Perspectives of Growing Up Black in America

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the ugly face of racism continues to haunt the United States in many ways, and its effects seem to ebb and flow from one American generation to the next. It reviews the black authors, Debra Dickerson, Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, Brent Staples, and Ralph Ellison, and attempts to show how have all helped to focus national and international attention on the challenges and obstacles faced in America as they sought to overcome the lingering effects of racism. It also explores how, although they all have different approaches to the problem, all of these authors have managed to capture the essence of their struggles and triumphs as they grew up in the United States. An examination of their lives and works is followed by a summary of the research in the conclusion.

From the Paper:

"In his book, Black Boy, Richard Wright broke new ground as being among the first black American writers to protest white treatment of blacks. The grandson of slaves, Wright's father left home when he was five. "After my father's desertion, my mother's ardently religious disposition dominated the household and I was often taken to a Sunday school where I met God's representative in the guise of a tall, black preacher" (Wright 33). According to one biographer, Wright grew up in poverty and was frequently shifted from one relative to another (Wright, Richard 3). Wright worked at a number of menial jobs before joining the Great Migration northward. After landing a job with the Federal Writers' Project in Chicago, he became a member of the Communist Party in 1932."

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