Is Troy Maxson racist? I don’t think so. I think, in Troy’s time (the 1950s, at the dawn of the Civil Rights movement) and culture, there is a difference between being racist and being bitter. I think Troy is the latter, considering he was too old to play major league baseball by the time African-Americans were allowed in. As I read Fences, I noticed how Troy’s bad-mouthing of the “white man” usually arose when he talked about sports, baseball and football in particular. He was rejected by the mainstream, and now is just plain pessimistic about his own son’s athletic aspirations because he has been there.
He was told by White America that he was not any good and he bought it. Hence, the career as a lowly garbage collector. It is not that he does not believe in Cory’s ability as much as he does not want to see his dreams crushed, and so this is why he urges his son to learn a trade and get out of the white man’s way. Just keep your head low. Just work, and accept that you will never be one of them, seems to be Troy’s philosophy. Times have changed, though, and so have the attitudes of African-Americans thanks to the Civil Rights Movement and the end of racial segregation in America.
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