cultural heritage

Eli Pardue
2/25/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Wright says it was his ‘cultural heritage’ to dislike Jews. Relate that to his own experiences.

Richard had a predisposed cultural hatred towards Jews that was ingrained in his cultural philosophy by society. He has a hatred for them because all the students were taught in school that Jews were Christ killers. This singled the Jews in his neighborhood out, making them easy targets for ridicule. It is also worth noting that this time period is when the stereotypes of Jews being rich and wealthy began to come forth. Jews were mainly immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe, and, as immigrants are “supposed” to do, they worked very hard to get ahead, and oftentimes became prominent lawyers and bankers. I think this fact may have been a reason for Richard resentment of them.
Richard had felt much of the same hatred from white people that the Jews felt from the black residents of the neighborhood. Much as it was the cultural heritage of Richard to ridicule the Jews, it was the cultural heritage of the white people to ridicule Richard. All the way back to the root of slavery, an animosity between blacks and whites had existed. There is also a distinct relation to the way Richard is treated by his parents and the way he treats Jews. His was of treating Jews was with mocking and taunting, but it is the same way that he looks down upon them as his mother looks down upon him when he is being beaten.