Richard Wright’s Perceived Bargain for Success in Baldwin’s ‘Alas, Poor Richard’ Anonymous College

In a country where the colonizer still holds a social privilege over the colonized, questions of black people rising to success in a white-dominated society creates tensions among races as well as within oneself. ‘Alas Poor Richard’ by James Baldwin shows how the pursuit of comfort and security for African Americans creates a shared but competitive playing field among black Americans. Baldwin’s insights of the racial perspectives of Richard’s success provides an understanding of how black success in America requires bargaining with colonial powers. As the differences between Richard and Baldwin’s viewpoints become clearer they bring meaning to the struggle between personal and racial loyalties. By analysing Bladwin’s unique interpretation of Richard’s response to the overwhelming whiteness of his new social class, as well as the perspectives of other few black members of the same class, it will become clear that finding ones place in American society as a black person introduces itself like a survival sport for black Americans.

To begin, the foundations of Baldwin and Richard’s relationship are based on their similar conditions, making them an optimal pair to compare differing perceptions of racial politics. As Baldwin says of...