The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch by Richard Wright personally is both enlightening and at the same time disheartening. In the one sense, it gives a glimpse into our past as a country as well as a society. Just how great the racial divide really was. Although some may object, feeling there is still a racial divide, all parties concerned have to agree though that much has improved in terms of advancement and treatment of African Americans in this country. It is just amazing how ignorant Jim Crow Laws were but incredibly was instituted and implemented by the southern portion of the United States. I tried to place myself in Richard Wright’s situation, but in order to do so I needed to gain more understanding and knowledge on Jim Crow Laws. Jim crow laws are defined as the systematic practice of discriminating against and segregating black people, especially as practiced in the American south from the end of reconstruction to the mid 20th century. Some examples of Jim Crow laws were: A black male could not offer his hand ( to shake hands) with a white male because it implied being socially equal.
Blacks were not allowed to show affection in public, especially kissing, because it offended whites.
If a black person rode in a car driven by a white person the black person sat in the back seat, or back of the truck. It is very hard to place oneself in that time period with all the freedoms that we enjoy today. Thanks to the civil rights movement and the sacrifices that an entire group of people endured . We take it for granted the sharing of public bathrooms and water fountains. Sitting at the front of the bus and interracial marriages and so much more that we take for granted . There was a day and a time when blacks could not have a conversation with whites. If an individual were black, simple good mornings, yes and no sirs were the only