In their novel, All American Boys, Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds attack the popular idea of race relations and police brutality within the young generations of our world. They present a story of two young men that attend the same school and have similar relationships with friends, but one is the unfortunate victim of an arrest gone wrong. This summarizes the theme of the novel, pointing out how race determines these two boys' fate, "Rashad and Quinn—one black, one white, both American—face the unspeakable truth that racism and prejudice didn’t die after the civil rights movement. There’s a future at stake, a future where no one else will have to be absent because of police brutality. They just have to risk everything to change the world." The story details the events that Rashad and Quinn encountered before, during, and mainly after Rashad's arrest. Like many stories that have been in the news recently, we see a black boy being arrested for a crime by a white cop, but we only ever see the negative story of the arrest, never the events leading up to or following after.
Throughout the novel, the reader is presented with several conflicting relationships and ideas that are solely based on the color of one's skin. Between the differing views of Quinn and Rashad, Quinn and Paul, and the general conflict in the middle of the community, the reader gains a better understanding of how much race relations affect people's daily lives. While people have been responding with the "Black Lives Matter" movement, I think there are better and more effective ways to respond to these situations. Rocco Papa writes an article that highlights the goals of the "Black Lives Matter" movement and how ineffective it has been so far. I agree that some white people still treat black people as if they are "lesser than," but I also think that it is a difficult issue to understand if you've never personally been influenced by racial prejudice. He highlights how yes, there is white on black crime and mistreatment, but there is also black on white and black on black crime. It is never a one-sided relationship, so all people need to learn the importance of how to properly treat others. I would encourage you to take a look:
We all, at one point in our in lives, will be affected by race relations personally or someone in our lives will have to deal with this issue. Because of its prevalence, we all must be equipped to know how to handle the situation, be understanding of one another, and treat people in general with respect and love. This novel focuses on how race is a ruler by which most people measure one another. As teachers of future generations, I think it is important that we encounter this problem head on in the classroom. Rather than waiting for it to personally affect our students, I think that it is our job to teach all students, without regard to race, how to treat one another in a fair and kind way. We have to equip them with the understanding that not all people treat one another the way they should. I can recall times in my life where I treated somebody wrongly and have regretted it; who can't? It is important, however, that teachers model right treatment of people because we are a huge example to our students. They look at how we treat our employers, our colleagues, and other students, so it is imperative that we show them how to treat one another in a kind and loving way, despite their race, ethnicity, or religious views.
By raising our students to respect one another, despite any differences there might be between us, we are able to pull books like All American Boys and American Born Chinese into the classroom as great examples. This first book in particular highlights the viewpoints of both sides, opening the conversation up to consider everyone's role in the situation, rather than focusing on the one side that affects us the most. While these books are simply stories that our students may read, they should also be paired with news articles and videos that show how this is a real life issue they will face, and they need to be prepared.
"it is a difficult issue to understand if you've never personally been influenced by racial prejudice"
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ideas here, that yes, ultimately we need to be prepared to discuss these topics (as they appear in many of our canonical and non-traditional texts) as future teachers of English. Regardless of how we determine to frame these discussions--and they do require much care and careful crafting--it's important that our students' discussions regarding these issues are not limited to the (very likely) racist banter that they hear in the hallways of our schools. We need to help them face their discomfort in order to make better sense of the world and the people living in it.