Schools and morals

Richard is taught morality in black boy through the white person's lens. His whole view of the world is altered through the way in which white people and black people who have already accepted the viewpoint tell him. This relates to the article because the article describes the way in which a mandatory school system defines our world. It is a portal for the government to project its values onto society. Thus, the entire view of our youth is controlled by the government. Wright must cope with the grip of the white race on determining public view of society as participants of the mandatory public school system must accept the government's view of society. The grip of the government on the definition of morality is strong. The government controls the public school system which controls what the students see and hear for a great portion of their lives. This relates because they have now developed the government's view on how to see the world once they have endured this system. 

When Wright reaches the end of the novel he realizes that everyone is suffering in the way that he had been suffering throughout his life. He discovers that even the white race, which had abusively dominated the black race through racist ideals, was miserable. He realizes that this is the case because when he tries to no longer be a member of the communist party, the communist party continues to pester him and discredit him due to his unusual status as a writer. He was also denied a place in the March Day Parade, a politicly unbiased celebration of the based, simply because of the color of his skin. I believe in his philosophy to some extent, but it seems a bit like a complaint because he has been discriminated against for so long. While his opinion has some validity, it was spawned through great annoyance and hatred of the illogical racism that was rampant in society. Thusly, It is very unlikely that he would have come to this conclusion had he been white, which ethos finds very unappealing.  

Politicians vs Artists

Artists and politicians stand on opposing poles because they broadcast their information differently and for very different reasons. An artists goal is to broadcast himself just as he is. He wishes to convey to the world his feelings and emotions through his artwork, hoping that others will interpret his artwork in the same way. A politician on the other hand, will not present himself as he actually is, but rather, as the world wants him to be. Regardless of who he actually is and the qualifications that he actually has, a politician must skew information, and often, lie and deceive to be elected. So they have opposite castings of information. An artist conveys the truth, and a politician conveys whatever will get him elected. Because of the lies that already occur in politics, a fledgling politician has no choice but to adopt the policy of cheating and subtly telling lies to earn votes. A politician that conveys his views in the same manner that an artist paints a picture will certainly fail. 

One voice

The question, can one voice move a crowd to action is a debatable one, perceptively due to the fact that the givens of the question are not clearly defined. If "can" is interpreted to mean that it is valid to manipulate the givens to support the findings of at least one circumstance in which the statement holds true, then the answer to that question would be yes. Because the givens are not defined, I shall establish the conditions, which have not been set and evaluate the chances of success for the lone voice. One is crowd size. With a very small crowd one voice does make a difference.  If there are three people, it is quite easy to sway the opinion of the other two. One is how radical a change the voice advocates.A more radical change from the norm will require more time to sway the crowd into believing in swaying a change. Time can also be an important variable because when a person is given a large timeframe, they do not have to attack all the different viewpoints simultaneously. A voice can then attack one individual at a time, gradually building a general opinion. Finally another variable is the malleability, often inversely proportional to age, of the crowd you are trying to sway. A more malleable crowd might require less time and effort to change an existing opinion. With five variables and only one equation, I cannot solve this question, however, I can provide a useful, highly accurate equation based on how the aforementioned variables are set. 

then the plight of the individual will succeed. In all other circumstances, the plight of the individual will fail. 

For E=effort put forth

x=Charisma/ability of expression 

m=malleability of audience 

t=time

n=number of people

 Rn=Radiclicity of norm

Ri =Radiclicity of ideal

Where n is > 0 and Rn≠Ri  

Wright's opinion

One area in which Wright expresses his opinion through parentheses is when he is describing his job at the cafe. In this passage he depicts the cultural background of the black man to be a paradox because the negro makes up a large part of the nation, but is excluded from american culture. Wright explains here that the oppression that keeps an otherwise large and influential part of society from contributing was established through years of hate and developed habit. Wright indicates that this is an almost irreversible change. This change is not necessarily irreversible, but it cannot easily and peacefully be reversed in a short period of time. Such a radical action would appear to be a violation of white culture. Much like the blacks had accepted and conformed to their oppression, the whites have accepted and conformed to their domination. Such a change would require a will that few people possess. Even if all blacks were to think the same thing at the same time, few would be inclined to do anything, accepting and conforming to the culture had made them lazy. 

The change

The change that right sets forward seems to be a positive change. He says that he is fleeing from a terrorizing culture. He understands the intricate facets of racism and he understands the effect that a prolonged exposure to such a society will have on himself. He has seen this change happen all around him. He sees evidence that this change occurs in his uncle, mother, and nearing the end of part 1, shorty. Wright is completely abnormal in that he has not yet adapted to the racism in the way that almost every other black individual has. Throughout the novel Richard Wright is compelled by individuals, both white and black, to accept the world for what it is and make the best of the situation by allowing the white race to be dominant. Richard also begins seeing this change in himself when he is cheated when he goes to work for Mr. Crane and cannot say so without fearing that he is putting his life in jeopardy. Fearing that he might become just like shorty and be chronically manipulated by the white race and indifferent to racism, Wright feels he must leave to preserve his individual thought. 

subservience

Subservience is a necessary part of living occasionally for Wright. Sometimes one can live comfortably without subservience, illustrated by Wright's ability to survive in the world for the extended period of time that he could not grasp the idea of conforming to society. Other times however, the realities part, and subservience and conformity become an important part of surviving in the world. This is shown by Wright's job with the two men who falsely accuse him and result in his resignation. Wright must adapt to the situation and determine whether subservience is the most viable option, or if it is worth sacrificing his morals to take the path of subservience. Sometimes the subservience is accidental. When Wright fought with Harrison it was not intended to be a real fight, but it became one, and resulted in a subservient position that neither of the people in the fight wished to be in. This subservience was unavoidable, but once the fight started, there was no backing out. If the circumstances of Wright's life had been different, he might have not ever had to confront this issue of subservience, but his life was not different, so he had to confront that issue. 

Coping

When wright says that he had begun coping with the white world too late he means that he has lived in his own reality in which the races were equal because in a logical sense, to him they were. As he found out, however, he underestimated the malice that the white world would inflict upon him. He was tricked by the white society. He tried to play the game of life fairly and lost. Such an example can be found in one of the jobs that Wright occupies. While the owner is enthusiastic about hiring Wright, the two men that the owner hired to train Wright are not. Because they fear that Wright will do their jobs better than they can, instead of teaching Wright how to do the job, they think up false accusations like forgetting to address one of them as "Mr." Caught in a situation in which he cannot win, Wright is forced to leave the job he is in, and, fearing for his life, he does not tell the owner why he chose to resign. Unlike many other crises Wright faces, this one clearly illustrates that the concept of simply conforming to the white way of life, which he cannot grasp, cannot be ignored. He is mad at himself, but caught in a lose-lose situation, Wright cannot avoid this confrontation with reality any longer. 

Speech

Wright is justified in refusing to say the speech by the standards that we instill in children today, but to say that he is justified in refusing it in general assumes truths that may not have been accepted at the time of the speech. The White people in the audience would rather have the blacks completely subordinate, and anything that suggests that black people are like white people would threaten the White person's self justification of the discrimination towards blacks. Because in his society the white opinion is what matters, in his current situation, Wright may not have been justified in his rejection of the speech because it offended the white population and served as a rupture in the status quo. If one is to accept that the races are equal, Wright has perfect justification in his refusal to read the speech that would be less offensive to the white people, but in a world in which only the white are permitted to determine what is justifiable, he was certainly not justified in straying at all from the path in which the white people would prefer him to take. 

Uncle

Wright gets really angry at his uncle because he does not understand the concept that his uncle got so angry about. The argument was over a simple telling of the time. When the uncle asked for the time, Wright told him an approximation of the time and the uncle scolded him for it. Wright did not understand why it was important so he argued back. The main reason that Wright got angry is that the idea that the uncle is trying to instill in him is completely foreign to him and makes little logical sense. He does not understand the idea of conformity to the illogical situation that should benefit him in the long run. The uncle believes that thinking for oneself will only cause long term problems, and that Wright should just accept the dominance of others over him and continue life with the acceptance of this truth. Wright does not understand this sort of domination because his uncle is a figure that has no real influence in his life, but wishes to take a position of power over him. While the way the world is set up would benefit Wright to conform to society and concede to his uncle's seemingly pointless domination, Wright lacks the capability to understand this and becomes very angry at the entire concept.