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Black Boy is a memoir of racism, racial identity, and the difficulty of surviving as a young African-American man in the South. As a boy, Richard sees that some people have lighter skin, and other people darker skin. But he only understands what these distinctions mean, culturally and politically, after observing the bigotry of whites and the fear with which many black families live. Thus, Black Boy shows in brutal detail the consequences of Southern racism, and demonstrates that racial distinctions are not "inherent" or "biological," but are products of a society that is economically and political unequal.

Wright asks his mother, early on, if he is a "Negro." His mother replies that society will label him one, though he is actually of mixed white, Native American, and African ancestry. Wright states that, as he grows older, he begins to see that "white" children and "white" families in the South are a privileged class, and that "black" families serve those white families. Wright also realizes that "white" groups direct significant anger at "black" groups, for no reason other than those groups' "blackness." White children go to their own schools; they learn to read and write at a young age; and a full range of occupations is open to them. "Black" families, however, live in their own parts of town; they are treated with open contempt by white families; and they are believed to be inherently "criminal," disposed to lying and theft.

Throughout his young life in Mississippi and Arkansas, Richard is exposed to white violence against blacks: Richard himself is physically threatened by Pease and Reynolds, and is forced to leave his job at Crane's eyeglass shop; a boyfriend of Aunt Maggie's must flee Arkansas, because he has dared to fight back against forces of white supremacy; a brother of a friend, Ned, is killed in Jackson for sleeping with a white prostitute. And Uncle Hoskins, owner of a tavern in Arkansas, is murdered by white competitors eager for his business. In Memphis, Richard finds work at another eyeglass shop, but he is not permitted to train professionally in lens grinding, and must again sweep the store and serve the whites who do the "real" work.

Characters in the memoir respond to this overwhelming racism in different ways. Some black families, like Granny's, find solace in religion. But Wright does not have any "feeling for God," and rejects the stern discipline (symbolized by the "switch" used for beatings) black families impose on themselves. Some black workers, like Shorty in Memphis, act as "clowns" for white men, in order to gain favors, make extra money, and, with luck, earn enough to move north. But Wright is unwilling to act foolishly or submissively for white men's benefit, and he knows that Shorty will never save enough money to be able to leave. Wright's only solace, and eventually his salvation, comes in the form of books. He begins a serious effort in self-education in Memphis, and reads enough that he feels he has gained some knowledge of the world beyond the American South. This reading, though it does not necessarily provide a practical guide to living as a black man in a country dominated by whites, nevertheless gives Wright the confidence to try his luck in the broader world-in Chicago.

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Black Boy is a memoir of racism, racial identity, and the difficulty of surviving as a young African-American man in the South. As a boy, Richard sees that some people have lighter skin, and other people darker skin.

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In the book, Richard had his father and mother divorce. It din't really affect him emotionally. Just like me, I never hated anyone when the event happened. Not to my dad, not to my mom, no one.

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What's the difference? It sounds like something a white person would say back then with blacks. 

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What's the difference? It sounds like something a white person would say back then with blacks. 

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"To hold an attitude of antagonism or disgust toward Jews was bred in us from childhood; it was not merely racial prejudice, it was a part of our cultural heritage."

Page: 62

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My overall thoughts on Black Boy by Richard Wright is that the book is more of a first person story telling.