Marginalization In Richard Wright

The idea that black people in the south were happy under segregation, under Jim Crow, under the oppressive regime imposed by white southerners is as offensive as it is wrong – that is, absolutely. All scholarly perspectives must inevitably acknowledge the singular truth that marginalized people in the early twentieth century southern United States, specifically African American men and women in this instance, were barred from living their lives in such a way as to pursue their own happiness in their own way and at their own leisure. Still, while all serious scholarly endeavors on this topic inevitably reach the same conclusion, it is important to understand the complexity of the social context. It must be further understood that the ever-changing

The marginalization of a specific group of people within society is often discussed in terms of how one group actively marginalizes the other. This is likely the best place to start. Richard Wright describes the many ways that he was barred from pursuing his own interests by white men in the south. Some of these instances were directed specifically at him, such as when he was told that he would be able to learn the optical trade by the manager, Mr. Crane, and was then prohibited by the workers who were supposed to teach him because such work, in their opinion, was perceived to be only for white men (Wright, 187-8). Unfortunately, not all African Americans’ experiences with whites were so relatively benign. One example of such a situation in Wright’s life may be observed when he and his family had to flee their home in Memphis after his uncle had

It was not enough that white southerners killed, maimed, and tortured African Americans; they sought to cripple them psychologically. The violence employed towards African Americans was not done in private where there would be no witnesses. Racial violence was performed as a type of spectator sport for whites’ entertainment and to make sure that all African Americans understood what was at stake for any black person who stepped outside the confines of the roles allowed him or her – namely, that person’s life. Many of the most formative events in Richard Wright’s life with respect to race consciousness, such as those referenced above, achieved the aims of the white terrorists. A lynching was not simply retaliation for a perceived slight; the implicit purpose of public lynching was to warn others who had the potential to transgress in the same way. In the case of Richard Wright, if such terrorism did not dissuade him from pursuing his full freedom then there were others for whom it did. Still, whites’ terrorism had another even more insidious