Black Brother, Black Brother

Donte finds himself a constant target of racism. This is explicit in Alan’s repeated chant of “Black brother, black brother,” and implicit in that he is often blamed without anyone admitting it has to do with race. Donte wishes that he could blend in, to hide that he’s Black by becoming unseen. He knows that he stands out at the very white Middlefield Prep. It doesn’t help that his brother Trey can pass for white himself. The novel opens with Donte thinking: “I wish I were invisible. Wearing Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak or Frodo Baggins’s Elvish ring. Whether shrouded in fabric or slipping on gold, it wouldn’t matter to me. I’d be gone. Disappeared” (3).

Donte is aware of the systemic racism in the world around him. He knows that the stereotypes associated with being Black can have negative, even fatal consequences. References to real events emphasize societal racism, especially when Denise says: “This is how it starts. Bias. Racism. Plain and simple. Philadelphia, cops called on black men meeting in Starbucks. Portland, cops called on a hotel guest talking on his cell phone with his mother (24). Donte is constantly vigilant, aware that people might see him and believe him to be a threat.