mr. Pease, I never called you Pease, I would have been automatically calling Morrie a liar. And if I had said: Yes, sir, Mr. Pease, I called you Pease, I would have been pleading guilty to having uttered the worst insult that a Negro can utter to a southern white man." It's obvious that both men made this up to drive Richard out. This was all about power, and Pease and Morrie didn't want Richard to learn a trade because they didn't want him to be equal to them. This imbalance of power happened a lot in this reading.
Race mixing also happened in this reading like it did in Douglass (554). The bellboy was forced to marry one of the maids because he was accused of sleeping with her and getting her pregnant, but when the baby came it was light. I believe that the bellboy never slept with her, he even denied it. I think a white man slept with the maid and got her pregnant, then it was covered up by forcing the bellboy to marry with her. The white men also had a joke about this, "some white cow must have scared the poor girl while she was carrying the baby." I still don't understand what that means, but I do know that they were making fun of the situation because her baby came out white. The white men had so much control and power over black people, and it is played out throughout this entire reading.
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3 comments:
You would think that the white people would be willing to teach Richard Wright or any black man something new. Back then (and to some point today) blacks are stereotyped as being dumb or slow. For Richard Wright and Frederick Douglass to show some initiative and want to learn proves that they are trying to better themselves.
Even though we are at the point where slavery has ended, have things gotten that much better for black people? Their work conditions didn't improve all that much. Although their housing did improve quite a bit, it wasn't nearly as nice as what the white people had. What happened to separate but equal?
Even though the black people were granted freedom, they didn't enjoy much of it. Richard was the subject of intimidation from a very early age: the white boys through glass at him, causing an injury, and Pease and Morrie intimidated him at work.
I agree that Richard was able to handle himself quite well in these awkward situations. He was very observant in that he learned from previous experiences.
I agree with what you have to say about the levels of power and imbalance between the whites and the black people. i think it is a said attempt at them trying to gain control over them like they had during slavery. its a protection of the past and what the whites had, a theme that can be seen in many pieces we have read. control is a big player in many of the actions made by the white people on the black people. just like in frederick douglass when he experienced forms of social, and hierachical control. they gave them poor sleeping qaurters and wipped them for no reason. and in the ethics of living jim crow they beat them for no reason to push that power and control that they are ever so steadily loosing.
I agree that this reading was quite shocking. I was also able to see connections between Wright and Douglass, I think that is because these were 2 writers that were being segregated against, they were the ones who were treated so unfairly. It's a point of view that we aren't often given an opportunity to see. I also though that it was sad that when Wright was injured his mom yelled at him for getting beat up. I think though that Wright wanted readers to understand that it really was a learning process and like almost everything, we are first taught by our parents.
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