The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch was written by Richard Wright.  In this short story, Richard tells us of the hardships he faced and witnessed when living in the south as a black person.  He tells us stories of his brutal experiences with white people and the racism he encountered.  He first tells us of a fight him and his gang got into with white boys when he was young. He tells us how a broken glass milk bottle was thrown at him and gashed open behind his ear.  Both his friends and mother did nothing to help him.  His friends just ran away and when he showed his mother all she had to say was "How come yuh didnt hide?" and "How come yuh awways fightin?".  She then proceeded to drag him home, stripped him naked, and beat him until he had a fever of 102.  I was extremely shocked that his mother was not there for him when he needed her. I expected her to be upset by what happened and make sure he was okay.  He also tells us his experience when working as a hall boy in a hotel where the rooms were occupied by prostitutes.  He was often called to assist them and was trained to not even notice the naked women and men.  He tells us how one of the bell boys was caught in bed with a white prostitute and was castrated for it.  The black staff was told that the boy who had been castrated was a "mighty, mighty lucky bastard".  I feel that was an overly extreme punishment.  If the worker had been white there would not have been a consequence at all or at most he would have been fired.

Every relationship Richard had with a white person was negative.  Whether it be his employer, a cop, or a random person driving by him, each white person discriminated against him for being black. I feel that he has every right to not want to be near white people. I found his stories shocking and some hard to read.  In today's society racism is frowned upon.  How could Richard ever have a good or loving relationship with a white person after having all of the bad experiences he had?