Ethics of Living Jim Crow

Reading about human stupidity in history is not a favorite past time of mine. It always makes me wonder how on Earth people could have been so shallow at that point. Aside from that, it does give me hope that humans will continue evolving into less-ignorant organisms. I would like to live to see the day when all racism and other forms of discrimination cease to exist. The idealistic future where not a single being takes note of race, sexuality, or gender may or may not be far from now. I assume it is pretty far from now, judging by the current state of living, but my hopes prevail. This article titled The Ethics of Living Jim Crow by Richard Wright is yet another reminder of human flaws. Honestly, "flaw" might be a bit of an understatement.
With my judgmental introduction complete, this specific article is in the point of view of a person living under these Jim Crow laws. He explains the hardships of living like that, and explains how difficult it was for him to keep a steady job with all the discrimination continuously getting in the way. Most of the sidebar comments I wrote on the article were sarcastic and dissatisfied with his stories. For example, somewhere on the first page, Wright confronted his mother about an incident that happened. After her response of slapping the child, I wrote, "what a lovely mother, very understanding." It is unfortunate and upsetting to think about these times. Not only were the "white folks" against this boy, but his own mother was, too. Obviously, his mother was just trying to keep him out of trouble by teaching him an assortment of wonderful lessons complete with yelling, improper English, and slapping!
Wright continuously received mixed messages from people on the job. One moment they'd be talking, completely okay, then the next they are upset and yelling because he had forgotten to say, "sir." I believe this taught him that there was a big difference between the white and black people, and he should never forget that. He learned that he needed to "stay in his place" or he would not be able to work anymore. With his minor mess ups, he managed to go from job to job several times.
By the end of the article, he finally accepted his unfair and horrible fate. He learned how to compose himself around the "white folk" and he essentially became numb to the violence and discrimination towards others. Wright learned of the things he was allowed to talk about and the things he was not allowed to talk about. Not surprisingly, the list of things he was not allowed to talk about was much longer. He had to keep keen and clever in order to avoid unwanted situations with the easily-angered men he worked for.
This article was ended with a quote from one of Wright's friends. "Ef it wuzn't fed them polices 'n' them of lynch mobs, there wouldn't be nothin' but uproar down here!" Aside from the obnoxious English speaking skills this man had, this is a very important quote. Nobody was very fond of the current conditions, and if it were not for the violent consequences, there would be a revolution. Fortunately, people finally came to the realization that the benefits outweighed the consequences. Unfortunately, racism is still a big problem today, just not as big as it once was. I still believe that humans will eventually learn from their obvious mistakes and overcome this period of utter stupidity and discrimination.