The stories of Richard Wright learning to survive as an African American in the time of Jim Crow laws astounded, saddened, and frustrated me all at once. I know as well as anyone the anger and violence that plagued the United States during this time in our nation's history, yet it never ceases to amaze me that a human being could bring so much pain and suffering onto another.
Wright's second story stood out to me because it exposed just how deceitful people can really be. In the second story, my stomach churned as Wright described the "shrill screams coming from the rear of the store" and the bloody floor "strewn with wisps of hair and clothing." I couldn't believe how quickly the boss and his son could change from angry animals to something of a friend when Wright entered the room, offering him a cigarette. The last paragraph was unsettling as well; I find it amazing that anyone could say that woman was lucky. No one ever deserves to fall victim to such treatment.
"But the color of a Negro's skin makes him easily recognizable, makes him suspect, converts him into a defenseless target." Wright's fourth story, while one of the shortest, was most moving. It amazes me that a simple situation can quickly turn life threatening. It is even more disheartening to know that similar occurrences happen today.
The end of Wright's stories do provide a beacon of hope that change is around the corner, however. "A friend of [Wright's] who ran an elevator once told [him]: 'Lawd man! Ef it wuzn't fer them polices 'n' them of lynchmobs, there wouldn't be nothin' but uproar down here!'"
Total equality can never happen because our world isn't a perfect place. The Jim Crow story shows exactly how poor of treatment some people may recieve. "Yet it never ceases to amaze me that a human being could bring so much pain and suffering onto another." It is hard to understand why people are the way they are. Some feel the need to bring others down to make themselves feel better. No one should ever have to be victimized the way that some African Americans were. Your article did a great job explaining how discouraging unequal treatment may be.
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