The Ethics of Living Jim Crow by Richard Wright is an autobiographical sketch of life in the early twentieth century South. The examples that Wright chose seemed to be very interesting and unique: chosen as a way of portraying life under the Jim Crow system.
One thing that I noticed about the anecdotes that Wright chose was that the events were small and isolated and didn’t appear to be related to any larger struggle or event. The instance when Wright describes the actions of the storeowners against the black woman. When they took her into the back and beat her for presumably not paying her store bill, seemed almost significant based on the reactions of other blacks that Wright told this too. Relating this Wright, compares this incident to the struggles that he had at other jobs. But he doesn’t give the feeling that this is what everyone’s experiences entailed.
Wrights experiences seem to shock and disturb him. He at first is unable to believe that this is how people were being treated. But the reader gets the impression that the way that Wright feels at this time is the anomaly. Wright gives the impression that most people accept this treatment as ordinary. I was surprised by this sentiment. I would have thought that most blacks at this time would have been offended and outraged by these actions. But Wright gives the impression that this was accepted and tolerated by most blacks.
The biggest message that I got from Wright was this idea that the way in which blacks were treated was acceptable by most people in society. I think that Wright exposed the apathetic feelings of his own community.
5 comments:
I thought that it was interesting that in each section of the piece Wright was continually surprised by the actions of the white people. That was all that he ever knew and it still surprised him, so why did so many others just accept it? Obviously just being used to this treatment doesn't make it any easier. I don't really like how other African American's weren't quite as affected by all of the horrible situations that they were put in. It seems that they started to believe the whites, and actually thought that they were beneath them. They learned their place, and accepted it, whereas Wright questioned it.
Kyle,
I think the message that you came away with from Wright’s piece was really great. And I think that honestly, if kind of deflates Hurston’s whole “it’s in the past, let’s move on” mentality. If this cruelty was still in existence, how could you simply ignore it and encourage others to do the same? That is absurd. Although I think both Wright and Hurston’s writings have merit, after reading both of them, I do have to question how Hurston could make such a light matter of such horrible crimes.
I found your perspective very interesting and something I had not even thought of. But the more I think about it I wonder like if this only happened to some people, and if it did if it was done also by people of authority. Like in the story depicts when he is approached and almost attacked by the police officer. Also I really wonder if this post slavery was imposed in that type of mannor to children, espically those born after slavery was abolished.
I agree with your ideas and feelings about Wright's way of writing. I compared his writing to Frederick Douglas' style and felt that Wright was telling his life story and wrote it very nonchalantly. Douglas on the other hand was very descriptive about his abuse and feelings and went into such vivde details about his experiences with racism and discrimination, however, his experience was in the time of slavery. I feel that these two writers had different outlooks and writing styles because they were coming from two different times of racism.
Kyle,
I feel that Wright is portraying the effects of the Jim Crow Laws through small and isolated events like you mentioned, in order to show them on a more personal level. He wants to show how they affect individuals rather than the large African-American population on a whole. I also feel that he tells his own story in order to get the message across that all Blacks that stepped out of line at this time were treated the same harsh way, for they had not been free for all that long. As a result of being freed a short time ago, Blacks were not outraged at their way of life. They had come to accept it as the way their lives would be from then on, now that they were no longer slaves. Because it had taken so long in order to become emancipated in the first place, Blacks did not have the hope that their lives would become better at this time.
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