I knew what was wrong with me, but I could not correct it. The words and actions of
white people were baffling signs to me. I was living in a culture and not a civilization and I
could learn how that culture worked only by living with it. Misreading the reactions of whites
around me made me say and do the wrong things. In my dealing with whites I was conscious
only of what was happening at a given moment. I had to keep remembering what others took
for granted; I had to think out what others felt.
white people were baffling signs to me. I was living in a culture and not a civilization and I
could learn how that culture worked only by living with it. Misreading the reactions of whites
around me made me say and do the wrong things. In my dealing with whites I was conscious
only of what was happening at a given moment. I had to keep remembering what others took
for granted; I had to think out what others felt.
( Richard Wright )
[ Black Boy ]
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