Black And White

Eddie is Marcus’s best friend and is also a star player on the Long Island City High School basketball team. Eddie presents the idea of committing robberies in order to gain extra money for their senior dues and for new shoes. He steals his late grandfather’s gun, only intending to use it to scare targets, but accidentally fires it at one of their victims. Through Eddie, the novel shows how white and Black people move differently through the criminal justice system. Eddie, as a white person, is able to navigate the system more easily and challenge the charges against him. While Marcus pleads guilty to the crime, Eddie and his family plan to take the case to trial and prove Eddie’s innocence, citing a lack of evidence. In the immediate aftermath of Marcus’s arrest, Eddie accepts a college scholarship to play basketball.

Early in the novel, Marcus describes Eddie as someone who “knows how to fast-talk most people good” (11). He is able to quickly evade trouble. In this way, he is a foil to Marcus. Unlike Marcus, who shows Integrity in the Face of Guilt and Consequences, Eddie is evasive. He spends the novel avoiding responsibility, never openly admitting his guilt or his role in the shooting, and expecting Marcus to conceal his involvement. Despite their long-standing friendship, Eddie’s first concern when Marcus is arrested is that his own college plans will be in jeopardy. Eddie retains his scholarship and manages to evade the consequences of his crime. However, guilt and lingering fear weigh on him heavily. Through Eddie’s point of view, the novel suggests that the consequences of one’s actions—whether literal or psychological—are unavoidable.

Through Eddie and Marcus, the novel explores Discrimination in the Justice System. Unlike Marcus, whose case is managed by a public defender, Eddie’s father can afford to seek out quality legal representation to secure Eddie’s freedom and future. Volponi juxtaposes Eddie and his family’s financial situation and the advantages it allows him with Marcus’s less advantageous circumstances. In this way, he explores how socioeconomic differences feed the disparities in the justice and prison system.

Marcus’s family consists of his mother and his younger sister Sabrina; his father left the family shortly after his sister’s birth, and Marcus has heard from him only twice since.

Marcus’s mother works as a seamstress and is presented as a no-nonsense, strict maternal figure. When Marcus is arrested and accused of committing the robbery, she wants to get straight to the truth, refusing to sugarcoat her son’s or Eddie’s actions. Rather than fight tooth and nail to prove Marcus’s innocence, as Eddie’s parents do for him, she teaches Marcus about strength and resilience in the face of hardship and emphasizes the importance of family. She does so even while Marcus is away in prison, stating: “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” (180). Through Marcus’s mother and the lessons she imparts to him, the novel highlights the importance of Integrity in the Face of Guilt and Consequences—in this case, owning up to the truth even if it is unpleasant and facing the consequences of one’s actions. Resilience, the novel suggests, is what will help Marcus turn his life around for the better after he serves his sentence.

Eddie’s household consists of both his parents and his sister, Rose. Eddie’s father works at the Department of Sanitation and wants his son to have a better job than he has. Thus, he is supportive of Eddie going to college to play basketball but wants him to aim higher and obtain a degree. He knows the truth about Eddie’s role in the robbery, noting the gun missing from the attic, but is willing to protect him at all costs from the consequences, paying for quality legal representation. The family never discusses Eddie’s guilt outright. In this way, they are foils to Marcus’s mother, who only wants to ascertain the truth.

Initially, Eddie’s parents embrace Marcus like a son, but when the two of them are caught up in legal trouble, they do not hesitate to turn on Marcus and assume that he is guilty while doing whatever they can to keep Eddie shielded from legal consequences.

Rose is Eddie’s younger sister, for whom Marcus has romantic feelings. Unlike her parents, Rose is not so quick to assume Marcus’s guilt or Eddie’s innocence. By the end of the novel, Rose and Marcus open up about their mutual feelings for one another and have time to connect before Marcus leaves for prison. Just as Marcus and Eddie’s friendship symbolizes a traversing of racial boundaries, so too do Marcus and Rose’s feelings for one another, though Marcus’s mother gives voice to the complications of their potential relationship in light of the existing racial tensions in their neighborhood.

Coach Casey is the coach of the basketball team at Long Island City High School. He is somewhat strict yet caring; the novel presents him as a mentor figure for the young men on the team. He regularly gives speeches about staying safe, staying out of trouble, and working together as a team.

Coach Casey’s support and the lessons he imparts to his team are poignant for Marcus in particular. When Marcus is arrested, Coach Casey and his wife come to the courthouse to be there for him, and he says he will always be around to support Marcus after his prison sentence, willing to vouch for his character.

Jason was captain of the basketball team until he was killed in a racially motivated attack. His presence lingers over the basketball team and Marcus and Eddie specifically. He serves as a tragic reminder of the ever-present Racial Tension in Urban Settings.

According to the Author’s Note, Jason Taylor’s tragic death is based on a real-life incident that occurred at Long Island City High School, during which a student was fatally stabbed during a riot sparked by racist taunting. Its inclusion in Black and White serves as a reminder of the very real racial tensions that exist in the city and their tragic and devastating implications. Both Marcus and Eddie have fond memories of seeing Jason while watching LIC’s games, and for Marcus especially, he serves as a role model. Though Jason’s death was racially motivated, Marcus notes that everyone in the neighborhood, regardless of race, is united in their hatred for his killer.

Along with Eddie and Marcus, the named characters of the Long Island City High School basketball team include Moses, X, Andre, and Preston. Aside from Preston and Eddie, the team is mainly composed of Black students.

Basketball is central to Eddie and Marcus’s lives, and their interactions with their team provide additional glimpses into their respective characters. Additionally, the team serves as a small microcosm of the rest of their neighborhood and the racial tensions that exist between the youth. Eddie notes how, as one of the only white players, he had to work to earn the respect of his teammates. Characters such as Moses and X regularly give voice to the injustices and racial disparities that exist in the justice system and in society.