Quote by Richard Wright: “Men hate what they fear, and they fear what they do not understand.”

Wright brilliantly dissects the insidious roots of prejudice and animosity. He suggests that hostility often stems from a fundamental lack of knowledge, implying that ignorance breeds fear, which then escalates into irrational hatred against others.

From his seminal novel set in pre-WWII America, this quote powerfully articulates the psychological underpinnings of racial segregation and the pervasive fear that fueled systemic racism and violence.

American novelist and critic whose 1940 novel Native Son and 1945 autobiography Black Boy brought the brutality of American racism into stark focus for mainstream readers. Wright was one of the first African American authors to achieve widespread commercial and critical success in the United States.