Racism in Black Boy, Black Caesar and Malcolm X
In all three stories, Black Boy, Black Caesar and Malcolm X, there are black male characters who experience growing up in racist societies, and who witness the importance of their extended families. Richard, Tommy and Malcolm respectively, become the men they were through these childhood experiences and these experiences mold them into becoming who they were as adults. Although each of these men experienced both racism and the importance of extended family and the black community, they all turned out to be somewhat different.
The aspect of racism in their lives, is especially important because it causes these men to become filled with hate and drive them to lives of crime. For example in Black Boy, Richard and his friends have a gang fight against white kids. Another aspect of racism for him was the Ku Klux Klan, this can be seen when a man tells Richard after seeing a white propaganda sign that "Do you know what the Ku Kluxers do to colored people?" Then Richard responded "They kill us. They keep us from voting and getting good jobs." Racism also plays an important role in shaping Tommy's life. Although it is apparent throughout the film, the best example is when he meets McKinney, and he beats Tommy while shouting racist comments. Also, in Malcolm X, Malcolm grows up in a very racist environment and he experiences his dad, a Baptist preacher, being murdered. This can be seen when "My father's skull, on one side, was crushed in, I was told later. Negroes in Lansing have always whispered that he was attacked, and then laid across some tracks for streetcar to run over him. His body was almost cut in half."
A major difference though is that each deals with racism differently. Tommy blows it off because he just tries to overcome it and become better than the opposing person. Richard becomes angry over it, but acts naively towards it. This can be seen when he gets caught selling the paper, and he doesn't know what it is. "I protested naively, feeling unsure of the entire world now, feeling that racial propaganda surely could not be published in Chicago, the city to which Negroes were fleeing by the thousands." On the other hand Malcolm decides to act white instead of being upset by it. He dyes his hair and walks around with Sophia a white woman.
One's identity is a very valuable part of their life, it affects the Day to day treatment others give them which can lead to how the individual feels emotionally. Atticus, defending Tom Robinson, who is an african american man from the plaintiff of the case, Mayella Ewell, who is a caucasian woman, accusing that Tom raped her is supposivly a lob sided case. During the great depression, any court session that contained a person of color against a caucasian would always contain the “white” individual winning the case. The cause of the bias outcome comes from the lawyer of the african american does not try to defend or the jury goes against the person of color simply because their black, this shows the effect of racism to anyone’s identity in the courtroom for a case simply because of race. Atticus, deciding to take Tom Robinson’s case seriously sacrifices his identity as the noble man he is, to being called many names for this action, such as “nigger lover”. He is questioned by
In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” book, Malcolm X suffers to courageously advocate for the rights of blacks. He was a human rights activist. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. Malcolm focuses on how racism against blacks dehumanizes them. The Caucasoid race around Malcolm typically read him as one thing but human, and Malcolm’s need to correct this perception drives his fight for racial equality. He experiences delicate racism in his youth from his family and faculty, United Nations agency treat him otherwise from others as a result of him being black. Although his foster folks and a few of the people he encounters in class square are nice to him, Malcolm thinks these folks treat him nicely so as to point out however unprejudiced they are. He feels that they 're mistreatment of him as a result that he 's completely different, as if he were a “pink poodle.” At the start Malcolm successively dehumanizes the Caucasoid race as revenge for his own subjugation. In Boston, he displays his white girlfriend Sophia as a
Black Boy is an autobiography about Richard Wright’s life, and his struggle for freedom. Throughout this book, Richard strives to find a model of manhood to emulate, but ultimately fails.
In the initial chapters of the novel, Malcolm depicts his life in an extremely shortsighted way. Experiencing childhood in a relatively small, but racist town (Lansing,Michigan) he was accustomed to a troubled life. Racial tension built up hatred within his town folk, often times fearing for his life and the lives of his loved ones. He was, in fact, academically inclined enough to potentially become a man of
In my opinion, Malcolm X had a very terrible life just after his father’s death. His mother on the other hand was committed to the mental institution and Malcolm left home to live with family friends. He had experienced a troubled youth because in school his classmates (white people) treated him more like the class pet than a human being. The de-motivational situation continuously happened when he told his English teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer but the teacher responded this "One of life's first needs is for us to be realistic ... you need to think of something you can be ... why don't you plan on carpentry?". This humility urged Malcolm to discontinue his studies because there was no point for a black child pursuing education. Here, I learnt that people should not discriminate each other. We have to treat people fairly. The strong racism that had been shown by the black and white people made me think back of ethical egoism for which ethical egoism quite similar to racism. An ethical egoist really believes that the fire-fighters should not save those people because of the risks involved. The white people do not have to help the black and vice versa. Racism will ruin the community because of zero cooperation and the hardest part is riot happens and the ignorant are everywhere.
Malcolm’s views on life a shaped during his years known as “Malcolm Little” An incident in spring of 1939 shows how his hope for a good life was shattered by racism. Malcolm was alone with his eighth grade teacher, when he was asked what he aspired to have as a career. Malcolm had not given a lot of thought to the topic but said a lawyer. His teacher replied with a half-smile “A lawyer- that’s no realistic goal for a nigger.” (studyguide brothermalcolm.net) To Malcolm that was the first time he truly felt the effects of racism in his life, he described the aftermath of the conversation as “The more I thought afterwards about what he said, the more uneasy it made me...It was then that I began to change-inside.” (Malcolm Little brothermalcolm.net) After the eighth grade Malcolm Little became Detriot Red. Detroit Red was a criminal drug dealer who was a danger to himself and his community. Red was “a true hustler- uneducated, unskilled at anything honorable, and I considered myself nervy and cunning enough to live by my wits, exploiting any prey that presented itself.” (Detroit Red brothermalcolm.net) The winter of 1946 is when Detroit Red went to jail for burglary with his friend Malcolm “shorty” Jarvis for seven
For me, what I can see, Malcolm is confused. He wants to be with the white, but at the same time he can felt that they are not really accepting him. There are certain limits for the black in America. This can be seen when the teachers make him felt discomfort. They did give him chance to be the class president but they make him down by saying that he should be carpenter. The discomfort makes him stayed with his sister house. Actually at this time, Malcolm thought that he himself being oppressed by the white. He did not really understand that it is the issue of race.
Throughout Black Boy, Wright explores what it means to be an African American individual living in the Southern and Northern United States during the early 20th century. Because of his inherent strength and his stubborn unwillingness to conform to the expectations of the many, he struggles to find his place within his society. However, Wright’s struggles are not limited to those against the Whites while living in the South. An uneasy feeling of conflict pervades the book, and it becomes evident that his conflicts arise not only from his society’s rejection of his skin color, but from his community’s rejection of his character. In his autobiography, Wright defines himself as a fighter in an unending battle for acceptance—not just as a disenfranchised
The beginning of Malcolm’s life shaped who he was and would become in the near future. No one would 've thought that this “red” boy from Omaha, Nebraska would play such a huge role in the civil rights movement. Malcolm went through a lot of changes including where he lived, his views on men and women, the way he felt towards society, and even his religion.
Racism in Black Boy Black Boy is a denunciation of racism and his conservative, austere family. As a child growing up in the South, Richard Wright faced constant pressure to submit to white authority, as well as to his family’s violence. However, even from an early age, Richard had a spirit of rebellion. His refusal to punish earned him harder beatings.
Malcolm Little who is famously recognized as Malcolm X was born into a world of hatred on May 19, 1925 in Omaha Nebraska. His father was a freelance Baptist Preacher who incorporated the teaching of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Gravey. With continuous threats to the Little family by the KKK, they moved and settled in Lansing Michigan. With his father still urging the African American race to take control of their lives, he was murdered in 1931 (Pendergast). Among the death of his father at a young age, Malcolm was only six years old. This is where bad luck of faith took its toll. Lisa Little Malcolm’s mother couldn’t handle the death of her husband by herself with eight children to raise alone with no Insurance clam and fear. Being unstable welfare workers removed all the children from her care. They were all separated and placed in different foster homes. She later faced a mental breakdown that hospitalized her for twenty- six years. In 1941 around the age of sixteen with many hopes and dreams of becoming a successful lawyer, an English teacher of Malcolm’s told him to be “realistic” implying that black men couldn’t be lawyers that black men were only good enough to work with their hands not intelligence. He dropp...
It is often the case that media and more specifically, film, perpetuates the stereotypes of black men. These stereotypes include not showing emotion, being physically aggressive, embrace violence, supposed criminality, associated with drug use, lack a father figure, sexually exploit women, and others. In the film, Boyz n the Hood, Tre’s father, Furious Styles, encourages Tre to demonstrate loyalty to other people in relationships, resist aggressive behavior, and foster and exhibit sexual responsibility. Thus, throughout the film, Tre challenges the society’s stereotyped norms of black masculinity and what it means to be a black man.
Malcolm Little learned the major life lessons at a very early age. His parents were Earl Little and he married Louise Norton. Louise, Malcolm’s mother, was born in the British West Indies, on the island of Grenada. She looked like a white woman with straight black hair. Her mother was black but her father was white. Louise would often tell Malcolm "Let the sun shine on you so you can get some color". His red hair and light skin were a result of the Caucasian ancestry, he was the lightest colored child born to the union. Earl on the other hand seemed to favor Malcolm, often taking him along to the activist meetings. Earl Little follows the teachings of Marcus Garvey, who was considered a Black Nationalist. Earl Littl...
Racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. Nobody is born racist, they are either taught it or they grew up in that kind of environment. “ No one is born hating another person because of the color of his or her skin, background or religion. People learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love for love comes more naturally to human heart than its opposite.” ( Nelson Mandela) I personally think that slavery caused racism.
As previously stated, growing up, Richard did not know much about racism until certain events occurred, but Bigger already knew. During this time, whites had more privileges than blacks. Not only that, but the whites expected blacks to behave and live in certain ways. Richard worked a few jobs that normally only white people do, but those jobs gave him insight into how whites lived in the South (Black). Richard feared that saying the wrong thing or doing something wrong would cost him his life (Black). Similar to this, Bigger Thomas already knew that white privilege was a problem, but so was the media