The projection of racism in Richard Wright's Black Boy

Racism is a prominent theme in the Black American Literature. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate racism in the novel Black Boy by Richard Wright through examining ways of racial discrimination against black community during the times when the Jim Crow Laws were implemented. According to the Constitution of the United States of America, everyone is born with equal rights. However, the term 'equality' was non-existent or irrelevant in the states of Southern America. Black Boy narrates the life, struggles and eventual triumph of a young, destitute Black Boy growing up in the unruly state of Mississippi under the appalling legislations of the Jim Crow Laws. There, the Jim Crow Laws were unanimously being amended and forced upon the inhabitants of those states. The black community was very harshly treated during those times. Even innocuous incidents, like looking at a white person in the eye were punishable by law. Racial discrimination and hatred for the blacks were at their peak in the early 1900s. The punishments were very brutal and included forceful arrest, severe beating and mob-lynching. Many problems arose in the society from the unlawful persecution of the African-Americans. In his entire life, young Richard never paid any heed to the assumption of the white masters and he fought them with intellect, which he did when he moved to France where he led a rather peaceful life. The story in the novel Black Boy mainly recollects the life of Wright and more importantly his interactions with the whites, his neighbors and his own family who were scared and very pious during Jim Crow Era. Richard Wright and his contemporaries decided to denounce the flagrant discrimination by writing about it in their novels, essays and short stories. Their goal was to create awareness among the population about the harmful effects of this prejudice on the daily lives of the black community and also work together to solve those pressing issues. This study lays emphasis on issues such as violence which occurs abundantly in the novel Black Boy and on the poverty, lack of food and education, as well. The life that Richard Wright faced in his childhood and early adulthood was very traumatic. But due to his endless efforts, intelligence and desire to fight against injustice, he was able to achieve considerable success as a black despite living under the Jim Crow Laws. Keywords:Richard Wright, Black Boy, Racism, Jim Crow Laws, Black American Literature, Violence, Hunger and Alcohol.