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Walter Dean Myers Monster Racism Quotes

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Racism in the book Monster
“Don't tell me you believe that “innocent until proven guilty””(Walter Dean Myers 52) the jury said. I believe in the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers while in jail and going through court sessions there is a lot of racism that the character Steve faces even while innocent unless proven guilty.
An innocent black child was put on trial by the American legal system for a felony murder that was not his fault. And steve was being trialed as an adult but Steve was just sixteen so the justice system is also very biased /racist also we can see that the way people talk to him depicts racist behavior like when the prosecutor called Steve a Monster and a number of different times in the book. Another problem is the portrayal of black characters as criminals and thugs since they looked at Steve as guilty even before proven guilty instead of looking at him the fair way which is innocent until proven guilty. And this is very clear in the different dialogue in the book like the one at the top of this paper. …show more content…

the book states “I don't know why we are wasting time. He’s as guilty as when I first laid eyes on him”(Walter Dean Myers 52) we can see that the jury in the story is extremely racist and he has no chance of winning his case, my point is backed up by the statement made by a black jury who stated “Dont tell nobody I said this but a young black kid on trial… don't stand a chance.”(Walter Dean Myers 52) a black jury stating such a statement is really showing how racist the justice system is an unfair and steve is a 16-year-old going up against a 23-year-old adult James King which is another flaw in the justice system

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He had told the jury that he wasn’t in the store that day. You are not supposed to lie in court and if he wasn’t a monster he wouldn’t have had to lie in court. Also, Steve is having a flashback about him and King. The book said, “‘Usually I see him in the playground. Maybe he’d say something like “Those guys can’t play ball,” stuff like that.”’

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Steve’s lawyer, Miss O’Brien, must prove Steve’s innocence to a biased jury so that Steve will not have to have his whole life ruined. Because Steve is a black juvenile on trial for felony murder and even though is innocent, Steve and his lawyer must prove him innocent in the

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When steve was discussing the testimony with his father in jail, he said, “I am just going to tell them the truth, that I didn’t do anything wrong.” An innocent person wouldn’t have to question whether to tell the truth or not. An innocent person shouldn’t have to lie in order to get out of jail. They should be able to tell the truth without any hesitation.

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There is a perception that because Steve was young and black, in the eyes of the jury, he was “more likely” to have committed the crime. The jurors would’ve thought he was guilty and had to be involved because of his skin color. There is also the sense that if he had been arrested, he had to do it, because policemen and prosecution witnesses wouldn’t lie. Granted this, they say that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but in the eyes of jurors, Steve Harmon seemed to be guilty until proven innocent. Though in reality, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and was quick to be punished because he was thought to be a

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At the end of the trial, the jury made their decision. The author wrote, “The guards who were standing behind Steve moved away from him. He has been found not guilty.” (Myers 276).Steve being a good person has better reasons than him being a bad person because one of the reasons for him being a bad person was because he was friends with bad people. Just because he is friends with bad people doesn't mean he does the same stuff as them.

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“When I don’t like the answers, I’ll turn it upside down. You figure out what’s wrong with the answer you gave me” (218). Steve and O’Brien had went over what he was going to say prior to the court session, but if he was innocent there would be nothing to worry about. Steve also had flashbacks that the jury doesn’t know about, including where he talks to King about needing money and wanting to rob a bank (50). The jury has no idea that the conversation had happened so they did not have enough information to deliver a verdict of guilty.

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