Chapter 8 & 9

Write about what you are learning personally as a result of reading this text

The story picks up with Jus hanging out with Manny in his basement, and Manny starts interrogating him. He asks Jus about SJ and that “I know you like her, man. And she obviously likes you.”* but Jus responds that it doesn’t really matter, his mom would never allow him to date SJ because she’s white. And because “pissing my mama off ain’t really high on my to-do list.”**, he’s only friends with her. Manny immediately calls him out and says “Passing up on a good thing because your mom wouldn’t approve…I don’t know about that, man. Especially when it comes to something as stupid as race.”*** and because Jus was still writing his letters to MLK (Martin Luther King), he should think about what Dr. King would do. He adds “If you’re doing this Be Like Martin thing, do it for real. Refusing to date a girl because she’s white is probably not the Kingly way, bruh.”**** that was really interesting to me, and I learned more about the struggles an African-American boy might face. It showed me that even POC have problems regarding race. I can only assume based on what I read, of course, but my understanding is that this isn’t the best attitude to have. It’s like one group says “Oh we don’t want you with us” and then the other group goes “Oh don’t sit with them” even tho they’re sharing the same table. Isn’t that just adding fuel to the fire? That reminds me, I’ve also heard of Indian parents telling their kids to not date a white person, and I think that might be similar to Jus’ problem with his mum. But again, I can’t speak for him and it’s just something that I’ve learned while reading this book.

What sort of conflict does the protagonist go through?

In the second chapter, Jus and SJ are competing in a debating tournament. Even though they meet each other nearly every day, they couldn’t decide on a topic in the beginning. And Jus has this inner conflict going on, would like to date SJ but he knows she’s “off limits” kinda and that really bugs him. So he isn’t a great help, he just stares at her and gets lost in his own mind. But after a few days (and a lot of accidental touching) SJ proposes the topic of racial profiling. To sum it up, in the nineties, some idiot “researchers” claimed that crimes committed by African-American teens would skyrocket, which created a fear of those people. That never happened, of COURSE, but the myth of the “criminal black teen” still persists and this prejudice is still alive and well. Jus didn’t wanna cover this subject at first, because “he didn’t wanna be the black guy accused of “playing the race card” at a state tournament”***** (it’s so sad that he even has to think about that). But SJ eventually changes his mind, and they choose racial profiling. Well, the day of the debate comes, and Jus’ inner conflict still hasn’t resolved. Even so, they present their arguments, and the jury loves them. They get first place, and because of adrenaline and emotions, Jus’ problem kinda resolved itself in his head. In a tender embrace, he wanted to kiss SJ and so he did. But things didn’t go as planned, SJ did a complete 180 degrees turn and walked away. To be honest, that surprised even me, and she kept ignoring him the whole day through. Poor Jus, that didn’t help at all with resolving his conflict and now he’s even more confused. I can’t blame him because I thought she was into him as well, and I didn’t understand her reaction at all (but I’m sure she has good reasons as to why she walked away though) and I can’t imagine how Jus is feeling at the moment. I hope he’s doing the right thing and giving her space, before trying to talk things out and resolving the tension between them. I hope he acts in a smart way, and hopefully he doesn’t do something which makes this conflict even worse.

*Page 70, row 12-13

**Page 71, row 14-15

***Page 74, row 1-3

****Page 74, row 8-10

*****Page 79, row 19-20

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