47 pages • 1 hour read
Paul VolponiBlack And White
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Discrimination in the Justice System
Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s depiction of racism and racial discrimination.
Although Eddie is the instigator behind the crimes and possesses the gun, he avoids legal trouble while Marcus is sentenced to 19 months in jail. Through the young men’s vastly different experiences of the legal system, Black and White explores inequities in this system, how Black and white people are treated differently, and the factors that drive the system and its effect on urban communities.
The novel shows how, in the United States, people of color are disproportionately affected by poverty. For example, Marcus notes the fact that Eddie’s family has more money than his as early as the opening chapter. Black and White highlights how socioeconomic inequality is a driving factor behind the racial disparity in the justice system. The novel critiques the cash bail system, which it acknowledges as unfair and unjust. When Marcus is arrested and his bail set at 20 thousand, he is sent to Rikers Island when his mother cannot immediately pay. By contrast, Eddie is held in jail only briefly and his family almost immediately bails him out. This, as both Eddie and Marcus note in their own observations of jail, is most often the case—Black inmates frequently cannot make bail and are held longer, thus making up a larger proportion of the jail and prison population, while white inmates tend to have the money and support to afford their bail. The novel explores how the cash bail system specifically helps to feed the racial disparity in jails.
Socioeconomic inequality, as the novel shows, also leads to differences in legal representation and outcomes. Marcus and his family cannot afford a lawyer, and are appointed a public defender who does not believe she can successfully fight Marcus’s case and urges him to plead guilty. On the other hand, Eddie’s family can afford an experienced lawyer who can confidently build a case to prove Eddie’s innocence and discount the evidence against him, despite his actual guilt. The alternating chapters demonstrate the difference between Eddie’s lawyer, who is “getting paid to believe in [Eddie]” and tries at all costs to prove Eddie’s innocence, and Marcus’s public defender, who doubts that anything can be done to help Marcus (118). As a result of their different legal counsel, Marcus and Eddie experience vastly different legal outcomes.
As the novel explores, the socioeconomic disparity between Black people and white people leads to discriminatory legal outcomes. This discrimination has a far-reaching and detrimental effect on Black communities. Even if white and Black men commit crimes at a similar frequency, the overrepresentation of Black men in prison feeds negative racial stereotypes. This creates a perception of Black people and specifically Black male youth as being involved in criminal activity, which negatively impacts racial relations and has a detrimental effect on how young Black people view themselves. For young men like Marcus, only seeing people who look like them in jail impacts their self-esteem and self-image. Volponi explores this in his Author’s Note:
It seeps deep into the subconscious of the young people held [in prison], seeing only people who look like themselves locked up. And on days when they forget to ask what’s wrong with the system, they sadly begin to wonder what’s wrong with us? (187).
Black and White draws attention to the role that socioeconomic status plays in exacerbating the racial disparity in the prison system, and the negative effect that disparity has on the wider community.
Racial Tension in Urban Settings
Building upon the previous theme, Black and White highlights how systemic inequality in the justice system feeds and inflames racial tension—in this case, between Black people and white people in this neighborhood in New York City. Marcus and Eddie’s friendship initially seems to transcend this tension, as they are “almost like real blood brothers” (3). They have become integrated into each other’s families and do everything together. However, their legal trouble illuminates the cracks in this bond, with the systemic inequality of the justice system highlighting the stark differences between their realities. Through their relationship, Volponi illustrates interracial tension in urban settings like New York City, both at a systemic and an interpersonal level.
Marcus notes early in the novel that his friendship with Eddie is an anomaly in their neighborhood, where Black people and white people regard each other with suspicion and hostility. Their nicknames, “Black and White,” initially symbolize a triumph over racial tension and a surpassing of the racial boundary. At the same time, the names serve as an ever-present reminder of their difference and the persistent barrier between them. Even though Marcus and Eddie believe themselves above the racial tensions of their neighborhood and wider society, their external environment and the realities of their respective lives say differently.
Through Marcus and Eddie’s experiences in the criminal justice system, the novel shows how systemic disparities exacerbate tension between Black and white people, both by inflaming negative racial stereotypes and fostering resentment and division. Eddie’s family’s comments about Marcus after his arrest show the persistence of racial stereotypes; even though it was Eddie himself who convinced Marcus to commit the robberies, Eddie’s parents speak as if Marcus’s actions were inevitable based on where he grew up and his influences. When speaking to the lawyer Mr. Golub, Eddie’s father notes that no one would believe Marcus if he claimed Eddie was involved in the robberies.
Black characters in the novel regularly express distrust toward white people in their community, citing rampant inequality on a systemic and societal level. They view their white peers as being either outright discriminatory or, at best, complicit in the unfair systems that benefit them and indifferent to their negative effects. Moses gives voice to this after Marcus’s arrest: “The only thing in your favor is the dude who got shot is black. Maybe the judge won’t give a damn, unless the judge is black, too” (78). Black people in the novel assume that those in power, and particularly white people in power, do not care about them, feeding racial tension and hostility.
Integrity in the Face of Guilt and Consequences
Through Marcus and Eddie’s involvement in crime and their different reactions to dealing with the aftermath, Black and White explores accountability and integrity when faced with the consequences, and how negative actions can catch up to a person either literally or psychologically. Through the alternating point of view, the novel compares and contrasts Eddie and Marcus and their feelings after accidentally shooting Sidney Parker.
Marcus, initially hesitant to take part in the robberies, is recognized by the victim and thus assumes responsibility for the crime without mentioning Eddie’s involvement. Even before he is identified and arrested, he takes the blame for not holding the gun. When offered a better legal deal for giving up the identity of the real shooter, and even with his basketball scholarship and freedom on the line, Marcus chooses his loyalty to his friend over his future, certain that Eddie would do the same for him. He is forced to face the consequences of the robbery head-on and does so with as much honesty as he can. For example, he changes his response in his English essay about how he would like to be remembered. Marcus’s mother, rather than attempt to fight his case or advocate for a better deal for Marcus, allows him to face the consequences of his actions and only counsels strength and resilience; she is not in denial over Marcus or Eddie’s guilt.
In contrast, Eddie aims to avoid the consequences of the shooting at all costs. He allows Marcus to take full blame for the shooting even though he was the one who fired the gun. He refuses to admit guilt or accept the severity of what happened, either to his family or to Marcus; he blames Marcus for “quitting on [him]” by not holding the gun (127). Similarly, his family fights for his innocence, even though his father knows he is guilty. Eddie maintains the facade of innocence indefinitely, and the guilt for his lies weighs on him.
Through Marcus and Eddie, Black and White suggests that accepting responsibility for one’s mistakes is difficult and costly, but ultimately the only way to move on and make amends. Because Marcus is authentically regretful of his actions, he retains the respect and support of his peers and mentors. They vouch for his character, and their support will help Marcus rebuild his life after his prison sentence. Facing his actions allows Marcus to move on in spite of the disruption to his dreams and goals.
In contrast, Eddie struggles in the wake of the robberies even without a looming prison sentence. He is forced to cope with not only guilt for his actions, but the expectation to pretend everything is fine. His anxiety is exemplified when he is walking with Rebecca and passes the river where he disposed of his grandfather’s gun; he is overwhelmed with tension. This is sharply contrasted with how Marcus shows Rose the parking lot where the shooting took place. Despite Marcus’s bleak outlook, owning up to his actions allows him to move forward with a clearer conscience, while the novel suggests that Eddie will carry guilt and anxiety despite his freedom from incarceration. Though Eddie is physically free, he is mentally imprisoned. And while Marcus will serve time, he maintains freedom from internal turmoil, which the novel suggests is the truer freedom. Thus, through Marcus and Eddie, Black and White highlights the importance of acting with integrity and taking responsibility for one’s actions.
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