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Black Boy Chapter 13
Richard is dying to read, but blacks are not allowed library cards. He finds a white man in the office who is Irish and therefore likely to be looked down on by the other workers. Hoping he will be sympathetic, Richard asks to borrow his card. The man agrees, and soon Richard is reading H.L. Mencken, whose radically intellectual views shock him. He realizes that some people fight with words--and are successful. Despite the critical eyes of his co-workers, Richard is enchanted and reads more and more classics. However, he still feels crushed and frightened in the South, and longs to get out.
