Racial Discrimination And Racism In Native Son By Richard Wright

Native Son by Richard Wright is a heartbreaking story of the racial oppression that spread throughout Chicago and America during the 1930s. Through the experiences of his black protagonist Bigger Thomas, Wright provides valuable insights into racial segregation and the tragic ways in which it affected American society. Throughout the novel, Wright insists that Bigger was not born an aggressive criminal. He is a product of the violence and racism. By no means does Wright minimize the oppression of blacks by whites, but he does demonstrate that much of the racial inequality was due to the lack of understanding, among both blacks and whites, of each other. Bigger’s story represents a key development in black American literature. In Native Son,

In the article, he is described as looking “exactly like an ape!” (279), with “skin exceedingly black” (279) and a lower jaw that “protrudes obnoxiously, reminding one of a jungle beast” (279). The article cruelly accuses Bigger of raping Mary and then proceeds to talk about how segregation and an “injection of an element of constant fear” (281) form the solution in “handling the problem” (281) of Negroes in America. Wright also condemns the media for slandering Communists and Jews, and shows how the newspapers gave the idea to frame Jan in the ransom note. In general, the newspapers in Native Son hold as yet another example of how deeply rooted racism was in American society in the

As long as he and his black folks did not go beyond certain limits, there was no need to fear that white force.”(114). Because of his notion that white society is the same; Bigger hates Mary despite her attempts to befriend him. Bigger expresses this to Mr. Max when he says, “White folks and black folks is strangers. We don’t know what each other is thinking. Maybe she was trying to be kind; but she didn’t act like it. To me she looked and acted like all other white folks...” (351). Wright does not blame Bigger for his generalization of white people, and he makes it clear that his mindset is due to the great black-white divide rooted within American society, and to the suffering Bigger has experienced from some white people. However, Wright shares a unique