Troy Maxson

I personally do not think that Troy Maxson is racist, rather he is fighting racism. The 1950's were a hard time in American history, for the first time the lives of blacks and whites were being forced to come together. It was like putting a cat and a dog in the same cage and hoping they would eventually get along. Assuming in this senario that the dog represents the whites and the cat represents the blacks, the dog has the upper hand because of its size. The government allowed racism towards blacks to go on for so long that it grew strong and when they decided to let the "cat" in the cage, it did not stand a chance. That is how I see Troy Maxson's behavior towards whites. He feels as if he has been thrown into a cage of hungry dogs and is forced to fight for not only his, but his family's lives. He does not hate all white people, he hates the ones that are preventing him and his fellow race from reaching their dreams. Does he have a reason to be racist? I think he does and most people were. There was a lot of racism towards whites that you do not hear about because blacks did not have any power to show it. Not saying that all whites were mean to black but if it came down to giving a white or a black man a job, the white man would get it. Maxson even faced this in the play. He was denied the right to drive a truck because his boss said that only a white man could be a driver. Seeing how his boss treats him shows me that he has resentment towards him and all the other white people that act like him, but I do not consider that racism. Racism to me is showing resentment to all people that are from a certain race or nationality.