Black Boy Violence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Section.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

"You just stay right where you are," she said in a deadly tone. "I’m going to teach you this night to stand up and fight for yourself."

[…]

"Take this money, this note, and this stick," she said. "Go to the store and buy those groceries. If those boys bother you, then fight." (1.1.206)

If anyone should understand Richard’s violent tendencies, it’s his mom. She did teach him how to fight, after all.

Quote #2

Our battles were real and bloody; we threw rocks, cinders, coal, sticks, pieces of iron, and broken bottles, and while we threw them we longed for even deadlier weapons. (1.3.76)

Like father, like son. Just like little kids playing house, these older boys have already started playing "segregation" and "racism."

Quote #3

Knowing that if I did not win or make a good showing I would have to fight a new boy each day, I fought tigerishly, trying to leave a scar, seeking to draw blood as proof that I was not a coward, that I could take care of myself. (1.3.185)

Richard literally has to fight to stay alive. He may be too shy to say a word in the classroom, but he has no problem beating people up at recess.