Bad Boy, chapter 5, Walter begins talking about the “summer of 1947”. On page 35, Walter says,” The summer of 1947 was one of eager anticipation for black people across the across the country”. “Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, two black players from the all-black Negro Leagues, had finally been accepted into major-league baseball. Walter is probably happy because he sees a change in African American culture. Walter talks about him and his friends try to hang Richard, a boy who had hurt his eyes while staring at the sun. Walter says he and Johnny, his friend, reads an article in the “Amsterdam News” about a black man who had been lynched by hanging. So, they decided to hang Richard. Reverend Abbott, the pastor, walked by and seen the boys
No Heroes, No Villains: The Story of a Murder Trial by Steven Phillips takes the reader behind the scenes of a particular case. This is the story of James Richardson, a black man who was accused of murdering police officer, John Skagen. John Skagen, a white off duty officer, was headed home in the subway system in South Bronx, New York. For reasoning still questionable, he ordered Richardson to get up against the wall with his hands up. While being frisked, Richardson pulled a gun on Skagen and the two exchanged shots. Richardson then escaped the custody of Skagen and headed up the subways stairs firing four shots, two of which hit Skagen in the shoulders. Richardson shouted as he reached the top of the stairs “He’s shooting, a crazy man
As I finished reading the book Foul Trouble by John Feinstein, I thought that this was one of my favorite basketball books that I have read. This book was a fictional book about these two friends named Danny and Terrell who loved to play basketball. In the middle of the book, the team starts to find difficulty winning games, as the team start to make poor decisions. Terrell starts it by partying with people that are trying to recruit him, and he eventually get injured during the parties, forcing him to miss some of the games for the team. As a result, the team starts losing a few more games and the team is concerned if they can make the state tournament now. In this journal I will be questioning if the team would have made it to the state
Elijah Anderson’s Code of the Street book depicts two opposite communities within Philadelphia, the poor inner city black community and the residential middle class community. The majority of the book revolves around describing how the inner city functions on a ‘code of the street’ mentality, respect and toughness. Crime, violence and poverty run high in the inner city and following the code is a way to survive. Having a decent family or a street family greatly influences the path an adolescent will take involving delinquency. Anderson divides the book up into different themes and explores each one my not only giving factual information, but he also incorporates real life stories of various people who survived the inner city life style. Some of the themes include territory, survival by any means necessary, toughness, separate set of norms, campaign of respect and the mating game. Some criminological theories are also noticeable that take place in the inner city community.
The last chapter of John Okada’s No-No Boy is an evaluation of Ichiro’s choice that shapes the story. Before the beginning of the novel, Ichiro chooses not to fight the Japanese as an American soldier, and, as a result, he spends two years in jail. Ichiro’s friend, Freddie, was also a “no-no boy” who refused to fight as an American soldier. Freddie also does his jail time. However, at the end of the novel, Freddie makes the decision to go to war in a different context, and he dies (with a strong comparison to Ichiro’s good friend Kenji, who also dies as a result of going to war). As Freddie and Ichiro had made the same choices up until the final scenes of the book, Freddie serves to represent the contrast between Ichiro’s choice (to abstain from fighting) and the decision he could have made (to go to war). Ultimately, Ichiro defends his people and is on his way to becoming fulfilled. The novel ends on an optimistic note as Ichiro feels validated by all of the difficult decisions he had made.
In the Earley book, the author started to talk about the history of mental illness in prison. The mentally ill people were commonly kept in local jails, where they were treated worse than animals. State mental hospitals were typically overcrowded and underfunded. Doctors had very little oversight and often abused their authority. Dangerous experimental treatments were often tested on inmates.
Cunningham demonstrated that he could remain as a good-hearted individual regardless of how poor he is, while still sustaining a role of a responsible parent to his son Walter Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham still however has his own opinions and beliefs towards things like the Tom Robinson situation; he is apart of the mob that tries to lynch Tom before the trial. However when Scout approaches Mr. Cunningham talking to him about Walter, his first action is to go back and leads the mob to do so as well. He was in front of the Maycomb’s jailhouse and cleared the men from harming Tom Robinson by saying “ Lets clear out,” he called. “ Lets get going boys” (Lee 154). Mr. Cunningham conveniently had the option to lynch Robinson in jail and follow through with his own beliefs towards him, however when he acknowledges the consequences regarding Walter, right away he put his beliefs aside and puts his son before them. Scout helps him realize that he should not make the choice of punishment to Tom Robinson. It is obvious that Mr. Cunningham raises Walter very well based on the way that he acts to others even without money or much to offer. It would be expected for him to accept help right away however Walter does not accept anything without feeling like he has earned it. At school, not being able to buy a lunch, the teacher offers him a quarter to have one however he does not accept her charity because he would not be able to pay back. Walter had an option to obtain a lunch, something he did not have and obviously would want because he is unable to afford it, however he put his honor and self respect before taking something away from others, because that is how well mannered he is by his father. Not having a lunch would leave him hungry for the day however that did not matter if he did not demonstrate respect or responsibility to earn it. Walter’s good character came before anything else. Everyday, Walter manages to come to school in fresh clean clothes although he does
Walter is released from prison. We see him registering as a sex offender and then the story proceeds. We see him go to a job where the boss specifically tells him he doesn’t want any trouble and the only reason he hired him was as a favor. We see Walter as a quiet man, who keeps to himself and appears to struggle with social skills. The receptionist at the factory began talking to him and observed that he was different. She went to the manager to inquire as to what he had done however the manager told her to mind her own business. She was not satisfied with the answer and went out to search for herself.
The 6th Street Boys were the gang that Goffman spent six years in Philadelphia with, and who she wrote her book about. While Goffman mainly focuses on a handful of the 6th Street Boys, one could assume that the gang consisted of almost every young male who lived on, or near the block. Everyone who she encountered during her time living in this neighborhood was an African- American, and this includes the young men who were in the gang. This being said, however, the gang lets Goffman become a “member” and even give her a nickname. This leads us to believe that the 6th Street Boys allowed women who lived on the block, and their girlfriends who may not have lived on the block to join the gang as well, but not as on official 6th Street Boys member,
Richard Wright portrays the many aspects of social acceptance and the use of language as a key to identity throughout the novel. He brings the pages to life by using sufficient elements to enhance his writing. Through these displays of rhetorical techniques, the appeal to the reader is dramatically increased which results in a more personal and overall significant meaning to the book Black Boy.
Bad blood is a book that was written James H. Jones who is an associate professor of History. The book narrates on how the government through the department of Public Health service (PHS) authorized and financed a program that did not protect human values and rights. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment which was conducted between 1932 and 1972 where four hundred illiterate and semi-illiterate black sharecroppers in Alabama recently diagnosed with syphilis were sampled for an experiment that was funded by the U.S Health Service to prove that the effect of untreated syphilis are different in blacks as opposed to whites. The blacks in Macon County, Alabama were turned into laboratory animals without their knowledge and the purpose of the experiment
Clare and her family are on a trip to New York. Suddenly, Clare see a sign on an abandoned NAACP office saying, "A MAN WAS LYNCHED YESTERDAY." Clare didn't know what that meant and asked her father. Boy responded that, "it is a form of punishment for wickedness" (Cliff 55) Boy's explanation for this violent and unjust form of punishment shows that he considers himself a white privileged man who belongs in America because he sees no wrong doing in the act of lynching. Furthermore, he refers to lynching as a punishment. A punishment is usually given to those who have committed a wrong doing; however, in most lynches the wrong doing was simply that those individuals were black. What is the wrong doing in being a different skin tone than others? Boy also refers to the victims of lynches as "wicked." Boy clearly has no respect for the minority such as the blacks and doesn’t empathize for the way they are
The Outsider written by S. E. HInton is a magnificent novel. Full of different types of emotions, and characters. It tells a story of a young teen and his buddies and life around his town. It’s both heartwarming, angering, and mournful. It’s overall a great book. I thought it was a good read. It just depicts what life was kind of like back then, gives you an insight on the past. Insight on people's’ feelings and lives.
Would you rather read fiction or nonfiction books? In some countries they are contemplating taking fiction books out of schools. The book I am reading is “ All American boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiley. This book entails a story of a teenage, African American boy getting physically assaulted by a white police officer. All American boys is a fiction book; however it portrays many life lessons and real life events that often go unnoticed or many people are unaware of. Despite the school board’s recent segment regarding the lack of educational fuel that fiction provides, fiction should remain in the school’s curriculum. The statement is true due to the fact that fiction books teach valuable lessons on morality that are not always portrayed
In chapter 1 of “Bad Boy”, Walter Dean Myers talks about his family’s past. He also explains some interesting details. For example, on page 3, Walter says that he considers his father’s first wife, Florence Dean, his mother. Another interesting detail is the fact that Florence Dean is a white woman from Germany. Florence Dean ended up getting a divorce because her family didn’t approve the fact that she married a black man. That’s when she met Herbert Dean. They got married and brought all of their kids to Harlem, New York.
My sister asks me how I am. I tell her I’ve been unproductive, distracted, and irritable.