Richard Wright, "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow"

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Richard Wright, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow”
Richard Wright’s “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” provides a comprehensive reflection of the lives of African Americans living under the jurisdiction of Jim Crow laws in the South in a manner that exemplifies the concept of 20th-century realism. Realism is understood as an authentic representation of reality through art. In his book, Wright gives numerous examples of his personal experiences with Whites during the Jim Crow Laws and how these encounters changed his life. Wright was discriminated against, abused, and segregated for being Black. On many occasions, even when he was employed, he was not judged based on his professionalism but based on his skin color. Living in these conditions of hatred and segregation was difficult for Richard Wright and other Black people in the South. Therefore, they devised survival strategies by behaving in a way that pleased the Whites to receive favorable treatment.
One of the first experiences Wright had with White as a young boy was when he got into a fight with a group of White boys. When his mother heard of what had happened that day, she bit him so hard again that he developed a fever. She questioned why Wright went into a fight instead of running away. She asks, “How come yuh didn’t hide?” she asked me. “How come yuh awways fightin’?” This was Wright’s first lesson into living under Jim Crow laws as he realized it was not good to get into fights with Whites. When he moved to Arkansas with his mother, he found a job with an optical company. This time, he was cautious in his approach with his would-be White bosses. As he says, “I was very careful to pronounce my sirs distinctly, in order that he might know that I was polite, that I knew where I was, and that I knew he was a white man.” He initially got along well with his bosses until he reminded them of their promise to teach him the mechanics of their trade. He was then dismisse...