On The Sidewalk Bleeding Chapter Summaries

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In chapter 5, it gives differentiations of story lines and testimonies. Story lines are socially shared tales that are fable-like and incorporate a common scheme and wording. The concept of storylines is they are based on impersonal arguments with little narrative content. Storylines are social products and are seen as factual the more people tell their stories. Story lines are also used to justify and defend current racial arrangements. Testimonies are accounts in which the narrator is a central participant in the story or is close to the characters in the story. The concept of testimonies is that these stories accumulate sympathy from their listeners. Testimonies are filled with more details and personal investments than story lines. They are …show more content…

When whites thought of the past, they interpreted it as slavery. “I didn’t own slaves” phrase is an indication that allows people to understand present generations are not involved or responsible for what happened during slavery. Carol, a SU students, says she has the “what happened, happened” attitude. She feels this way because people who were involved in slavery are gone and her suggestions would not make an impact on blacks today. The concept of “If other ethnic groups have made it, why can’t blacks” is a way people use excuses to say they were not admitted into a college or not able to get a job because of a minority. Whites does not stop and think maybe they were not qualified for the job or attend that particular college. This phrase is built upon the frustrations of whites towards minorities. Testimonies are classified into three categories such as: stories of interactions, stories of disclosure, and residential category of sui generis. Stories of interactions can be positive or negative. Positive interactions is a display of something positive in which are good experiences with