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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dear Martin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Privilege, Entitlement, and Implicit Bias
Appearances and Assumptions
Support, Acceptance, and Belonging
Opportunity and Upward Mobility
The Media and Public Discourse
Summary
Analysis
For the next few weeks, Justyce focuses on an upcoming debate tournament. He spends his time over winter break preparing arguments with SJ. It takes them a long time to come up with a topic for their argument, since they’ve decided to skip the actual debate “rounds” and “focus solely on advanced pairs argumentation,” which means they only have “one shot” to persuade the judges. After hours of spending time together trying to think of a topic, SJ suggests that they present an argument about racial profiling. She explains that researchers in the 1990s predicted “that the number of violent crimes committed by African American teen males would skyrocket in the years to follow,” calling such criminals “superpredators.” Although this prediction was disproven, “the fear of young black guys created by [the] research is alive and well.” Consequently, SJ proposes that they use this as their topic.
The fact that the myth of the “superpredator” has lived on even though the research was disproven demonstrates how influential certain narratives are when it comes to race. The idea of dangerous black men seeped into the public discourse even though the notion of a “superpredator” was faulty, suggesting that people can manipulate what others think simply by planting provocative suggestions that play on biases and irrational fears. This is an important idea to keep in mind as the novel progresses, as Stone continues to explore the ways in which so-called experts in the media shape the national conversation surrounding race.
Themes
Justyce is hesitant to embrace SJ’s idea to present a debate topic about racial profiling. This is because he doesn’t want to “be the black guy accused of ‘playing the race card’ at the state tournament.” SJ understands this, but says, “I didn’t sleep for a week after what happened to you, Jus. I know we might be throwing away our chance at a win, but if we can get some facts out there, maybe make people think a little bit, it’ll be worth it, right?” Hearing this, Justyce agrees to go along with the idea.
Justyce’s concern about “playing the race card” is a perfect example of how conversations with people like Jared have made him feel like he can’t talk about the racism and discrimination he experiences on an everyday basis. Although Jared thinks such conversations are harmless, it becomes clear in this moment that they have the potential to curtail what his black peers feel safe talking about.
Themes
During the debate tournament, Justyce realizes that SJ was right to propose this topic. As he delivers his arguments, he realizes that he “needed to talk about this in a public forum,” regardless of whether or not he wins the tournament. After they finish, they go backstage and see Doc, who’s so proud of them that his eyes are wet. When they’re called back out, they listen to the results while holding hands, and they keep holding each other like this even after the judges call their names for first place.
Although he was hesitant to talk about racial profiling in such a public manner, Justyce is relieved to do so. All he needed, it seems, was the encouragement SJ gave him to address this problem, which is already quite important to him. In turn, readers see how valuable it is for him to have someone like SJ to support him.
Themes
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