Black Brother, Black Brother

“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.”

The Visibility and Invisibility of Race is one of the major themes of this novel. Donte can’t hide his race—his dark skin makes him visible. At the beginning of the novel, he wants to be invisible so that he won’t have to deal with racism. By the end of the novel, he is more equipped to handle difficult situations. He is more confident in himself and his right to be in spaces that others have long tried to prevent people of color from entering.

“Hate no matter what goes wrong, I’m at fault. Some guy overturns a chair; it’s my fault. My locker’s broken into; my supplies scattered, dumped in the trash. My books ripped. I get detention. And a library fine.”

At Middlefield Prep, Donte is stereotyped based on his race. He does nothing to get in trouble, but constantly suffers from racist assumptions that he is responsible for things that go wrong, a fact that Alan—the primary antagonist—frequently takes advantage of. These lines, with their short sentences and direct, conversational language, illustrate Donte’s youthful voice.

“‘He’s my brother,’ answers Trey.

Bewildered, the officer stops, studies Trey. ‘You have a black brother?’

Quick, like lightning, Alan repeats, ‘Black brother, black brother.’”

The ways in which people respond to discovering that Trey is Donte’s light-skinned brother is a barometer for Donte’s comfort around them. These lines reveal the police officer’s bias; even though genetics have proven that it is possible for one sibling to be light-skinned and the other dark-skinned, the officer is shocked. His reaction foils the way that Coach and