I found The Ethics of Living Jim Crow to be a very interesting writing about the way things were after slavery had been abolished. Black men and women were now free and able to make many choices on their own, yet were far from equal and very restricted in their actions. Black people were expected uphold great respect for the white people, while they were shown no respect in return. When Mr. Morrie told Mr. Pease that he had been disrespected and called Pease, it showed the manipulative problems that could still occur. It also showed the control that the white men still had over the black man. They were making things up because the narrator wanted to advance in the work place, and they were threatened by his actions. Unfortunately their tactics worked, the boy had no option but to leave the job or receive a beating. From this point on he gained a better understanding of the way that the world worked for a black man in a society controlled by white men.
Throughout the rest of the story the boy learned of the ways that the world worked at this point in time. I found it unfortunate that even though he was “free”, he had to adapt to the way that the world currently worked and the way that black people were expected to act. While black people were no longer slaves, it seemed as though they were still able to be mistreated at any time. One of the worst situations in the story was when one of the bell-boys was forced to marry the negro maid because she was pregnant. When the child was born it was much lighter in complexion, and obviously it was a white mans child. This was possibly one of the sickest jokes I could imagine, the humiliation involved and the distress put on these two “supposedly legal parents” was disgusting.
White people in the story constantly referred to the boy as being “lucky” when he finds himself in a precarious situation. I found it interesting in the choice of words here, considering it didn’t seem to me as though luck was involved in any sense. He may have been lucky that he wasn’t treated worse, but the way that he was being treated was in no sense lucky.
This writing can best be compared to Frederick Douglas’ writings about his experiences with slavery. Both writings show the first hand experiences with the way people were treated during these times. While Frederick Douglas’ writings were during the times of slavery and explained the problems during those times, Richard Wright explains what types of problems were encountered after slavery had been abolished. Both writings were disturbing in the sense that people were mistreated for no ethical reason.
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I agree that there were many hardships for the black race at this time. However, I would not agree that they were "free." Yes, they were freed from slavery, but they still had no rights, were treated unfairly, and were still viewed as an inferior race. This just does not seem free to me. I think you did a really good job at pointing out several examples of just how unfree they really were. I especially like the example you used where the two men Mr. Morrie and Mr. Peas manipulated the situation to give them an excuse to beat him. I think this was probably really common at that time. This is probably because many blacks were still uneducated, making them easy targets of manipulation.
I think you raise many valuable points. One of which is that freedom in no way meant equality for blacks. I think that freedom rendered many blacks in quite a predicament because after slavery came the Jim Crow Laws. There seemingly was no way for African Americans to achieve the American Dream of success, by almost anyone’s definition, because whites were in power and created a system to keep them down. When Richard asked for what he had been offered, knowledge of a trade, he was insulted and denied access to it. The reaction of one of the whites, “you think you’re white, don’t you?” (550) speaks volumes. This question shows that the acquisition of knowledge was reserved for whites only. Since many blacks had slaves in their recent ancestry and thus did not have much knowledge or history of education in their family backgrounds, they needed authority figures to promote their equal rights and learning. Instead of such figures, Wright cites a policeman who accepted a white manager treating a black woman brutally and a night-watchman who sexually harassed a black maid. In this system, there was no way up for most blacks.
While I was reading The Ethics of Living Jim Crow, I also found the reading to be similiar to Frederick Douglass. Like Douglass, Wright also wanted to learn a trade, and both of the readings showed how black people were mistreated by white people. When Wright started his new job, I couldn't believe how his coworkers treated him after they found out that he wanted to learn a skill. They ended up forcing him out of the job with threats of violence. I think Wright was forced out of his because his coworkers were scared about Wright learning something new, and eventually becoming equal to them.
I always remember learning about Jim Crow laws in school, but I never really understood what they were until reading this story. It just shows that while slavery was abolished black people weren't really free. This is backed up by your point that the only reason the whole confrontation with Pease and Morrie happened was because the narrator wanted to move up in the work place- which is a goal everyone should have when taking a job, I mean who wants to stay at the same level forever? Good connection with Frederick Douglass, both depictions were disturbing definitely.
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