Joey Veurink

Pg. 101-125 Between the World and Men Response

This part of the reading starts by talking about how the destruction of black bodies is American Heritage. I found his explanation to be pretty compelling for why he would think that. It’s in our countries history that we were built off of the backs of slaves, and blood was shed on a high level in order to reverse that. It made me sad to hear about how finite he saw our souls and minds. It does explain how all of the injustice would be magnified for him because of it. He has a really beautiful paragraph on page 107-108  that talks about how being born black give his son a clearer view of life and its struggles. He talked to him about how he shouldn’t try to pretend white or measure himself against those who try and act white. His story about meeting some people in Chicago that were around 100 years old was inspiring yet tragic. He talked about how they had overcome the odds, worked hard, and became pillars of their community. Though he held a certain level of sadness because he knew that they were an anomaly. They were simply the survivors of a world out to get them. He also mentioned that the same people that killed Prince Jones were the same people that tried to contain black people in the ghetto. The story about the white man who got away with killing the young black boy was especially sad. It still seems incredible to me that this kind of thing happens in the justice system. It broke my heart even more to hear about how his mother had to respond. She questioned if she had disciplined him enough and that if he would’ve listened things wouldn’t have happened that way. That is a mindset that you would never ever hear from a white mother in a reverse situation. I found it interesting that even though all of this he tells his son that if died today he would have lived a happy life. He found happiness in the struggle, which makes quite a bit of sense now that I am more than halfway done with the reading. That idea of finding joy in the pain makes his wish for his son all the more explainable. He wants him to embrace this struggle that he will find and life and allow it to remake him.