Order our Dear Martin Study Guide Plot Summary + Chapters Summary and Analysis Part One, Pages 1-45 Part One, Pages 46-84 Part One, Pages 85-120 Part Two, Pages 123-164 Part Two, Pages 165-208 Free Quiz Characters Symbols and Symbolism Settings Themes and Motifs Styles Quotes. I’d think you’d know that as someone “smart enough” to get into Yale. You just proved my point.

Privilege, Entitlement, and Implicit Bias One of Nic Stone’s strongest messages in Dear Martin is that white people in positions of power ought to recognize the socioeconomic factors that have contributed to their success. Teachers and parents! If you know the stuff they’re say­ing isn’t true, why let it bother you?”, “[…] My point is the world is full of guys like Jared and that employee, and most of them will never change. “What kind of teacher has the nerve to suggest there’s racial inequality to a classroom full of millennials?” Jared is apparently uncomfortable with the very idea of discussing racial disparity, as he assumes it is a thing of the past and so not appropriate for “millennials.” This indicates just how unwilling he is to challenge his belief that the United States is now completely void of racism. ( Log Out /  When you spend your whole life being ‘accepted’ by white people, it’s easy to ignore history and hard to face stuff that’s still problematic, you feel me?”, “And as for you, the only way you’re gonna thrive is if you’re okay with yourself, man. There is so much to discuss in its pages about current events and could be an opportunity for teens to talk about their own experiences in light of Martin’s teachings. Jared and Trey are only two people, but after today, I know that when I head to Yale next fall (because I AM going there), I’m gonna be paranoid about people looking at me and wondering if I’m qualified to be there. What’s more, he has evidently internalized the racist stereotypes that people like Castillo use to mistreat African Americans, referencing “thuggish appearance[s]” as if the way people dress has anything to do with their morality and character. Well, this guy got an eleven-twenty. “Crime rates among youth plummeted.”, “Unfortunately, it seems the fear of young black guys created by this research is alive and well.”, “You coming over here asking us to help you use a black girl IS a big deal, Blake. Your boy Blake is a racist. What Jared and his white friends don’t seem to understand is that they only feel comfortable dismissing the prevalence of racism because they themselves enjoy so much privilege in society. Test scores, you got a fifteen-eighty, right? These are the kind of unfair generalizations, Stone argues, that enable bigots to weaponize unimportant characteristics that have no true bearing on who a person truly is.

If you only read a few books this year, this is a great touchstone book for current society. It’s just—you’re completely oblivious to the struggles of anyone outside your little social group. You and Manny, who are equal in pretty much every way apart from race, could commit the same crime, but it’s almost guaranteed that he would receive a harsher punishment than you. Manny: Okay.

And then hearing Manny agree with him? Struggling with distance learning? Justyce: It’s already outta hand, Manny. SJ and her family were great examples of how white people should act and support people of color when they speak out. People are gonna disrespect you, but so what? Meanwhile, tensions heighten for Justyce as some of his classmates don’t understand racism, and the cop who arrested him is shot, setting off an explosive and heartbreaking chain of events that leads to Justyce’s character being defamed in the media.

Teachers and parents! Jared: No beef, dude. He’s wearing a hooded sweatshirt and is on his way to find Melo, his ex-girlfriend. Justyce’s encounter with Castillo takes him by surprise, since it’s the first time he’s experienced such blatant discrimination. View the Study Pack View the Lesson Plans Study Guide. Dear Martin, her first novel, is loosely based on a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African American teenagers. Blake: You don’t own it any more than I do, bro. “Officer, this is a big misundersta—’’ he starts to say, but he doesn’t get to finish because the officer hits him in the face. By spotlighting the superficial aspects of racism, then, Stone urges readers to consider how unfair it is to reduce a person to nothing more than clothing and skin color, neither of which indicate anything substantial about a person’s character. Sadly, during the wee hours of this morning, literally none of that mattered. Blake: You don’t own it any more than I do, bro. You realize Manny is one of us peo­ple too, right? The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Test scores, you got a fifteen-eighty, right? If he were to take stock of the situation, he would learn that Justyce is only trying to keep his drunk ex-girlfriend, Melo, from driving. Reflecting upon the incident, he thinks about Shemar Carson, a young black man whose name has made the national news because he was recently gunned down by a white police officer. Why don’t you loosen the hell up? He rubbed both of our heads and got up to leave. We’ll keep it simple and say GPA-wise, you have a four-point-oh and he has a three-point-six. In keeping with this, Jared proposes that he and his friends dress up as “stereotypes” for Halloween, an idea that inspires a white boy named Blake to wear a Ku Klux Klan outfit. I’m ranked number two in our class, I’m captain of the baseball team, I do community service on weekends, and I got higher test scores than Justyce . Jared: I’m not saying they didn’t, dude. Every­body saw me as black, even with the light skin and green eyes. Black people have the same opportunities as white people in this country if they’re willing to work hard enough. Recent Morris Award 2018 finalist, Dear Martin follows African American senior Justyce as he navigates a recent incident of racial discrimination that has him questioning his identity and writing to Martin Luther King, Jr. about his experiences and how they interact with MLK’s philosophy. Below you will find the important quotes in Dear Martin related to the theme of Privilege, Entitlement, and Implicit Bias.

Instant downloads of all 1360 LitChart PDFs Manny: Okay. In reality, though, it is this kind of casual racism that feeds into larger, more systemic forms of discrimination. . Manny’s parents are a perfect example. The fact that Justyce, the novel’s protagonist, faces police brutality despite his credentials as a model student and upstanding citizen suggests that young black people are in danger of discrimination regardless of who they are. Our, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…, The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Privilege, Entitlement, and Implicit Bias appears in each chapter of. Now erase the two backgrounds. Read 7,622 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dear Martin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Jared: I’m not saying they didn’t, dude. “That’s what it was like for me at the new school. For this reason, Stone intimates, it is imperative that everyone remain attentive to the ways racial biases perpetuate themselves in all contexts. Because Justyce is one of only several black students at his prep school, he’s mostly surrounded by wealthy white teenagers who have never had to think seriously about race.

SJ: I know you’d prefer to ignore this stuff because you benefit from it, but walking around pretending inequality doesn’t exist won’t make it disappear, Jared. Probably would’ve noticed he was being trailed without them. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In response to this unanticipated encounter, Justyce finds himself reexamining the way other people see him. If the cop is capable of murder, it means he’s capable of the same. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. “But at least you have an idea of what you’re up against.

Blake: What is it with you people and the goddamn race card, huh?

Our Teacher Edition on Dear Martin can help. You and Manny, who are equal in pretty much every way apart from race, could commit the same crime, but it’s almost guaranteed that he would receive a harsher punishment than you. You realize Manny is one of us peo­ple too, right? My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. Nic Stone's novel, "Dear Martin," is about a African American high school student named Justyce who has his future set at an Ivy League school. Manny: All right, y’all, let’s calm down before this gets outta hand. I’m just saying your folks make way more money than mine.

“The Myth of the Superpredator” was the title of the article.