Subtle Destruction: a Story of Racism and Naïveté
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Subtle Destruction:
A Story of Racism and Naïveté
“The United States of America is a nation where people are not united because of those three glaring frailties: racism, injustices and inequities.”
-Yuri Kochiyama
Like the Japanese American Human Activist Yuri has clearly stated, The United States is but a fake name for a country that is broken apart by the hands of racism and race superiority. In the autobiography by Richard Write called “Black Boy,” we get a first-hand look at the effects of racism, ignorance, and innocence on the life Richard’s life during the Jim Crow Era. The situational satire of the scenes with the Black soldiers and the Black Chain Gang, proved to both Richard and the viewer that the land of freedom and equality is not truly free and fair. Richard Write thought that racism would never thrive in the North like it did in the South, but that all changed when he unknowingly distributes the KKK’s newspapers, and reads the harsh things written about the Black community in general. Living in a world of Racism could change any sane person crazy, but when it grasps a hold of the innocent or ignorant at heart, the results could be life changing.
When Richard is playing in a wild field, he sees for the first time a group of Black soldiers, which to him at the time is more like a wall of men trying to get him rather than just pass by. When he speaks to his mother she explains to him that they are all soldiers and they fight the enemy. She says they fight “(t)he people who want to kill you and take your country away from you.” (56) At this point in time Richard’s naïveté leads him to believe that since some of these soldiers were smiling and carrying a weapon that kills, America and the social justice system was very fair to the Black community. Boy was Richard wrong in his thinking. A
Subtle Destruction:
A Story of Racism and Naïveté
“The United States of America is a nation where people are not united because of those three glaring frailties: racism, injustices and inequities.”
-Yuri Kochiyama
Like the Japanese American Human Activist Yuri has clearly stated, The United States is but a fake name for a country that is broken apart by the hands of racism and race superiority. In the autobiography by Richard Write called “Black Boy,” we get a first-hand look at the effects of racism, ignorance, and innocence on the life Richard’s life during the Jim Crow Era. The situational satire of the scenes with the Black soldiers and the Black Chain Gang, proved to both Richard and the viewer that the land of freedom and equality is not truly free and fair. Richard Write thought that racism would never thrive in the North like it did in the South, but that all changed when he unknowingly distributes the KKK’s newspapers, and reads the harsh things written about the Black community in general. Living in a world of Racism could change any sane person crazy, but when it grasps a hold of the innocent or ignorant at heart, the results could be life changing.
When Richard is playing in a wild field, he sees for the first time a group of Black soldiers, which to him at the time is more like a wall of men trying to get him rather than just pass by. When he speaks to his mother she explains to him that they are all soldiers and they fight the enemy. She says they fight “(t)he people who want to kill you and take your country away from you.” (56) At this point in time Richard’s naïveté leads him to believe that since some of these soldiers were smiling and carrying a weapon that kills, America and the social justice system was very fair to the Black community. Boy was Richard wrong in his thinking. A