The Theme Of Discrimination In Richard Wright's Bloods

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For many years war and discrimination has been apart of the nation 's history. Wars have happened for greed, resources, power, and expanding ideas. However, people fail to acknowledge the background of what these soldiers are going through. The physical and mental damage not just soldiers go through but African Americans go through because of their skin color. People are not born racist. This is an idea that is taught to people and this idea changes the idea of an Africans Americans life. In the two novels Black Boy by Richard Wright and Bloods by Wallace Terry although they are in different time settings, both novels depict the consequences of racism. These both works are used to show how there is change during hardships. The hardships suffered He tried to understand the world through his knowledge. He constantly asked questions. “Then why don 't all the black men fight all the white men out there? There are more black men than white men . . .” (Wright 58). This quote shows the understanding Richard was trying to acquire in order to find out why a black male was superior to a white male. The reality of society was making Richard want to know about why things were the way they were. He became hungry for knowledge. The hunger of knowledge helped Richard understand racism, he states “I knew that southern whites hated the idea of Negroes leaving to live in places where the racial atmosphere was different” (Wright 255). The hardship Richard was facing before was trying to understand why his people were any different from anyone else. Towards the end he has got a better understanding of it. In conclusion, in the novels Black Boy by Richard Wright and Bloods by Wallace Terry both share the common theme of having to deal with racism throughout the day and finding a way to get by. A soldiers and a typical African American male is important to understand because they were degraded and treated very badly. Warfare can bring the negative dark side in someone, while dealing with it in your everyday can either have a negative or positive impact on you, which in Richard situation it was a positive one. He overcame the racism by being self taught and through

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