Family And Cultural Support Structure In Richard Write's Black Boy

The experiences you have as a child and the strength of the family and cultural support structure that surrounds you dictate the path you will take in life to survive and hopefully thrive. Most kids have the advantage of having role models to learn the difference between right and wrong and lead them down a positive path. However, some people do not benefit from growing up with a strong support structure that helps them make the right decisions. Additionally, as a person of color in the 1930s, there weren't many public figures of the same race to look up to. Richard Write, the author of the autobiography "Black Boy," is an example of someone who lived in these conditions, which shaped the trajectory and approach to his life. Richard is an example

"But mama she'll beat me, beat me for nothing. I'm not going to let her beat me: I don't care what happens!" (109) Richard is going to be beaten for lying to Miss Wilson, but Richard doesn't stand for that. Richard pulls a knife out on his family member to prevent himself from getting abused. Richard is constantly struggling to protect himself. "Lady, if I was a thief, I'd never tell anyone." (145). Richard is finally getting a job to work for a white woman and would make good money, and he responds to the white woman when she says, "Do you steal" (145). Richard doesn't know how to change the way he is around the judgemental people, "I saw stars, and fell backward from the speeding car into the dust of the road, my feet becoming entangled in the steel spokes of the bike." (181). While Richard is doing his late-night deliveries with a rusty bike in a white neighborhood, he is confronted by multiple white men who offer to give Richard a ride home. While Richard was in the car with the white men, he was hit in the head with a whiskey bottle because he responded to a white man by saying "Oh, no" instead of "No, sir." They continuously beat him up, and Richard had no idea why they