The Ethics Of Living Jim Crow Summary

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Chris Harvey Carolyn Woodward English 1020 Feb 18, 2013 Segregation and the Ethics of Living Jim Crow: a Formalist Approach The Ethics of Living Jim Crow by author Richard Wright was about a young African- American boy living in a time where segregation of whites and blacks was considered to be a very sensitive subject with some very stiff consequences. For example, jail sentences, beatings and murder could be the end point. The setting was a small town in Arkansas, where he learned to live as a Negro. There are several events that occur within the story where the white boys and Negro boys clash with one another. Wright, the author, uses a lot of symbolism within the story that relates to segregation. The symbols railroad tracks, weapons and the setting of the sun will enlighten the reader how serious segregation was through the eyes of an African-American. The railroad tracks are one symbol of segregation. In the beginning of the story the boy talks about living behind the railroad tracks where only black cinders pave the roads and yards. The side of the tracks where the Negros lived was dull and had no color to speak of, not even green grass. “The only touch of green was far away, beyond the tracks, over where the white folks lived” (560). The white side of the track seemed unattainable until his family moved away from the tracks…show more content…
On one side of the tracks live the black and on the other side live the whites. The setting of the sun symbolizes if you are black stay out of the white neighborhoods at night. I believe that the weapon example was the most difficult to prove as a symbol for segregation. Growing up in the early to mid 1900’s was a difficult time for the African-American people. Although, there are neighborhoods where both whites and blacks live by one another today, the “projects” (where African-American people live) still exist
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