[ch.1] Background on Richard Wright. The life of Richard Wright / Edward D. Clark -- Life in the north / Hazel Rowley -- [ch.2] Native son and civil rights. A protest novel / James Baldwin -- The cost of oppression and submission / Irving Howe -- Black life no mere abstraction / Ralph Ellison -- Social critiques of native son anger Wright / Addison Gayle -- Losing self-control / Joseph T. Skerrett, Jr. -- The black male's search for identity in a racist society / Aimé J. Ellis -- Wright's solution to racism / Cynthia Tolentino -- No solidarity with the oppressed / Damon Marcel DeCoste -- Bigger's sense of superiority / Lale Demirtürk -- Bigger thomas : radical revolutionary / Petar Ramadanovic -- [ch.3] Contemporary perspectives on civil rights / Faye Fiore -- Race blindness / Samuel Terence -- Too many blacks imprisoned / Michael Eric Dyson -- Transracial adoptions still face hurdles / Rachel Uranga -- Defined by hip-hop / Keli Goff.