Black And White

“Kids who are different colors don't get to be that tight in my neighborhood. But we got past all that racial crap, until we were almost like real blood brothers.”

Marcus believes that his friendship with Eddie transcends racial boundaries and shows the strength of their bond, which the novel will continue to test when they both fall into legal trouble. The above passage also introduces the theme of Racial Tension in Urban Settings. Marcus refers to the tensions in his neighborhood as “all that racial crap.” This lends authenticity to his adolescent and colloquial voice while downplaying the very real racial conflicts that exist at both a community and systemic level, and which the novel will go on to draw attention to.

“Eddie was sold on the idea before I was. ‘It'll be too easy,’ he said. ‘And whatever we can take, we deserve.’ That hit something inside, and pushed me over the line.”

This interaction between Eddie and Marcus illustrates the tone of their relationship and introduces the reader to their dynamic. It presents Eddie as largely the instigator behind the crime, with Marcus requiring convincing.

“But I was more worried about what my mother would do to me, and how it would make her feel to know her only son was a thief. It wasn't worth it to me back then. I would rather watch everyone else getting over than turn my own mother against me.”

Marcus hesitates to get involved in crime, fearing what his mother would think. This quote provides insight into Marcus’s character, showing that he cares about gaining the respect of others and not disappointing the adults he looks up to.

“I hated the way she sounded. It was like we did something really terrible to her. After that, Eddie and me decided we'd never rob another woman.”

When Eddie and Marcus first start committing robberies, they realize the moral implications of what they are doing and react viscerally to their victims being harmed. It renders them sympathetic despite their criminal actions; they at least empathize with their victims and set boundaries going forward.

“‘Gentlemen, I know the city never sleeps, but try not to get into anything stupid over the next couple of days,’ Casey told the team. ‘Don't get into fights and don't get locked up. Do your families a favor---stay home at night and study. I want to see everybody back here on Monday the way we left.’”

This is a speech that Coach Casey regularly gives to the basketball team, encouraging them to stay out of trouble. This foreshadows the trouble that Marcus and Eddie will later find themselves in. It also introduces Coach Casey as a caring, supportive mentor figure—more than simply being their basketball coach, he cares about the young men on his team making good choices.

“‘They're feeling the pressure, big time,’ hooted X. ‘They know it could have been the end of Black and White.’”

X’s comment refers specifically to Black and White as a basketball duo, but it takes on a double meaning as Eddie and Marcus have just accidentally shot one of their robbery victims— thus, they are “feeling the pressure” in a much different way. This comment reflects Marcus and Eddie’s guilt, and “the end of Black and White” foreshadows the hardship their friendship will face.

“I told her that I took it off to play ball and somebody walked away with it. ‘What some kids won't do to get what they want,’ she said, shaking her head. It was almost like lying to my own mother.”

Before Marcus and Eddie’s involvement in crime is discovered, Volponi uses dialogue from other characters as subtle reminders of their crime and of the guilt that Marcus and Eddie feel. Eddie describes lying to Marcus’s mother as “like lying to [his] own mother”, showing the closeness of Eddie and Marcus’s bond.

“None of us could believe how one friend turned on the other that way, especially Eddie. But we all thought it was right on the money how that bastard got what was coming to him.”

Volponi alludes to The Count of Monte Cristo at several points over the course of the novel; it has narrative parallels to Marcus and Eddie’s situation, especially in regard to “one friend [turning] on the other.” The line about the film’s antagonist “[getting] what was coming to him” hints at the idea that, though Eddie may evade legal trouble for the crime for now, it could eventually catch up to him.

“People around my way said [Jason's death] was because of that natural hatred. That line between blacks and whites that can't get erased, no matter what. I just remember hating that kids' guts because of what he did to Jason, not because he was white. And everybody I knew—no matter what color—hated him too.”

Jason’s death, and Marcus’s reflection on it here, illustrates Racial Tension in Urban Settings. The phrase “natural hatred” conveys the pervasiveness of the hostility between Black people and white people, with Jason Taylor’s death as a byproduct of that hostility. However, somewhat contradictorily, the tragedy of his death unites both races in their hatred for his killer.

“I thought about Marcus being at the police station. And everything I could lose. I had a ticket to play big-time college ball in my hand. I wasn't going to just give it away.”

When Marcus is arrested, Eddie’s first thought is how it will affect him and his basketball scholarship. His priorities lend insight into his character; he views his future opportunities as more important than his brotherly bond with Marcus.

“Rose asked me if Marcus getting arrested would stop schools from wanting him, too. ‘What does that have to do with me?’ I snapped.”

Although Rose shows concern for Marcus, Eddie immediately separates himself from him after his arrest, providing insight into his priorities and values and introducing a sharp contrast between him and Marcus. While Marcus is willing to protect Eddie even at his own expense, Eddie is concerned with protecting his own future and denying any involvement.

“But the main part of what goes on there started to sink in right away. It’s black people, wall to wall. There are some Spanish inmates, too. But everybody else is black.”

Marcus’s observations epitomize Discrimination in the Justice System; he witnesses firsthand that the prison population is predominantly Black. This moment represents a shift in his worldview and understanding of the realities of racial disparity.

“That whole first night, I kept thinking how if Eddie got arrested with me, his family would have bailed him out. Only I’d still be here. I couldn’t beef about it. It wouldn’t have been Eddie’s fault. That’s the way it is. We could be Black and White anywhere else in the world. But not on Rikers Island.”

Marcus’s reflection exemplifies Discrimination in the Justice System. Even if Eddie had been caught instead of Marcus, his experience of the justice system would still be very different as a white person. “I couldn’t beef about it” maintains Marcus’s colloquial tone and voice; he expresses that he does not resent Eddie, but acknowledges that racial inequity is systemic.

“‘Maybe you won’t say his name to the police, but you’ll say it here. I don’t want to hear anymore of this I business, because I know it was we. It’s Black and White until somebody’s ass is on the line. And when it’s time to go to jail, it’s just Black. He’ll find a new boy to carry his bags in college, and you’ll be an ex-con on the unemployment line!’ she screamed.”

Marcus’s mother articulates the disparity Marcus has observed in jail and the racial and economic differences between him and Eddie that will determine their outcomes. She attempts to break through Marcus’s belief that his friendship with Eddie transcends racial barriers; in situations like these, she notes, the outcomes are rarely equal.

“‘But can we trust Marcus not to claim you were there?’ Golub said. ‘When the noose gets tight around somebody’s neck, they’re liable to say anything to save their own skin.’ ‘And even if he did, who’d believe him?’ my dad sneered.”

Eddie and his father are consulting their lawyer Mr. Golub. The comment from Eddie’s father shows he is willing to lean into existing racial stereotypes in order to ensure his son’s freedom. The harshness of “[s]neered” shows that Eddie’s family has completely turned their backs on someone they once considered a second son.

“I looked over at Marcus, and he was looking right back at me. Other kids were howling. But not us. Maybe a month ago, we’d have been laughing, too. I kept thinking about being locked up with a nut-job like that and having to listen to his act twenty-four/seven. Besides, that could have been my sister sitting there by herself.”

Marcus and Eddie are beginning to realize the seriousness of the racial divide between Black and white people—it has become starkly real for them in a way that it has not yet for their peers, which is why they do not find the situation humorous.

“When we were finished, I felt like I had just walked through a minefield without taking a single bad step. I was so pumped that I ran around the house practicing layups and jumping off the balls of my feet. But when I finally started to come back down, I felt sick. And I hated every lie that had come out of my mouth.”

The text uses a simile, where something is compared to something else using “like” or “as.” In this case, Eddie’s adeptness at evading trouble and talking his way out of things is compared to navigating a minefield. However, the lies he must tell to maintain his facade weigh heavily on him. Eddie is a complex character: He feels elation at getting away with his crime, but his guilt consumes him.

“After Marcus left, I wondered how it would feel to be free of this whole thing, or at least tell everyone the truth. I stood on the corner of my block and looked out into the traffic. Then I pulled up everything I’d been thinking about and feeling. I opened my mouth wide to scream. But not a sound came out.”

Although Eddie has avoided legal trouble, the guilt he feels and his lies weigh on him. Marcus is the one who got caught, but Eddie is still imprisoned by his own thoughts and the pressure of everything he is thinking and feeling.

“‘Sometimes Peter’s got to pay for Paul,’ Moses said. ‘Then Peter must have been a black man,’ X said, looking right at me. ‘We always got to pay for somebody else.’”

The young men on the basketball team often serve as a voice of the Black youth in the neighborhood through their comments on the racial tension they witness and experience. Here, Moses uses a biblical allusion to describe Marcus’s situation, and X counters by citing the racial discrimination inherent in the situation.

“‘We wouldn’t want anyone [on the jury] who’s ever been robbed for one. We wouldn’t even want people who’ve had trouble with high school kids in their neighborhood,’ Golub said. ‘And of course, we’d want more whites on the jury than blacks.’”

Mr. Golub’s comment exemplifies Discrimination in the Justice System by showing how lawyers can exploit racial stereotypes and tension in order to favor their clients.

“Up until last month, the Russos were probably patting themselves on the back for showing a black kid without a father how a family was supposed to be. But my mother was standing up taller now than they ever did, even if you stood them up one on top of the other.”

Marcus appreciates his mother and how she is helping to teach him that actions have consequences in the hopes that he will grow from this situation, rather than pretending everything is okay. Meanwhile, Eddie’s parents are content to shield their son even if it means lying and letting another young man take the fall. The image of Marcus’s mother “standing up taller” conveys strength, resilience, and dignity in the face of hardship.

“‘We’ll always be a family. Time apart isn’t going to change that,’ my mother told us at the table. ‘We’re going to take from this world everything that makes the spirit grow stronger. And that spirit will keep us from getting torn apart.’”

In the final chapters, Marcus’s priorities shift to his family, and Marcus’s mother gives voice to that shift. She illustrates Integrity in the Face of Guilt and Consequences, stating that hardship makes one stronger.

“We walked all the way up to the theater and past the parking lot where Sidney Parker got shot. I didn’t want to cross the street to the exact spot. But I showed Rose where it happened […] It wasn’t something that I had to close my eyes to anymore. I could face what I did, and move on.”

In showing Rose the parking lot where the shooting happened, Marcus demonstrates that he is able to own up to what he has done and, as a result, move on and eventually rebuild his life. He no longer has to “close [his] eyes,” pointing to his character growth over the course of the novel.