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Quan Banks
Julian Rivers is Manny’s father. A successful man who has worked his way to the top of a well-respected company, Julian Rivers wants his son to understand that adversity doesn’t simply go away for black people once they secure well-paying jobs. To illustrate this, he sits down one afternoon with Manny and Justyce and tells them that one of his employees called him a racial slur earlier that day. When Manny and Justyce express their astonishment, he calmly tells them that this is something he deals with on a regular basis—a fact that depresses Justyce, who suddenly sees that even powerful black men like Julian often face “disrespect.”
Julian Rivers Quotes in Dear Martin
The Dear Martin quotes below are all either spoken by Julian Rivers or refer to Julian Rivers. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
January 23
Quotes
“[…] My point is the world is full of guys like Jared and that employee, and most of them will never change. So it’s up to you fellas to push through it. Probably best not to talk with your fists in the future…” He nudged Manny. “But at least you have an idea of what you’re up against. Try not to let it stop you from doing your best, all right?”
He rubbed both of our heads and got up to leave.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, Martin. Frankly, it’s pretty discouraging. To think Mr. Julian has all that authority and still gets disrespected? Hearing it made me realize I still had hope that once I really achieve some things, I won’t have to deal with racist BS anymore.
That’s obviously not the case, though, is it?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Dear Martin LitChart as a printable PDF.
Julian Rivers Quotes in Dear Martin
The Dear Martin quotes below are all either spoken by Julian Rivers or refer to Julian Rivers. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
January 23
Quotes
“[…] My point is the world is full of guys like Jared and that employee, and most of them will never change. So it’s up to you fellas to push through it. Probably best not to talk with your fists in the future…” He nudged Manny. “But at least you have an idea of what you’re up against. Try not to let it stop you from doing your best, all right?”
He rubbed both of our heads and got up to leave.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, Martin. Frankly, it’s pretty discouraging. To think Mr. Julian has all that authority and still gets disrespected? Hearing it made me realize I still had hope that once I really achieve some things, I won’t have to deal with racist BS anymore.
That’s obviously not the case, though, is it?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
