Dear Martin

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 1, "September 18"-Chapter 7

Part 1, "December 13"-Chapter 10

Part 1, "January 19"-Chapter 14

Part 2, "Transcript from evening news, January 26"-"VP Released for Rabble-Rousing!"

Part 2, Chapter 19-"Four Months Later"

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Part 1, "September 18"-Chapter 7Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

"September 18" Summary

Justyce writes to Dr. King about his trip to his neighborhood. Mama knows right away that his arrest has been troubling him, and she listens as Justyce explains that he "can't seem to find where [he] fit[s]. Especially at that school" (35). He tells her about the class discussion and having to listen to Jared. Mama has little sympathy. She reminds him that "people who make history" aren't "supposed to fit" (36) and that he shouldn't run away from something just because it's difficult. Justyce admits that his mother was right and there is nothing he can do but keep moving forward. He reveals that the hardest thing that day at school was that Manny knows what Justyce went through and still agreed with Jared that "there's not a problem" (38). Justyce wonders how he is supposed to push forward despite knowing that "there are people who don't see a man with rights when they look at [him]" (37). He asks for King's guidance.

Chapter 5 Summary

Since the discussion in class on racial equality, Jared has "been on a crusade to prove things in America are equal" (39). He suggests that each of them dress up as a stereotype for Halloween and go out together to make a statement about equality "and broken barriers" (39). Justyce doesn't think it's a good idea, but he agrees anyway.

As they get dressed, Justyce starts to regret letting himself be talked into this idea. Justyce is the Thug with "pants belted around his thighs" (39) and a grill on his bottom teeth. In khakis and loafers, Manny is the "Token Black Guy" (40). Jared is the Yuppie/Politician, Tyler represents the Surfer Dude, and Kyle is dressed as the Redneck. Justyce is okay with most of these costumes, but Blake is dressed as a Klansman. The costume's realness disturbs Justyce, and Manny it clearly unnerves, as well. When Manny tries to give Justyce an out, Justyce says "it's cool" because he recently read Dr. King's "definition of integration, [which is] 'intergroup and interpersonal living'" (41). Manny still seems uncomfortable, but after posting pictures of their Equality Brigade to social media, they all head out. As they get to the car, Blake "pulls on the hood and raises his arm in the Nazi salute" (42), and Justyce realizes he should never have said it was okay.

Five minutes after they get to the party, someone punches Blake in the face. Then, "a group of genuinely thugged-out black dudes—and one white guy—[stand] in front of the Equality Brigade (42)," and they look angry. The group is comprised of guys from Justyce's neighborhood who are in a gang called the Black Jihad and are friends with Manny's cousin, Quan. Trey, one of the people in this group, criticizes Manny and Justyce for hanging out with the rest of the Equality Brigade. Justyce tries to explain the idea behind the costumes, but Trey reminds Justyce and Manny that no matter how rich or smart they might be, the white kids are always going to look at them as lesser. Jared starts to protest, but Trey reveals that they have guns and suggests that Jared and company leave the party. He offers for Manny and Justyce to stay but snickers knowing that they won't because they're "goin places […] [and] gotta stay connected to the white man for the ride to the top" (44).

The Equality Brigade leaves the party. Justyce can tell Manny is upset and sees him looking over his Token Black Guy that was "made up of clothes he pulled from his closet" (45). Justyce and Manny make eye contact, and "for the moment, they understand each other" (45). Justyce takes off his chain and hat.

"November 1" Summary

In this letter to Dr. King, Justyce writes that it's "2 a.m. and [he] just got off the phone with SJ" (46) In their conversation, Justyce tells her everything and explains that he feels "weird about leaving" (47) the party because if he had stayed, he would have been showing "solidarity with [the] guys [he] grew up with" (47). Instead, he decided to leave with the white kids, and to top it off, one of them was dressed as a Klansman. He wonders at the idea that trying to get ahead in life made him "some kind of race-traitor" (48), and he tells SJ how Trey's comments about needing white people to get to the top affected him. He tells SJ about his "Be Like Martin experiment" (50) before he realizes that he's talked to SJ for three hours and quickly gets off the phone. Before they hang up, SJ apologizes for speaking for him in class in the racial equality conversation, which deeply affects him.

Justyce can't stop thinking about SJ. She's his debate partner and knows him really well. He acknowledges that she's attractive physically and he likes her personality, but his mom always told him not to "bring home a white girl" (51). Justyce and Melo have broken up, but he feels guilty for telling everything to SJ, especially all the racial stuff. He questions why he would leave "a party with a bunch of idiots" (51) and then want to run away from the white person, SJ, who treats him as an equal. Justyce reiterates that he wants to live his life with "intergroup and interpersonal living" (51), but he wonders whether he can.

Chapter 6 Summary

Justyce learns that he got into Yale. He calls SJ immediately, and her excitement rivals his own. When she points out that they'll be close to one another, Justyce's heart beats faster and his head gets fuzzy, a reaction that has become more common in her presence. He realizes that he called SJ before he called his mom and quickly gets off the phone. Justyce calls his mom, but it goes to voicemail and he doesn't want to leave such big news on a machine. He can't sleep that night because he's feeling guilty for not telling his mom first and is thinking about Yale and SJ.

In the dining hall the next day at school, SJ leaps into his arms to congratulate him. They stand there smiling and staring at each other, but Melo breaks the spell. Justyce pulls his hands away from SJ, and SJ's smile fades into a scowl. After SJ leaves, Justyce explains that they're just good friends, which he knows might not be the whole truth anymore.

Chapter 7 Summary

SJ comes into class and won't look at him. Jared enters class angry. He suggests that the class talk about affirmative action, claiming that it "discriminates against members of the majority" (59). Jared explains that despite his impressive credentials, he was deferred at Yale while Justyce got early acceptance. After SJ and Justyce establish that Justyce has equal qualifications, Jared continues to be upset because he feels that Justyce took a spot that could have been his so that Yale could fill a quota. SJ challenges Jared to consider affirmative action in the context of starting points. The conversation ends with Jared claiming that whenever he sees a person of color in college, he's going to "wonder if they're qualified to be there" (64). Justyce calls him out, and Jared tries to say he didn't mean it that way, but the class is silent.

Part 1, "September 18"-Chapter 7 Analysis

During these chapters, Justyce struggles with identity and his sense of belonging. After his arrest and during the class discussion on equality, Justyce feels further removed from his peers at Braselton Academy. Justyce knows that his treatment by the police runs counter to the argument that all people are equal, and it irks him that his classmates, specifically Manny, the only other Black student in the room, can't see that. Justyce also begins to question his relationship with the white students in his school. After Trey suggests that Justyce remains with his white friends because they will get him ahead in life, Justyce feels that Trey might have a point. Feeling removed and conflicted about maintaining relationships with his white peers, Justyce tries to deny what seem to be burgeoning feelings for SJ, a white classmate. Despite her clear lack of racism and fierce desire to illuminate the thinking of some of her classmates, Justyce worries that his mother won't accept SJ and likely worries how the rest of society might view their relationship as well.

While Justyce struggles to determine how he fits in the whitewashed world of Braselton Academy, he also grapples with how he belongs to his old neighborhood. Justyce recalls Trey and some of the other kids making fun of him for reading and calling him White Boy. Justyce tries to understand why "tryna DO something with [him]self made him a race-traitor" (49). Simultaneously, however, part of Justyce feels like he should have stayed at the party with Trey, as "a statement of solidarity with these guys […] who look like [him]" (48). He wonders whether leaving with Jared supports the idea that he needs white people to make it. Justyce's anxieties about whether he fits in the Black community are echoed in Manny's examination of his Token Black Guy costume. As Manny looks down at his clothes and realizes that they are taken from his own closet, he and Justyce exchange a meaningful look. In this moment, both Manny and Justyce feel outside of both worlds, struggling to figure out where they belong.

In the first set of chapters, Jared argues that all people are treated equally and have equal opportunity. When Trey suggests that Jared and his friends look down on Manny and Justyce, Jared tries to defend their relationship. However, Jared's efforts are often misguided and ignorant. When Jared and his friends create the costumes for the Equality Brigade, Justyce and Manny are concerned. Jared has no issue with Blake's Klansman costume, not recognizing how offensive it is even after Blake gets punched in the face.

Jared's emphasis on fairness is further explored when he rails against affirmative action and questions whether Justyce's acceptance to Yale is because of his qualifications or his race. Jared's inability to recognize some of the systemic and social barriers that face students of color further fuels his anger at the idea of making the "starting point" (63) the same for all students. Stone likely included this contrast to further highlight how impactful race remains in the perceptions of both white and Black teens. While Justyce struggles with the idea that, for some, his Blackness is synonymous with criminality, Jared struggles with the idea that Black students have to combat systemic racism and discrimination to attain success.