The eloquent depiction of the suffering of the American black people contributed to Abraham Lincoln’s election as President of the United States. Lincoln, in turn, was an advocate for the abolition of slavery, which at that time — this was the year 1860 — was still thriving and was defended by the Southern states of the Union as entirely compatible with human rights and human dignity.

The grievances had to grow immensely before the Northern states were shaken out of their indifference and, when no other way out seemed possible, even decided on the Civil War — out of which, as we know, the centralized power of the Union emerged victorious and strengthened.

However, world history is shaped not only by ethics but also by self-interest. While the issue of slavery may have triggered the conflict, it was not the primary concern for either the victors or the vanquished. The Washington government sought to secure its central authority and bring the defiant Southern states under its control.

After the fighting ended, the "white man" forgot his black brother, who had marched alongside him in the struggle for freedom and equality for all. Slavery was abolished; black people could no longer be bought and sold. But in principle, "Uncle Tom" remained without rights, defenseless against the arbitrariness of the white autocrat.

To this day, the United States has not achieved equality for black people. The South of the Union remains a breeding ground for racial hatred and prejudice. Lynchings still occur as fanatical excesses of vigilante justice, and the inhumane terror of the Ku Klux Klan still persists. The Black Boyis still a pariah—cast out and oppressed, a second-class citizen, seemingly born to be a servant and laborer.

The mentality of the white man, who derives his pride and arrogance from racial prejudice, has often been described.

In “The Respectful Prostitute”, Sartre portrays the archetype of the white senator and his son — both demanding reverence and submission merely because they are white and belong to the ruling class. The extent to which this claim to dominance is intertwined with ruthlessness, sadism, and nationalistic as well as racial rhetoric can be seen in the dialogues of the play; whoever arrogates the right to use violence will always be violent — not only toward black people.

This is one reason why racial hatred is a universal human issue: the denial of humanity is always universal. The slave owner of black people will also prove to be a ruthless executioner toward members of his own race. This is a psychological mechanism from which no one can escape.

But what goes on in the soul of the oppressed and disenfranchised black person? How does he endure a life spent perpetually bowed down? Under what conditions does his fear turn into rebellion? When does the spirit of revolt, whether secretly or openly, take hold of him? For the master remains a master only as long as the servant sees himself as a servant. But the master's tyranny can push the servant to a point where he would rather give up his life than continue to exist in bondage.

More often, however, he resigns himself to his fate, surrenders to his destiny, and casts away the "hero in his soul," choosing instead to bear the burden of indignity with fear and hope. For a person who has lost freedom has lost everything.

Uncle Tom and his children still live in the American South, trapped in that duality where one can only be either an unhappy servant or a desperate rebel. The suffering of black people in some places is so great that it cries out to the heavens — yet this cry is not loud enough to be heard by the world.

Certainly, one hears that the black boyin the South is disadvantaged, beaten, and dishonored. But human imagination is not strong enough to bridge the gap of a few hundred kilometers — just as, according to a remark by La Rochefoucauld, people are perfectly capable of lamenting the indifference of the human heart while remaining indifferent to the suffering of others.

Nothing would be more misleading than to break into lamentations over the indifference of the human heart. If the people's sense of justice stems from their lack of imagination, one must help this imagination along — since it is only capable of making us believe that our most personal, selfish desires are being fulfilled.

One can, for example, depict the suffering of black people in such a way that it awakens shame in the soul of the white person and pride in the soul of the lack person — not in the sense of moralistic writings, but as literature that is true enough to depict an absurd world without painting rosy idylls.

The books of Richard Wright, the American Black writer, are such books of truthfulness. In them pulses, as a living breath, the pathos of compassion, the deep love for humanity, for the creature capable of murder and sacrifice.

Richard Wrightdescribes the fate of Black people from personal experience — he has lived it himself. Born on a wretched plantation in Mississippi, he embarked on the suffering path of the Black Boyin his childhood and youth, and walked it to its bitter end. One only needs to read the autobiographical book Black Boy(HarperCollins, 1945; German language edition: „Ich Negerjunge. Die Geschichte einer Kindheit und Jugend“, Steinberg Verlag Zürich, 1947): such a book spares one the need to read numerous sociological and psychological treatises, for it reflects all the possibilities of a Black existence, a life surrounded by prejudice.

A character forged in the crucible of such a life must — unless it has been broken — be unparalleled in toughness and nobility. One marvels at the elasticity of the human spirit, when one sees that hunger, the infamy of the environment, and soul-wrenching pain do not extinguish the love of freedom, but in some cases, even lend the will to live the fervor and directness needed to focus on a great goal with unwavering determination, even amidst fluctuating and changing circumstances.

How much injustice was done to Richard Wrightin his childhood? Raised by indifferent relatives, beaten and starved, without education or guidance, constantly moving from place to place — a small-scale odyssey, no less moving than the wandering and suffering of "the patient Odysseus." According to psychological law, Richard Wrightshould have become a criminal given such experiences and hardships. The fact that he did not may be attributed to the richness of his emotions, which prevented him from turning his anger toward the world into acts of madness and blindness. Reason compels the aggrieved not only to speak and act on their own behalf but to become a herald of universal freedom.

In Uncle Tom's Children(Harper & Brothers, 1938; German language version: Onkel Toms Kinder, Steinberg Verlag Zürich, 1947), Richard Wrighthas expressed his worldview in a masterful way. This book brings together five stories, five portraits of life — better yet: five appeals to the conscience of the world. With a creative power that is scarcely surpassed in contemporary literature, the soul of Black Boy is depicted here. It is measured, one might say, by an artistic geometer who knows the heights and depths of this soul landscape with the utmost precision.

And what themes! They would be worthy of the greatest dramatists. Here are just a few glimpses: Four black boys trespass on a white man’s property to swim in his pool. The landowner’s son sees them and quickly shoots two of them. The other two fight back, and the black boy kills the white man. Then follows the flight, the manhunt with bloodhounds trained to track black people, the tar and feathers, the gasoline cans poured onto a defenseless child who is left to die in the fire. A vast amount of cruelty unfolds in such lynch justice. If anywhere, one would believe in the "inner cur" of humanity here, which Schopenhauer — though in an unjustified generalization — speaks of. The same level of intensity is present in the depictions in Down by the Shore, Black Ballad, Fire and Cloud, and Morning Star.

A great sense of empathy and a sovereign humanity enable Richard Wrightto write books in which righteous indignation can be found, but never hatred. The person who knows and loves humanity understands that the white person is also a victim — a victim of an ideology that views all people through the lens of domination and subjugation.

Thus, his gaze rises above personal misfortune and sees the misfortune of humanity, which suffers from the epidemic violence of the principle of authority, which has hung over the fate of both individuals and societies since the beginning of time. In the face of the unshakeable ideal of a world built on justice, a person must shoulder the injustices of their time and strive to turn the wheel of history just a little further, promoting the cause of freedom — this endless task.

If one views the responsibility of literature as sufficiently great, one cannot avoid attributing to it both a moral and a social function. Richard Wright’sbooks are a school of human conscience, and this is ethically the highest praise one can give to the works of a storyteller.

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"We are all strong enough to endure what happens to others."

La Rochefoucauld.