Black and White

The main issues with this story are associated with socioeconomic status and race, which are realistic issues that alter the outcomes of similar decisions in real life. This book does a good job of portraying a real life situation that could occur but also lays out some stereotypes that cannot always be assumed. It is borderline racist to assume that the reason for Marcus's sentence is his skin color and that every minority is judged based on the issue of race. The more realistic issue to look at here is the socioeconomic status between the two boys. Marcus is not as wealthy as Eddie and therefore cannot afford a good lawyer. If Marcus were able to afford a good lawyer, then his case decision would have probably been much more fair. Also, when Marcus was in jail, the inmates were composed primarily of minorities, which may be the case in certain situations but not always. I also feel like the book leads one to believe that minorities are sentenced harshly due to their skin color. I realize this is the case in certain situations, but not always and I think this book tries to make the reader feel bad for minorities by associating with them a negative stereotype. Minorities and caucasians alike all break the law. If a person commits a crime, regardless of their skin color, they should be punished, and in most cases are. Whether or not inmates are mainly minorities is not necessarily due to a racial issue, it just means that minorities have committed more crimes and have been punished for them. This doesn't mean that all minorities that have been charged for crimes are guilty. This goes back to the issue of socioeconomic status. Many people are falsely convicted of crimes that they haven't committed because they couldn't afford a good lawyer. I think this is sad, and is a flaw within our legal system, because money shouldn't be able to buy one man's freedom and then cause another man his. Another issue that comes into play when deciding a case is ethics. A judge will, in some cases, make a decision based on whether or not they think the defendant will be a repeat offender. The court takes the defendant's ethical values into consideration as well when making a decision.

Another issue that is problematic within this book is friendship, and the lack thereof. Marcus takes the fall for Eddie because he is a true friend and truly cares for Eddie. The two boys are best friends, which makes it all the more difficult to understand why Eddie doesn't step forward and take his proper punishment and lets Marcus take the fall for him. It is also hard to judge Eddie's decisions based on reading this book because I haven't been in his shoes, nor faced a similar situation, but given the circumstances I would never let someone else take the fall for something that I was also associated with, especially my best friend. If I were to do that it would bother me everyday for the rest of my life and I couldn't live knowing that I ruined someone else's life by selfishly choosing to save my own. I think doing something like that compromises a persons integrity and doesn't say much for their character. I think in the end Eddie's true character is shown.