Editing Ralph Bakshi (section)

==Early life==
Ralph Bakshi was born  on October 29, 1938 in [[Haifa]], [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]], to a [[Krymchaks|Krymchak]] [[Jewish]] family. In 1939, his family migrated to the United States, and he grew up in the [[Brownsville, Brooklyn|Brownsville]] neighborhood of [[Brooklyn]]. The family lived in a low-rent apartment, where Bakshi became fascinated with the urban milieu. As a child, he enjoyed comic books, and he often dug through trash cans to find them.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-22">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |pages=22–24 |chapter=Brownsville |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4 |last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref>

According to an interview in 2009, Bakshi said he was very poor and the walls of his neighborhood were constantly repainted. He liked the feeling when he looked out the window and saw the sun as a little boy, and whenever he would walk out in the streets, someone would break open the wooden crates in the push-carts that were filled with food, stating as such: "And the push carts were wood, and most of the buildings were made out of old wood, going back to the turn of the century, and they were repainted a lot but the paint was faded by, you know the hundred years of snow and rain, repainted and faded again." Bakshi loved the faded colors, the nails, the wooden crates, and he would build his own toys from the wood. He recalled having "a great feeling with wood, cement, and nails".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opvjt6rC03c| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211111/opvjt6rC03c| archive-date=2021-11-11 | url-status=live|title=Ralph Bakshi - AFA NYC| website=[[YouTube]]|date=2009-12-17}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In the spring of 1947, Bakshi's father and uncle traveled to Washington, D.C., in search of business opportunities, and soon moved the family to the black neighborhood of [[Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.|Foggy Bottom]].<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-106">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |page=106 |chapter=''Coonskin'' |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4 |last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref> Bakshi recalled, "All my friends were black, everyone we did business with was black, the school across the street was black. It was segregated, so everything was black. I went to see black movies; black girls sat on my lap. I went to black parties. I was another black kid on the block. No problem!"<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-106"/>

The [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]] of local schools meant that the nearest white school was several miles away; Bakshi obtained his mother's permission to attend the nearby black school with his friends. Most of the students had no problem with Bakshi's presence, but a teacher sought advice from the principal, who called the [[New York City Police Department|police]]. Fearing that segregated whites would riot if they learned that a white, let alone Jewish student was attending a black school, the police removed Bakshi from his classroom.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-108">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |chapter=''Coonskin'' |pages=108–9 |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4 |last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref> Meanwhile, his father had been suffering from anxiety attacks. Within a few months, the family moved back to Brownsville, where they rarely spoke of these events.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-108"/>

At the age of fifteen, after discovering [[Gene Byrnes]]' ''Complete Guide to Cartooning'' at the public library, Bakshi took up [[cartooning]] to document his experiences and create fantasy-influenced art. He stole a copy of the book and learned every lesson in it.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-28">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |chapter=Brownsville |pages=28–9 |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4|last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref> During his teenaged years, Bakshi took up boxing.<ref name="Barrier-3"/> While attending [[Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn, New York)|Thomas Jefferson High School]], he took little interest in academics, spending most of his time focusing on "broads, mouthing off, and doodling". After participating in a food fight and being caught smoking, Bakshi was sent to the principal's office. Believing Bakshi was unlikely to prosper at Thomas Jefferson, the principal transferred him to [[Manhattan]]'s [[High School of Art and Design|School of Industrial Art]]. At the school, he was taught by [[African-American]] cartoonist Charles Allen. In June 1956, Bakshi graduated from the school with an award in cartooning.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-28"/><ref name=kayfabe/> He attended and graduated from the School of Industrial Art (now known as the [[High School of Art and Design]]) in 1956.<ref>Culhane, John. [https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/22/arts/ralph-bakshi-iconoclast-of-animation.html "Ralph Bakshi - Iconoclast of Animation"], ''The New York Times'', March 22, 1981. Accessed January 22, 2017. "From being a poor student at Thomas Jefferson High School, he was inspired to compete for one of 10 openings at the School of Industrial Art (now the High School of Art and Design), a vocational school for commercial artists. When he graduated in June of 1956, he won the school's cartooning medal - and he has been transmuting the gritty reality of the streets in drawings ever since."</ref>