About 50 years ago, I first read "Black Boy" by Richard Wright and was deeply touched by the abject [View all]

[Atticus]

poverty and open discrimination the author endured. My own grandparents were also "dirt poor" and my mother suffered from malnutrition as a child, but they were caucasians. While they were sometimes called hillbillies and "white trash", neither they nor I had to live in an openly hostile community that somehow "justified" its hostility because of race.

Some may find some of Mr. Wright's descriptions---of outhouses, observed nudity, etc.---"disgusting", but that's because truth often is.

"Black Boy" was one of this white boy's "eye openers". I believe its truth is still relevant today. If you have not read it yet, add it to your list.