Editing Richard Wright (author) (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Shimer College banned books 2013.jpg|thumb|[[Banned Books Week]] reading of ''Black Boy'' at [[Shimer College]] in 2013]]

''Black Boy'' became an instant best-seller upon its publication in 1945.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Richard Wright: A Biography|first=Debbie|last=Levy|page=97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OvRc7mIiyQYC&pg=PA97|year=2007|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |isbn=978-0822567936}}</ref> Wright's stories published during the 1950s disappointed some critics who said that his move to Europe had alienated him from African Americans and separated him from his emotional and psychological roots.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Richard Wright's Native Son|editor=Fraile, Ana|first=Caleb|last=Corkery|page=16|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4Nhxo-ECS8C&pg=PA16|chapter=Richard Wright and His White Audience: How the Author's Persona Gave ''Native Son'' Historical Significance|year=2007|publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-9042022973}}</ref> Many of Wright's works failed to satisfy the rigid standards of [[New Criticism]] during a period when the works of younger black writers gained in popularity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Richard Wright's Native Son|editor=Fraile|first=Philip|last=Goldstein|pages=26–27|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4Nhxo-ECS8C&pg=PA26|chapter=From Communism to Black Studies and Beyond: The Reception of Richard Wright's ''Native Son''|year=2007|publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-9042022973}}</ref>

During the 1950s Wright grew more internationalist in outlook. While he accomplished much as an important public literary and political figure with a worldwide reputation, his creative work did decline.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/r_wright/r_wright.htm |title= Richard Wright (1908–1960) |access-date= October 7, 2008 |last= Mullen |first= Bill |work= Modern American Poetry |publisher= [[University of Illinois]] |archive-date= December 17, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081217062139/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/r_wright/r_wright.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref>

While interest in ''Black Boy'' ebbed during the 1950s, this has remained one of his best selling books. Since the late 20th century, critics have had a resurgence of interest in it. ''Black Boy'' remains a vital work of historical, sociological, and literary significance whose seminal portrayal of one black man's search for self-actualization in a racist society strongly influenced the works of African-American writers who followed, such as [[James Baldwin]] and [[Ralph Ellison]]. [[John A. Williams]] included a fictionalized version of Wright's life and death in his 1967 novel ''[[The Man Who Cried I Am]]''.

It is generally agreed that the influence of Wright's ''Native Son'' is not a matter of literary style or technique.{{sfn|Corkery|2007|pp=17–28}} Rather, this book affected ideas and attitudes, and ''Native Son'' has been a force in the social and intellectual history of the United States in the last half of the 20th century. "Wright was one of the people who made me conscious of the need to struggle," said writer [[Amiri Baraka]].<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.itvs.org/RichardWright/more_info.html |title= Richard Wright – Black Boy |access-date=October 7, 2008 |publisher=[[Independent Television Service]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080715231354/http://www.itvs.org/RichardWright/more_info.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = July 15, 2008}}</ref> 

During the 1970s and 1980s, scholars published critical essays about Wright in prestigious journals. Richard Wright conferences were held on university campuses from Mississippi to New Jersey. A new film version of ''Native Son'', with a screenplay by [[Richard Wesley]], was released in December 1986. Certain Wright novels became required reading in a number of American high schools, universities and colleges.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/10748/Richard_Wright/index.aspx|title= Richard Wright |access-date=October 7, 2008 |publisher= [[HarperCollins]] }}</ref>

Recent critics have called for a reassessment of Wright's later work in view of his philosophical project. Notably, [[Paul Gilroy]] has argued that "the depth of his philosophical interests has been either overlooked or misconceived by the almost exclusively literary inquiries that have dominated analysis of his writing".<ref>{{cite book|first=Sarah|last=Relyea|title=Outsider Citizens|location=New York City|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=2006|page=62|isbn=978-0415975278}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Gilroy|author-link=Paul Gilroy|title=The Black Atlantic|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|date=1993|isbn=978-0674076068|page=147}}</ref>

Wright was featured in a 90-minute documentary about the WPA Writers' Project entitled ''Soul of a People: Writing America's Story'' (2009).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/sn/show.do?show=135396|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121220204643/http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/sn/show.do?show=135396|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 20, 2012|title=Smithsonian Channel: Home|access-date=September 30, 2016}}</ref> His life and work during the 1930s is highlighted in the companion book, ''Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America''.<ref>[http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470403802.html ''Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America'' page at Wiley.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007072915/http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470403802.html |date=October 7, 2012 }}</ref>