In black boy Richard Wright was taught that white people were dominant to minorities, which further diminished any opportunity of succeeding in such a prejudice time period. In doing so he was affected by political, economic and social segregation. His curiosity with the relationship between superiors versus minorities leads to consequences in his community, whether it's his own family, friends, and employers. All of this segregation and racism centers from laws that are called Jim crow laws. Jim crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the southern unites states from 1880 to 1965(a). These laws crushed Richard’s dreams and took away all the confidence he had in life and made him only want to be average. His ambition of becoming a writer was thrown away by his desire to leave the south and head to the unsegregated north. Instead of being a sell out and just giving into the white man to get what he wanted he endured the struggle and kept his pride. …show more content…
For example, Richard writes that “Look, Dick, you’re throwing away your future here in Jackson. Go to the principal, talk to him, take his speech and say it. I’m saying the one he wrote. So why can’t you? What the hell? What can you lose?”(177) His principal has been influenced by the white man to deliver a more “educated speech” instead of richard's speech, which once again further brain washes Richard to believe that he is not good