An African-American boy named Justyce is put into handcuffs for trying help his ex-girlfriend get home safely. No matter what the girl or her parents say the cop won't release him. This is just the beginning of the racial discrimination Justyce is about to experience. Throughout his journey Justyce decides to start writing letters to Martin Luther King Jr. in his journal and tries to think about what he would do. As the book progresses we learn about Justyce. His dad was an alcoholic and abused his mother, he is not apart of his life anymore. Manny is Justyce's best friend. His mom works multiple jobs in order to put Justyce into one of the best schools in the nation. Justyce is racially discriminated against by Jared, one of Manny's best friend. He also has to choose between two girls, one that is really toxic for him but manipulates him to think she's good and L.J. who's been his best friend all of high school and his debate partner.
Not long before graduation, Justyce and Manny go driving in a predominantly white area and are stopped by an off-duty cop. The tension between the two reaches a tipping point when Justyce expresses his resentment that Manny can more easily pass as “normal” at Braselton because of his wealthy father. Distracted by their fight, and blasting music from the speakers, they get the attention of an undercover cop. Upon seeing that they are black, the officer suspects them of committing a crime. Justyce accidentally triggers the cop’s racial bias, which causes the cop to draw his gun. Making an abrupt movement in reaction to the threat, Manny is shot and killed. The murder of his best friend stirs a profound change in Justyce’s mindset about race. No longer does he view social signifiers like wealth as things that make black people invulnerable to hatred and bias. Moreover, he witnesses directly the inequity of the American justice system when the cop is not hit with the murder felony charge he deserves. Instead, Justyce is brought to court over his best friend’s death. Though he is eventually exonerated, this traumatizing gauntlet of obstacles causes Justyce to turn to the writings of Dr. King. The letters he writes to the activist (for King is long dead), reflecting on the similarity of their problems and how little the arc of history has changed for the better.
Justyce is forced to deal with Manny's death and all the temptations of doing the wrong things, such as joining a gang just to be able to protect himself. Eventually Justyce fights away all temptations and the novel ends with him starting school at Yale with his new girlfriend and new perspective on life as a black male, understanding he still has to find himself and his own beliefs.
Themes:
Racism- Racism is still very common in our world today and we need to find a way to limit it the best we can.
Understanding another’s point of view- We never know everything going on in a person's life, don't assume you do. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and think about how hard it's been.
The life of a minority in the United States- Justyce is faced with a lot of challenges as a black male in the U.S. He's grown up from the bad parts of Atlanta and still on his way to Yale.
Favorite Quote:
“‘Is that fair? You've had access to WAY more than he has… would it be fair for a college to consider only GPA and test scores in determining who deserves to get in?’” (63). This was my favorite quote because it says we should start considering the background of someone's life when accepting them into college or hiring them for a job.
Argument:
In order for the United States to solve social injustice they need to hire a more diverse police force, look further into the background of minorities, and our mindset towards minorities in general needs to change.
Essay:
The Problem With American Culture The United States is far from perfect. Dear Martin, by Nic Stone, is a novel that points out how racism is a large imperfection in the U.S. Recently the African American community has been speaking up about the racial inequalities they still face today. The biggest outburst was when George Floyd was killed by a police officer after he said multiple times, “I can’t breathe.” We’ve come a long way when dealing with racism but there’s still a lot of room to improve. In order for the United States to solve social injustice they need to hire a more diverse police force, look further into the background of minorities, and our mindset towards minorities in general needs to change. The most obvious place we can see racism is in the police. Every other week there’s another minority, usually African American, that’s been shot and killed by a white policemen. As Justyce in Dear Martin says, “Every time I turn on the news and see another black person gunned down, I’m reminded that people look at me and see a threat instead of a human being ” (95). The easiest solution is to hire a more ethnic diverse police force. This way we don’t have a white cops getting power hungry and believing they are above the law themselves, shooting whomever they want. Just because someone is of a different skin color doesn’t mean they aren’t human. We don’t know what most of them have been through. The background of a person's life needs to be more heavily evaluated when it comes to hiring and college applications. The statement is made in Dear Martin, “‘Is that fair? You've had access to WAY more than he has… would it be fair for a college to consider only GPA and test scores in determining who deserves to get in?’” (63). Considering how much a person has been through to get to where they are could open up a whole new point of view. No matter what ethnicity the person is. Changing the way we think of minorities will change the world for the better. Not every African American is a threat. Every minority is human. Every single person in the world is different. As stated by Justyce, “‘But what does that solve, Mama? Mr. Friedman and Garrett Tison are totally different people’” (181). This is true for anyone. For example, if one of my relatives was a criminal, would that automatically make me one too? No it would not. We cannot continue to make assumptions about what a person's intentions are. Treating each individual with a clear mind is the only way to come to peace in our country. The minute assumptions are made about a human because of their skin tone and other things said person has no part of is when the racism starts. Give every individual equal opportunities. Racism still exists today, even if it’s not as obvious. In order to limit racism, we have to hire a more diverse police force. This will get rid of so many power hungry white police officers. Changing perspective is also something that needs to happen. Being a white male, I don’t know what it’s like to be black or to be racially discriminated against. Even saying I have somewhat of an idea what it’s like is completely wrong. In all reality, the only way to understand what it’s like is to experience it. Lucky for me it’d be very difficult for me to experience such a thing. However, minorities experience it in many aspects of life. Don’t add these experiences to a person's list of bad things in life. Life can already suck enough, racially discriminating someone can make it so much worse for the other person. Choose love, not hate.