Richard Wright's Black Boy chronicles his southern childhood and adolescence and shows his struggle for physical, mental, and psychological fulfillment. More than simply an autobiography, Black Boy represents the result of Wright's passionate desire to observe and reflect upon the racist world around him. Throughout the work, we see Richard observe the harmful effects of racism not only as it affects relations between whites and blacks, but also relations among blacks themselves. Wright entitles his work Black Boy primarily for the emphasis on the word "black": this is a story of childhood, but at every moment we are very aware of the color of Wright's skin. In America, he is not merely growing up; he is growing up black. Indeed, it is virtually impossible for Richard to grow up without the label of "black boy" constantly being applied to him. Throughout the novel, Wright struggles with abuse from his family and community. The abuse first pushes him into acts of mischief and then to a flourishing intellectual career. Through Wright's heavy interest in reading and obtaining information, he learned that racism and hatred is deeply rooted in our American culture. Also, Wright recognized that values and traditions of the south had little room for his desires and ambitions. Therefore, this paper will focus on the effects of racism, the individual (Wright) versus this racist society and personal positions of the ideological critique that Wright presents.
             The topic of racism is a familiar topic in African American literature. In many of the novels I have read, racism to some extent always envelops the storyline. Richard Wright's childhood upbringing reared him for inferiority amongst white people. Upon leaving his grandmother's home in Arkansas, Wright for the first time noticed that there were different races of people. He states, "...and for the first time I noticed that there wer...