Stereotypes In Black And White By Paul Volponi

This world is filled with many troubles including racism. Society often depicts whites as superior to blacks. However, this is not correct, because every race has both good and bad within it. The world is trying to break away from racism to become a better place for everyone around the world. Racism is not only about the color of one’s skin, it can impact individuals around the world due to their race or religion. The title of this novel is “Black and White” by Paul Volponi. In this coming of age story, two friends, Marcus Brown and Eddie Russo, who are black and white (respectively), are senior basketball stars at their high school. Marcus lives in community housing which is fraught with crime with a single mother. On the other hand, Eddie

They keep their heads up high and do not allow their friendship to fall under the stereotypes that society wants them to believe is true. The author depicts this halfway through the story, when Eddie talks about a past fight between a black boy and a white boy, and everyone there started picking sides to fight on. “One time, we had almost fifty kids there doing laps, when a white dude called another kid a nigger. The black kid tackled him on the spot. Everybody else started pairing off, and choosing sides. Me and Marcus grabbed a hold of each other and were just dancing around in circles. There was almost a riot. But we had fun, and just laughed at everybody.” (Volponi 52) Unlike Marcus and Eddie, their peers have fallen into the societal norms, and the blacks and whites start fighting each other. Marcus and Eddie keep their heads up and do not allow themselves to be peer pressured into picking sides. Instead, they proceed to ridicule their peers, and in turn, society, for being so racist to one another. Many problems are created due to the racial stereotypes and the “natural” hatred between blacks and whites. Not only does it cause problems for Marcus and Eddie, it causes problems for others, which includes a fatality in this novel. This is evident when Marcus has just been arrested in the middle of a basketball game. They take him out of the school through the stairs at the

Basketball is the backbone of Marcus’s and Eddie’s relationship, and allows these two to get past the racial barrier. This is apparent when Marcus and Eddie decide to relax after the shooting by playing basketball at “The Circle.” “I’m the only white kid that hangs out there. Nobody took to me right away. I had to fight plenty of times before I got any respect. But the circle was where “Black and White” was born. And now we ran that court because nobody else could deal with the two of us.” (Volponi 20) This shows how basketball represents friendship, as basketball was the reason why Marcus and Eddie became good friends and started their basketball career together. In addition, basketball has the power to bring different races together, which also proves how basketball allowed them to get past the racial barrier, especially for Eddie. Basketball is mainly considered a black man’s sport, which is why Eddie was not easily accepted. He fought hard to prove a white man can play basketball while also proving whites and blacks can be friends. There are many speeches throughout the story which show that basketball is a symbol of friendship and peace. An example is when Coach Casey is giving his Friday Speech after basketball practice. “I just want you to remember, we didn’t get to be a team because we’re all wearing the same uniform. We did it by working together and sticking up for each other. So in