New Kid by Jerry Craft

Quality Rating: 4.5 out of 5

"'By the way, you're starting at forward. Do you know what that means?... Well, then just get out there and run fast. I know you can do that! I mean, because you look athletic! Not because... you know... We're all created equal, Jordan. I REALLY believe that.'" (Craft 77)

Summary:

After moving to a new, less diverse private school district, Jordan Banks is trying to find where he fits in. It is painstakingly obvious that Jordan is one of the few students of color in his grade, as teachers and classmates— despite their good intentions— make racial differences and stereotypes more prominent. Living in Washington Heights apartments and having to make the trip to the uptown Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan realizes that he is stuck between two worlds and is struggling to juggle both of them simultaneously.

Stereotypes, Biases, and Assumptions Addressed:

1. All members of the same race look the same.

Jordan's teacher Ms. Rawle continuously called a classmate, Drew, by a different name, Deandre. She claimed it was because Deandre was a handful for her last year, but does little to hide the fact that she is mixing up their names because they are both African American. She sees them both as the same person because she doesn't recognize their differences. Jordan also points out that he was called Maury, the name of one of the other hispanic students in his class, illustrating this same assumption. Each person is a unique individual. Craft was making a statement here: pretending that everyone of the same race or ethnicity looks the same insinuates that their individuality doesn't matter.

2. If you have mixed parents, you have to choose which one to identify with; you can’t identify with both.

Maury was continuously called an "Oreo" because of his interracially married parents. They claimed he was "white on the inside and black on the outside," as if his race defined him (26). Maury wasn't given a choice by his peers to identify with a certain race; they just tagged him as African American because of his skin tone. Many children with biracial parents are forced to face the same dilemma of which race to identify with. Maury, and other children with biracial parents, don't need the whole world to determine for them which race suits them the best. Rather, these individuals can choose to decide for themselves if they want to identify as one race or the other, or both.

For more information on the relationship between interracially married parents and their biracial children, here are some important links:

1. Chaudhary, Anil Kumar, and Ingram, Patreese D. "Self-Identity of Biracial Children: What Role to Parents Play?". Journal of Human Sciences and Extension. Vol. 2.2 (2014). DOAJ. http://media.wix.com/ugd/c8fe6e_1e8fd31357b44990bf8f38a7470b77eb.pdf

2. Choi, Kate H., and Nancy E. Reichman. "The Health of Biracial Children in Two-Parent Families in the United States." Demographic Research 41 (2019): 197,230,197A-197B. ProQuest. https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/docview/2344488259?pq-origsite=summon

3. Adults can be racists but children can’t.

Children may see racially charged comments as “jokes” with kids about aspects of their identities, but prejudice underlies the jokes. Andy continuously makes these "jokes" throughout the novel, particularly towards Ramon. Andy assumes that Ramon is Mexican and makes comments about certain things he thinks Mexicans eat regularly (tacos, empanadas, etc.). Though Andy claims to be kidding, Ramon points out in a fit of anger that he is Nicaraguan and that he had been telling Andy this since kindergarten. Andy verbally bullies Ramon by blatantly ignoring Ramon's wishes to be labeled with his true nationality. His parents are most likely the instigators here, due to their vocalized assumption that all hispanic individuals are Mexicans and, therefore, must like all of the stereotypical Mexican foods. Andy takes these comments to heart and thinks that, because his parents were saying those things, he can as well. Catching prejudiced comments and behaviors at an early age and educating students about them will help alleviate discrimination and stereotyping between ethnic and racial groups.

4. People of color need financial aid.

Not all people of color are of a lower socioeconomic status and need help paying for activities at school. This is a major stereotype that puts all people of color (African American, Latinx, etc.) into one collective group, deemed to always need financial aid. Just like Maury and his family, some people of color may be well-off but choose not to flaunt their wealth. There is also an alternative to this viewpoint: not all white families are of a middle or high socioeconomic status. Some white families do need financial aid to make ends meet. One individual's financial situation shouldn't be the basis for a blanket assumption for the entire community.

5. Slang from your own racial group is fine, but slang from a person of a different race is discriminatory and disrespectful.

Ms. Rawle berated a black student named Drew when he used the slang term "Dawg" with a black student named Jordan, saying that it wasn't nice to call anyone a dog and that he should apologize. Drew points out that Andy, a white student, also calls people "Dawg" and Ms. Rawle never yelled at him. Craft is illustrating that linguistic discrimination is at work here. Different cultures and groups may have alternative meanings to the same words or phrases. If we say that one group can use that slang or dialect but another cannot, there is the notion that one use of the language is superior to the other.

Misconceptions I realized I was carrying:

1. Promoting diversity in a school helps the students.

If a school is attempting to become more diverse but only has a few students of a different race or ethnicity, trying to overcompensate for the lack of diversity tends to single these individuals out and make them more of an “outsider" within the school. Literature also impacts the students and their ability to feel included in the community. Just having books about “escaping” from oppressive or discriminatory situations doesn’t promote racial and ethnic pride in the way it is intended; libraries and classrooms need to have books of racial and ethnic empowerment as well!

2. Parent’s worries about the diversity of schools and their children’s’ experiences with race/racial discrimination have no impact on the children.

Once parents share their concerns about racial and ethnic discrimination with their children, the children are more aware of it and are able to interpret the the discriminatory practices. The more aware they are of such things, the more they learn how to cope with and combat discrimination. Without the conversations and awareness, children may start to dissociate with a certain racial group, potentially stigmatizing the group and associating negative connotations with them. It is the responsibility of parents, guardians, and educators to have these conversations with their students in order to hopefully prevent racial discrimination in the future.

3. Being careful about how you talk to others of a different race will make your relationship with them better.

Everyone has a right to be talked to and treated like they are an equal in the conversation. Constantly trying to correct yourself to be “politically correct” and inclusive makes it seem like you’re nervous around them and can create more of a rift than a bridge between individuals. You definitely want to make sure you aren’t using derogatory or discriminatory verbiage as you speak with others, but don’t make it blatantly obvious that you are thinking of the racial differences so much. There needs to be a mutual understanding that both individuals have their differences but are equal in the conversation.

4. Kids that come from a wealthy family flaunt their money and take it for granted.

Not all children embrace their family's wealth. Some children acknowledge that their family is wealthy, but feel ashamed and try to hide their association with it because they don’t want to be treated differently than their peers. Jordan’s friend Liam behaved in this way. He knew that his family had quite a bit of money but chose to avoid any conversation that had to do with money and/or his family. Liam repeatedly told Jordan not to judge him when they hung out at Liam’s house to play video games one afternoon. He didn’t invite people over because they would know from the looks of his house that he was wealthy. Being treated differently because of his socioeconomic status was something that Liam avoided. He wanted to be a regular kid instead of being known and treated as the rich kid. Liam doesn’t think anyone likes him at school and he feels so different than everyone else because of his parents’ wealth.