Welcome to your online discussion of Black Boy!
Together with members of your book group, you’ll be reading Black Boy over the next several weeks. Although you're not required to take notes while you read, it would be wise to keep track of important events and characters for your own clarification. You are, however, expected to participate regularly and thoughtfully in an online discussion of FOUR essential questions.
Here's how it works:
Divide your book into three roughly equal sections. You need to have read and blogged about these sections by the due dates below.
There are two kinds of posts in this discussion: responses and comments.
Responses = direct responses to the essential questions
- Post at least TWO responses for each section of your book (SIX overall).
- You must comment on all of the essential questions over the course of your reading.
- One of your six responses can be a “free-response" post.
Comments = comment on someone else’s posted response or comment
- Post at least THREE comments for each section of your book (NINE overall).
Due dates:
- Post your first set of responses and comments by Thursday, April 14.
- Post your second set of responses and comments by Monday, April 25.
- Post your third set of responses and comments by Tuesday, May 3.
Essential Questions:
- How does the story (setting, characters, plot, etc.) illuminate aspects of African-American culture? Be specific! (Page references are helpful.)
- How does the story (setting, characters, plot, etc.) illuminate aspects of African-American history?
- In what ways does this book refute the notion of the “single story”?
- How does the story (setting, characters, plot, etc.) reflect or illuminate the current state of race relations in our country? Have we made any progress as a society?
** Free-response option: Address another issue/episode/or passage in the book that you find
significant for any reason.
Assessment: To earn maximum credit, post thoughtful responses that are at least a short paragraph in length—and carefully proofread! Do not misspell characters' or authors’ names! Also, be sure to include specific references to the text (either details or short quotations). Page numbers, too, are always helpful.
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ReplyDeleteHi Sara.
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ReplyDeleteClose to the beginning, when Richard killed the kitten, I thought that this really showed how far some kids take fighting back. Especially when they're poor and they're fighting back against brutal fathers. Even though this was a particularly sad event, I thought we learned a lot about Richard, a lot about his personality and perseverance.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how this showed Richards perseverance, but not quite his personality. Richard seems like he wants to do the right thing but also stand up for himself. Yes he can be cruel sometime but I don't think he means to be.
DeleteI agree with your idea Amber that he does want to do the right thing. He is still just a young child having a hard time grasping these concepts of death, and he does also want to show his defiance towards his father. Even though he has made these mistakes, it had also helped him to learn lessons that may be useful farther into the book.
DeleteI think I would have to disagree with both Sara and Amber, as I thought that Richard was foolish and cruel in the start of the story. As he gets older, his decisions and his reasons behind them become clearer, but the kitten incident was terrible. I think that killing an innocent animal to prove a point is not only incredulous, but it really makes you wonder what other things Richard will be capable of as he grows up.
DeleteI agree with both Ambers aspect of it and sara's, I think he wants to do the right thing and be smart about it, but then again he still does not know about a lot of things, such as his dad's point in this, I think he honestly did not understand what his dad ment to say, but at the same time this might have changed him, like I think he learned a lesson from it.
DeleteNear page 100, (don't read if you don't like spoilers) Richard's mom needs to be taken to the hospital, however she needs to be moved because the hospital is not for colored. Now, there is much less racism and prejudice than that. I think that this really shows just how much we have changed into accepting different people for who they are.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you on that because closer to the beginning around page 54 when Richards uncle got shot in the saloon it was because the white people were scared of a colored person being successful, but now we aren't as stupid, we are happy for whoever that is, maybe a little jealous but not enough to kill a person.
DeleteIn both views, it seems like people are less worried about people doing better than them today than back then, it seems like if a white person was doing better than a black person (back then) it was expected, but if it was the other way around, then this kind of thing happens, not a lot of people cared it sounds like, but today like you said Amber, we would be happy for whoever is being more successful. Or just push ourselves to maybe go past them in a business stand point.
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ReplyDeleteAround page 54 through 57 Richard really sees how African Americans are treated, and punished when his uncle died in his own saloon because he was doing better than most white men, and when he sees the chain gain digging the ditches because of the laws they have "broken". In these scenes it really shows how bad conditions were in African American History.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts of Richard beginning to understand the difference in how African Americans are treated. I do believe that the white men had killed his Uncle not because he was simply doing better than most white men, but also the fact that he was making a living as a black man. Because he was a black man, they didn't approve of hime being there and a part of a flourishing business.
DeleteSara, I support your views on his uncle's death being because white men did not like him for being successful. I also believe that it might not only be because he was doing well, but because the white men were doing bad his business was a threat to theirs. A business owner may still have been upset with another white man's more successful business, so I believe that his anger may not stem only from racist thoughts. However, I believe that the white man would not have killed another white man over competition, and so as Richard's uncle was black, the white man knew he would have an easier time getting away with the murder of this more successful business owner.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout the 136 pages you can tell that being punished for you actions was a normal part of African American culture. This is very noticeable when ever Richard has done something wrong, he knows he will get a lashing for what he did. Although sometimes Richard didn't know what he did he still got lashings for it so that he wouldn't do it again
ReplyDeleteI agree with your views on his punishments. A very interesting section of the story to me was when his Aunt Addie was punishing him without reason. I found this to be very different than how things are todays, both in colored and white homes, where beating your child will get you in jail.
DeleteI agree with both views, but there is also a lot of tension between Richard and Aunt Addie. She singles I'm out for they are family, and she knows that he isn't entirely faithful to her religion. I don't think that it is right for her to be doing this either, but as Amber said, punishments were very common in this age, especially lashings.
DeleteThroughout pages 46-49, Richard begins to understand the African American Culture and the differences of whites and blacks. While staying with his grandmother, who is identifiably white, he questions his mother about why she is this why, and why they are being treated differently. The grandmothers difference of race helps Richard to begin understanding how African Americans aren't looked at or treated the same as white people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Richard's understanding of the segregation happening between blacks and white begins to develop around these pages. I wouldn't say that he has a firm grasp on the idea, as he is still to young to understand such an important piece of information. But, his grandmother's race does definitely significantly help him to understand segregation, and to understand that not all white are against blacks. I believe that had his grandmother not been white, he would probably think that all whites were against blacks as that is what he's beginning to understand about the world. That would be his single story. However, he gets another bit of story because of his grandmother's having married and had children with a black man. Therefore, he probably understands the issue of segregation better than most kids his age who have grown up around only one race their whole lives, and really do only have their single story.
DeleteWhat really bothers me about this scene, Sara, is his mother's annoyance and almost anger at his questions. You can tell that she doesn't want to talk about segregation, or color, or race. He keeps pushing, and she continues to get more and more frustrated. I understand how she could be upset, nobody wants to be questioned about something they don't want to talk about, but he was a confused child just trying to grasp the idea of what it meant to be white and what it meant to be black. It was her responsibility to explain it to him, and I don't think she did a very good job.
DeleteI kind of feel this is kind of a splash in the face where segregation is concerned for Richard, in a way where he is starting to really notice that "blacks" get treated differently than "whites", and I also think you are right Arayah, where it is almost like his mother does not want to talk about it ever to Richard, Almost like she is possibly, trying to keep him away from the knowledge about this topic and out of Richard's curiosity for the topic he keeps asking, and when the mother just keeps getting mad about it, it feels like she just keeps pushing Richard away, fueling the fire of wanting to know more
DeleteOn pages 69-71, Richard tries to sell his dog, for he wants money to buy food. But, when he realizes that he is selling to a white person, he thinks of all of the horrible things that the "white people" have called him and think of him. This is an example of a single story. He doesn't know this person he is selling his dog to. They could be very nice and accepting. They are even willing to make sure he gets a full dollar for his dog. But, he as already been influenced by the stereo types of the two races.
ReplyDeleteagree with you very much on this Sara Richards mom never really tells him what's going on with the colored and the whites so he doesn't know that not all whites are against colored people. Later on his mother told him that you can't buy food with a dead dog, Richard knew he should have taken the money but with what little information he did know about the whites Richard made the best decision he thought he could.
DeleteWhen I was reading this part in the book i was interested to see if this was going to change as the one story aspect of his knowledge towards whites, then again he was just worried who he was handing his dog to, and since all he ever herd about white people is bad things.
Deletei think that black boy is an interesting book because it is like a blast from the past with showing us how it was for blacks back then but also it showed us what it was like to live back then with buying 10 cent lunches and 1 dollar a month pay rolls.
ReplyDeleteI think it was nice but sad toward the end of the section where he saw the holy ghost and when is grandmother told everyone at the church that he saw the holy ghost and then he "declined" it in front of everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think that Richard had a really hard time growing up, and that maybe he wouldn't have had such a hard time had he known about the blatant segregation and how race was such a big issue back then. Had his parents (or mother) taken the time to really talk to him rather than getting annoyed at his child-like curiosity and questions, perhaps growing up wouldn't have been so difficult.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this very much. They avoided the situation and left him in the dark, causing his curiosity. If they had at least tried to explain how things were, he may have even felt more connected with his family and the rest of the world. But instead, he still feels like he is and outsider, and different in a bad kind of way.
DeleteI also think he would have gown up a lot quicker if his parents would have not ignored him when he was asking questions about segregation and if they had not tried to keep him away from books in the beginning of the book.
DeleteI've had a lot of trouble coming to terms with Richard's life and what he's had to go through. Sometimes I'll be reading a harsh scene, and I'll have to stop because of how cruel and heartbreaking it is. The relationship that interests me and disgusts me the most is the one between Aunt Addie and Richard. While lashings may have been popular then, especially for Richard, his aunt always attempted to punish him for the wrong reasons. It was painful to read, and all I could imagine was having that kind of relationship with one of my family members. It seems scary and unreal, but I know that I'm lucky to have grown up around people who love me and support me in anything I choose to do. Religion, family, and race prove to be huge issues for Richard, and I can't imagine trying to grapple all of those problems alone.
ReplyDeleteOn page 136, Richard finally realizes that he's lucky to have learned to read, write, do math, etc.., and that his mom really did have the best intensions for him. As he traveled around with his neighbor to different plantations he sees that those children have never been give the chance to lear how to read, or write, all that they have learned to do is work. I think that this really shows how in the history of blacks, the younger generation of blacks were deprived of what the whites got naturally, and how unfair their lives were.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking nearly the same thing, Amber, except the conclusion I came to was not that all young blacks were deprived of education, but rather young plantation blacks. Even their parents have bad English, and so I think that all of this illiteracy is not only pushed on the young blacks, but all of the plantation blacks.
DeleteI agree with both Tyler and Amber. He had his eyes opened, realizing that even though he felt that he wasn't living a great life, he was still privileged to know how to read and write, and even attend school at all. To add to this, it also continues forming his knowledge of how black and whites are treated differently, and I think this is extremely important to this story. Through out the entire book, Richard, and us the readers piece together more and more of the history of how the blacks were treated and forced to make a living.
DeleteThroughout the book Richard always is talking about food, and how little they get. He always says how his hunger is never quite satisfied, but that he has learned to be full on little to nothing. I feel like since Richard doesn't know that much about the racism between the blacks and whites, he doesn't know that racism is part of why he never has a lot of food. This really relates to the history of African Americans because when the division between races started not as much was available to the colored. They didn't get to chose wether they had a lot of food or not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely, Amber. He never talks about being jealous of the whites for having more than he does, because he just naturally assumes that everyone, including whites, is bad off at this time. No one talks to him about the racial differences and prejudices that still exist. The fact that he is never jealous shows us that he is oblivious to these divisions. I find this interesting, as in most other biographies about blacks, they seem to focus on how the whites have it better, and they need to give some of their wealth to black charity.
DeleteI agree that this part of the book relates to the history and how they really have no choice in wether they have enough food or not. But, I do believe that he showed jealousy and knowledge that many others had it better than him when it came to food. For example, when he would watch all of the other school children buying sandwiches for lunch, he was forced to watch and play it cool. And, farther into the book, it states how he was in his room and smelled the scent of meat cooking from their neighbors. This is where he then slams the window down so he does not have to think about wanting the ability to have meat with dinner every night. For he knows that his family isn't as privileged as the ones who do. This adds to how he does know that it isn't the same for everyone.
DeleteThis section of the book dealt a lot about Richard finding a job. He needs money, and so does his family, but he wants to leave. The jobs that he finds seem to give the worst jobs to the colored, like the broken brick picker-uppers on the construction site. But there was also the white man at the optical company who wanted Richard to learn the optical trade, but the other two white employers drove Richard out of the shop. These events showed Richard, and also the readers, that not all whites were against blacks. Not even all the whites from the South, where Richard comes from, were against blacks. Some were trying to help fight for equal protection of blacks and whites, and were against segregation. It wasn't a battle between all the whites and all the blacks, like some people may seem to think it was.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Tyler, while yes some whites thought the colored were evil not all were against the colored. I feel like even some of the whites didn't hate the colored, but rather were pressured to because they didn't want to lose their jobs, friends, standings, or look bad. Some whites I also feel like were scared of what might happen to them if they tried to stand up for the colored.
Deletei agree that some people are not rasist or evil but most still are
DeleteNear the end of this section, Richard begins to become interested in reading books from the local library. From his reading, he realizes how small his perspective of the world and its events is. He realizes that all his life, he's been told a single story, in which all whites are against blacks, and therefore none can be trusted. Richard finds that he needs to read more books in order to better understand his surroundings. In the North, whites don't pay attention to what color your skin is. They only care about their day and what they're doing. Richard finds this hard to cope with, even though life is much better than in the South. He only finds it difficult to cope with this new arrangement because he's never heard of something like it, because he only knows his single story of the way the world works.
ReplyDeleteI found that part interesting while changing what he thought.
DeleteI agree with you very much on this Tyler. Books have always made his understanding better, like in the beginning of the book when the young teacher was living with his Grandma. She would tell him stories and his whole perspective of what life was would change in an instant. I feel like when he starts reading the books up north he realizes what curtain has been closed to him until then.
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ReplyDeleteI find the part on the book interesting where it is his fault for making grandmother fall while trying to not get hit because he was protecting himself and the end of the section like Tyler said about the reading from the local library.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Matt the blame of Richards grandmother falling should not have been on him, he was simply fighting back against her in his own way. Taking a stand for all the other times he had been beaten for no reason at all. That was his safe way of defying against his family.
DeleteOn page 154, the last three paragraphs received a lot of my attention. There has been a lot of religious conflict through out the book with Richard and his family. He really doesn't feel a connection to the God that has been forced on him by his relatives, his grandmother especially. On this page, it speaks of when he was in church with his mother. The preacher is trying to convince him to be baptized. It speaks of how the decision he had to make really had nothing to do with God at all anymore. It was only a matter of not publicly humiliating his mother. He was frustrated and angered by this, which he had every right to be. Not only as he forced to be one with God, it wasn't for good reasons either.
ReplyDeleteOn page 200, Richard comes to a better understanding and realization about how Whites and Blacks are seen. The current state of racism is very high at this point in the story. On this page, it explains "...southern whites would rather have had Negroes who stole, work for them than Negroes who knew, however dimly, the worth of their own humanity." This is when Richard begins to see more clearly how the whites see the blacks, and how they would rather them steal which follows their racial stereotype, than actually act with humanity as seemingly only white people are supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points you make, Sara. I'd like to add to your statements the fact that most of the jobs the blacks are offered are very straight forward, like picking up broken bricks. Whites don't seem to think that blacks can take do more complex jobs, such as the job of actually laying the bricks. But also, whites seem to view blacks as entertainment. They set blacks up with other blacks to fight so that the whites can watch. The whites also pick on the blacks, yelling at them for the smallest miss-steps, making them lose their jobs. I think we've come a long way as a society, being more accepting of blacks, not making them have to call us "sir", and also not making them fight for our white pleasure. I realize that this might be different in the South, still, but this brings up the issue of the single story.
DeleteI enjoyed seeing Richard through the book maturing in a way of learning about these things and noticing it, but at the same time it seems like he was trying to see how he could keep himself out of those bad situations, and not give so many stereotypes, to people he does not know like some of the white people he has encountered in his past.
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DeleteAround pages 300-310, Richard talks briefly about his own single story. He talks about how, growing up in the South, his single story of whites is that they are all treacherous and mean. He believes that all whites will try to make a fool him. He thinks that they all look down on him. Even after the event in the kitchen, when the white girl simply stood pressed against him in the crowded kitchen to make coffee instead of telling him to move out of his way. Around the previously mentioned pages, Richard is sitting in on a communist club. The members are being extremely considerate to him, and so he questions their motives. Because of his single story, he has come to think that all of these whites are plotting something in which he most likely does the dirty work. He thinks that they are being hospitable only because they have to. He doesn't think that they actually like him, or want him there. I'm beginning to realize just how much a single story can change your perspective on life. A single story may be correct in one region, but will be horribly wrong in another. However, I think he's starting to really grasp the differences (both good and bad) between life in the North versus life in the South.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Tyler, Richard has had so many bad experiences with whites, and has heard what terrible things they do so he has always thought they were evil, but going to the north I think will help him to understand what other whites opinion on them are, because he does need to break the single story he knows about the whites
DeleteI agree with both Tyler and Amber, though I think I'd like to see Richard have a good, positive interaction with a white person before the end of the story. Whites have been portrayed as cruel individuals who strike out whenever they're in the same room as an African American, white police officers arrest blacks without reason, blacks are forced out of their jobs, and black women are harassed on the streets. I feel that Richard and Mr. Crane could have been a positive experience, if Richard hadn't been so entirely afraid due to Pease and Reynolds. I would really like to see an interaction with a white person that made Richard really think hard about race and change.
DeleteOn page 300 when Richard was in the relief station he saw how even though all the colored were scared of each other, and timed at first, they got over it because they all realized that they were going through the same thing and that they were all similar. I feel like this gave Richard confidence that he wouldn't be alone and that someone would be able to relate to what he was going through one way or another. This relates to the history of African Americans because when times were hard, or they wanted to change something they would all banned together because they knew that they were all going through the same crapy situations.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your view, Amber. I also think that this brings to the surface one aspect of African American culture, which is also true to most other cultures. The fact that Richard is finding confidence being surrounded by his race points out that blacks aren't yet comfortable around the white race. I think that we have, as a society, made leaps and bounds in this aspect of life. Blacks in our society are no longer afraid of whites, but rather cautious of them, as racism is still around. Thought racism is not nearly as big a problem as it was in this time, there is difference in how our society treats the colored. However, it is no longer a common fear of a black to lose his/her job to a petty white who isn't comfortable around them. But also, in at this time in the South, there are still "colored" bathrooms, "colored" waiting lines, "colored" drinking fountains. In the North, they have none of these. I believe that the North was a little ahead of its time when thought about in this light.
DeleteI really enjoy hearing about how the blacks came together in their time of need and were able to show a united front. I think that unity is really important, and I know that if I were an african american back then, I wouldn't want to be alone.
DeleteIt seems like a weight got lifted off of his chest knowing that he knew he was not alone, he found out that there were millions of lives that were being effected in the same way his was, It seemed like that came to a shock to him, that there were other blacks going through hunger and poverty. Now Richard can to relate do so many people it seems like there is kind of a comfort in knowing that.
DeleteThroughout this book Richard as we know has always struggled with finding food, a home or standing up. But in chapter 17 he starts stepping up, he found a way to get food so he didn't have to worry anymore about wether he will starve or not, he has somewhat of a home to stay at, and him working, and getting food for him is his way of standing up, proving that he isn't useless like everyone said he was. Richard knows this will suffice but eventually things will go wrong again. While this isn't as much of an issues with African Americans know, other things have become an obstacle for African Americans.
ReplyDeleteWhat really stands out to me about the second part of Black Boy is Richard's decision to leave home. It was something he'd always thought about, and promised to do as soon as he got the chance, yet I never expected him to actually do it. What really baffled me, however, was the fact that he left his mother behind even though he knew she was unhappy in that house and wanted desperately to leave with him. I don't blame Richard for making the choice to go without her, but I know that I couldn't do that to my own mom. Then again, Richard has a very different relationship with his parents than I have with my own, and I wonder if I would react differently if I was in the same situation.
ReplyDeleteI also thought he was not going to leave the house with his mom there, knowing that she was unhappy, but like you said he had different experiences with his mom and i figured, i would not leave knowing my mom was unhappy, but we don't know what is really going through his head, but moving from job to job just to move desperately wanting to move to the north as fast as passable, that could have done it for him.
DeleteReading through this book, I am thinking to myself if I was put in some of these situations what would I do differently, then I was thinking if this is only one story of one boy growing up in this kind society with all the resentment, along with everything else he was experiencing growing up, I don't think I can imagine what some other family's were going through, experiencing similar things Richard had to like losing job opportunities because of there color, and if they did get an opportunity in a job, thinking on how much work they should put into this job wondering if they were going to get shot because they were doing better than someone else, thinking of those kind of things everyday along with getting treated badly everyday, just sounds overwhelming, I guess we are lucky to be born in this time and society where we don't have to think about these things and worry about it everyday of out lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Devin. I think that everything was so much harder for colored people back then than it is for white people today. I can go get a job and not have to fear for my life, I can address whites and others in a polite way without being beaten or forced to leave my work. Richard didn't have that, which makes us lucky. We live in a society that has learned from it's past mistakes, and both blacks and whites are mostly equal. I wonder if growing up in today's time would have been easier for Richard, or if he still would of had some of those same struggles with race.
DeleteWhat really strikes me as odd is the situation with Richard, Mrs. Moss, and Bess. When we first met Bess and her mother, I really liked them. I thought they'd be good for Richard and would provide him with the kind of comfort/friendship that he needed. When Mrs. Moss kept pushing for Bess and Richard to get married, I was not only confused but surprised. Richard didn't know the girl, and he definitely didn't love her, yet they were attempting to shove him into a marriage that most likely would have weighed him down and made him unhappy. I can't seem to fathom why Mrs. Moss did that, especially since it made Richard hesitant to stay with them and extremely uncomfortable. While reading the second part of Black Boy, I kept thinking back to Mrs. Moss and Bess, and how weird/awkward the whole situation was. It made me sad that things went south so fast, as they had been a big help to Richard.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Arayah, throughout the whole book most of Richards friends, and family members have pushed him to do something in some sort of way, wether it be to become a christian, to do certain chores, to get a job, or even get married. These people in his life though have really taught Richard that somethings are worth fighting for, while others are just worth compromising with, which is a very good lesson that ha helped Richard as he has grown up.
DeleteAn interesting tidbit that I remember from these events in the book would be the time when Mrs. Moss outright told Richard to "try Bess out" and see how he liked her. It was almost as if she was using her daughter as a prostitute, but in a way that she saw potential in Richard to get jobs that would pay good wages for he was smart, meaning that Mrs. Moss would benefit from a well-off son-in-law that could help her and her daughter in their later years, with no regard to the happiness of Richard or her daughter. Neither of them would have been able to go out into the world and essentially "try out" different people, to find which ones suited them best and whom would actually love them.
DeleteOn page 179, when Richard was polishing brass out front of his new job as a porter for a clothing shop, when his boss drove in with his son in the passenger seat, and a frightened black woman in the middle of the car, once they got out it says in the book that they start beating her while dragging her into the store, and people just walked by and watched, walked by without expression, and a police officer just watched from the corner, then once she went in the store Richard could hear screams from inside once the woman came out she was bleeding clothes torn holding her stomach, like she could not stand up straight, then the white police man approached her, grabbed her and accused her of being drunk and took her away.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this part of the book I honestly thought that Richard was either going to confront his boss, then i remembered he would probably get beaten himself if he even gave either the police man a weird look or his boss one. I can't believe the amount of fear that that woman could have been going through in that car, and how no one would help, I wonder if people would stand for that today, just walking by like they did, obviously a police officer would not stand for it, but i do understand why Richard never helped, Altho i never knew how much the police force was corrupted in that way of not interfering with to white men beating a black woman.
I agree with the majority of what you're saying here, Devin. However, I want to add my opinion on the police issue you bring up. I find that even today, it is not so obvious that the police man would have interfered. In fact, very controversial topics today include reports of police arresting, or even killing blacks in shootings and protests. People don't realize today how much segregation other people, and even themselves, hold against other races. They don't realize how differently they treat people of the opposite race, whether it be in a coddling fashion or a brutal one. I'm not saying that it's just whites at fault, I would have to say that it is not impossible that blacks treat whites differently as well. Even in job searching, blacks tend to find it harder to get employed. However, this type of brutality that you mention from the book would definitely attract the attention of the police today, meaning that those white men would have been arrested. Some may argue that the charges against them would not be as high as if it were blacks assaulting a white woman, and this is definitely true in some cases. What most disturbs me about this event is that the police officer arrests the black woman for being "drunk," even after he just witnessed parts of her beating in the street.
DeleteThat is a good point
DeleteAt the beginning of the book Richard had never know the truth about anything. All he knew was what single story his mother told him, or would try to tell him. On page 377 though you can see that Richard really has opened up to/ learned more about the whites, the north and the south. He has a greater understanding of everything, and not just a single story like he used to. I think this really will help Richard with the rest of his life because he'll actually have more facts to build upon, and to go off of. So far I think Richard has benefited from learning more than a single story, but who knows maybe he hasn't.
ReplyDeleteI agree and feel he has matured a lot where this is concerned, gone from not knowing at all about racism about recognizing it everywhere, like you said he has a much greater understanding about the subject,
DeleteI love that you bring up his personal growth. The way in which he has grown up interests and fascinates me, how he went from a 6 y/o drunk to a smart, respectable writer. I enjoyed reading about his experiences and seeing how they would shape his reactions to later things in life.
Deletei agree in this book it show through out the book how much he grew up from the beginning to the end
DeleteI also agree that he has benefitted and learned a lot about both races, and it is nice to read about him realizing that there is more than just a single story to everyone. But I also think that it will be hard for him to ever get the racial difference and the cruelty of "whites" out of his mind. Because he was brought up with it since a child (and this is speaking of all blacks and whites), it has become a natural way of thinking. And something that has been known for so long is hard to change.
DeleteOn the matter of racism then compared to racism now, I would like to delve into the depths of an event later on in the book. To most, it would seem small, but I saw potential in it to be an interesting topic for conversation.
ReplyDeleteLater on in the book, while Richard is going through the process to become a member of the communist party and its clubs (which I found extremely confusing, I don't know how the rest of you felt) he went to a white man's house. For what, I don't remember, probably to talk about his position in the party as a writer. What happened was this: Richard knocked on the door of the man's house, which was opened in no time, wide open. When the man saw the color of Richard's skin, he immediately shut the door almost all the way. In today's society, there is no question that this would happen between whites and blacks. Whether it be because whites fear blacks or because they mistrust, or maybe a combination of both, I can honestly say that nearly every white person would find it much harder to open the door for a black person they do not know. Whereas, if it were a strange white person, they would be much more hospitable. Unless, of course, the stranger on the other side of the door looked sketchy or dangerous, in which case doors may be locked more rather than opened. However, even the black person looked innocent, incapable of killing a fly, the hospitality would most definitely be lacking.
I agree with you Tyler on your point of racism, because your right it still is a big problem still today. The sad part is, is that you'd think we would have gotten over racism already, but we haven't and it's kind of embarrassing because we should have moved past that already. I guess breaking an old habit is to much work for some people.
Deleteyes it is still a problem today but for only some people not for all
DeleteTyler, I also agree with what you have said about the similarities between then and today. Because of the single story that we have, there is still a fear between the whites and blacks. I also remember that part of the book. It was when he went to New York for a special communist conference. He was then told that he had to find a place to stay, for he couldn't stay in the same hotels as the white communists. I find this extremely interesting also, and it adds to the racial tension of the book. Although many people flee to the North, they make it seem as if it's almost a perfect world there and that the Northern people are so much nicer to the blacks. Even today, people feel as if the south was the only ones that treated the blacks unequally. With this example in the North, it shows that there is still cruel and unequal treatment of blacks in the North.
DeleteEarlier in the book around page 300 when people were sharing story's of hunger and poverty, and he realized he was not alone where that was concerned, but he also realized that when whites react with beating blacks up whenever blacks try to make something with their lives that could possibly be better than what whites are doing, whites unknowingly encourage blacks to throw away any interest in social progress. Which i think is kind of depressing if you think about it like whites beat up on blacks if they try to do better than them, so in retaliation blacks don't try to do better. I am just puzzled on how that kind of society worked. And was sustained, for as long as it was.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in this book they make it seem like all whites don't like blacks and do things against them, but in reality i think it is a social thing for some whites. Where some of the whites beat up on black's because the whites don't want to be shut out of a "white social group” so they beat up a black person because a person in that group asked them to because maybe that black person is doing better than them so he wants to drive him out of business, so in-order to stay friends with him and to stay loyal he ends up beating up the black person. Anyway I don't think all whites in the south hate black people like the book makes it sound like.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you Devin. And just as Richard couldn't speak out about how the blacks were being treated, a white person would be frowned upon if they spoke out of line when it came to blacks. This also reminds me of very early on in the book when Richard is gathered with some other boys on the school ground. Before he even really knew about the severity and actual racial tension, they casually talked about it as if they knew. This is because of how their parents and other adults around them acted. They continued with that single story and understanding, and had the hate for whites embedded in their minds before they even knew the real difference.
Deleteone thing that i thought was scary in the first part was when he burned down his house on "accident"
ReplyDeletetyler i agree i hated the part where he had to kill the cat
ReplyDeletein the second part i thought it was weird that he did not just sell the poodle for 3 cents less and get the 3 cents later
ReplyDeletei think this book showed that not all whites are bad and not all blackes are bad
ReplyDeletethis book also showed how bad stereotype can be but you may not know
ReplyDeletei like how it showed him growing up and mature and learning new things that changed his views about somethings
ReplyDeleteOn page 271-272 Richard is talking about his experiences with some of the waitresses on his lunch hour. He listens patiently as they casually talk about their home lives, simple hopes, their "fear of feeling anything deeply". When they talk about their problems, he thinks... "They know nothing of hate and fear" I found this line extremely moving. Not only does it show you how these white waitresses feel that they have fears and problems, its the ignorance of the real hate and fear that the blacks have gone through. To me, this has to do a lot with the history of blacks. I know for a fact, that I will never truly understand the struggles, the pain, the fear, or the hate, that the blacks have gone through, and are still some what going through today. As much as we try, and as much as we read, we can only come somewhat close to learning about their real feelings. This is important to the history of blacks for in a single line it is telling how Richard, a black boy, has felt all his life, and how he realizes that it won't be getting better for a long time. And I find that very important. Now, I am not saying that we should stop trying to understand all that the blacks have gone through. We need to at least try. For the only way we can make a real change, is if we continue to try to understand what the blacks have and are going through.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to talk about Richard joining the communist party. I found most of this section of the book extremely confusing for one, and had to keep rereading sections. But on page 370, this is written. "But the communist party did not recognize the values that it had sworn to save when it saw them; the slightest sign of any independence of thought or feeling, even if it aided the party in its work, was enough to make one suspect, to brand one as a dangerous traitor." This was during the trial of one of the other communist members. I found this part important, for in Richards culture, of being a black, he didn't have the freedom of speech and thought that whites had. He joined the communist party originally, because he saw in their writings the powerful emotions that could be perceived through letters on a page. This was the main reason he joined the party I believe. But, at the trial when he realizes this, he knows he must leave. When he did begin writing, they liked him at first. But as he continued to speak his own personal thoughts, they found him as a threat. I believe this was an important part of the book, for it showed why a lot of people joined the communist party. Many blacks had never had the power or ability to speak freely, about their emotions and thoughts. And originally, the communist party was their only outlet to that little bit of freedom.
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