Throughout the novel, "Black Boy," Richard Wright addresses the many effects of racism on the black American. White America has more power through education than Black America; however, black America has more power and knowledge through experience rather than education. The idea of Marxism is that those with wealth are the ones who have the most power over others; wealth is in the hands of the few. In systematic racism, although an individual does not have racist thoughts, racism still persists in them. Through systematic racism, discrimination of blacks is pursued and kept alive in the American society. Though Wright and many others thought that by taking part in the Great Migration would help their current situation and eliminate the discrimination they are undergoing during that time, once they reached the north they encountered new types of racism that was unknown before. They also encountered new forms of love and compassion that were unfamiliar and scary to them. Throughout the novel, Wright explores many of the upsides and downfalls to the great Migration to the North. .
Though it was thought by Richard and many other blacks that there would be numerous benefits to migrating to the north from the south, the amount of consequences outnumbered the benefits. The consequences of the Great Migration created a society in which the blacks succumbed and gave into the mistreatment from the whites because this new form of mistreatment was less severe than what the blacks were used to in the south. Whether the form of mistreatment was physical/violent or mental/equal rights, the blacks gave into to it because they believed they could not and would not be treated any better than that. "We knew that we were being cheated, but we never had enough cash to buy in any other way" (Wright 150). If America were to ever try to recuperate from its inappropriate behavior and mistreatment of the blacks, "it will find itself at war with itself, convulsed by a spasm of emotional and moral confusion" (Wright 272).