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Black Boy Chapter 12
Working at another optical company, Richard meets more blacks who are willing to abandon their principles for a dollar. A man named Shorty one day needs a quarter for lunch, and allows a white man to kick him in exchange for it. When Richard asks him how he can stoop so low, he responds, "My ass is tough and quarters is scarce." Chapter 12, pg. 229
Topic Tracking: Coming of Age 7
One day Mr. Olin, a white co-worker, approaches Richard and advises him that Harrison, a young black co-worker, hates Richard and wants to hurt him. Olin tells him to watch out, and offers him a knife. Bewildered, Richard takes it, but later finds out that Olin had told Harrison the same story: he wanted them to attack and kill each other. Richard is furious and further disillusioned with whites. Soon after, Harrison convinces Richard to stage a fight for the white men for money. The boys imagine that they will not really hurt each other, but when the fight begins they realize that they don't know how to fake it, and end up beating each other brutally.
