Racism
The Walls of Jericho is a clear exploration of racism and racist ideas in the 1920s. As soon as Ralph’s white neighbors discover the truth about his racial background, he is cast out by the rest of the neighborhood. While white people were considered naturally racist, some claimed not to be racist because of their charitable efforts toward black organizations. However, their behaviors and derogatory words often coincided with their actions. Fisher details the unsettling experiences of racism that people of color had to live within the 1920s.
Segregation
Decades before segregation was enacted into law, forms of segregation had begun to take shape in neighborhoods that had an influx of white and colored people living so close together. Ralph buys a house in an all-white neighborhood that borders the streets of Harlem which causes social unrest among the white neighbors. The boundaries of race are set in this book that vividly shows how people were divided and artificially selected based on the color of their skin. Because of his fair skin, Ralph is mistaken for a white man until someone realizes he’s colored. The neighbors become furious with this abnormality in their systematically curated community of whites only.
Class Divide
In the 1920s, black people were considered poor and uneducated individuals. Ralph was a successful lawyer who was well renowned in New York. Privileged white people believed that black people couldn’t be as successful as them. Individuals like Ralph threatened that idea which made them scared of the new progressive society that was taking root in Harlem. Many white people left Harlem and neighboring communities for more rural areas because of the multiculturalism that was beginning to take shape. They simply couldn’t come to terms with the fact that people of color can be as successful and own the same kind of homes as white people.
