How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The next day, Mom began thinking about the future. She wanted me to go to a better school across town, where all the white kids got educated. So I grabbed the number 42 bus down Chandler Avenue, walked two blocks to the brown, ivy-rusted walls of my high school, and presented a note from my mom to Mrs. Kingsley, the secretary. (3.1)
We don't hear much about the racial makeup of the California town where Manny lives, but this passage gives us some clues. See how Manny points out that "all the white kids" go to a different high school than him? This lets us know that both white people and Mexican people live in his town, but also that they don't necessarily share the same major institutions, like schools. In fact, it sounds like the town is super segregated to us.
Quote #5
My dad had it in for white guys like Mr. Hart, who had good jobs and dressed in white shirts and black ties. It didn't matter that he was my teacher and that he was nice enough to give me a ride home. It didn't matter that, for whatever else one could say about him, Mr. Hart was an okay guy. What mattered to my dad was the possible panic I might cause my mom, or worse, that he'd be beholden to some white man for giving his son a ride home. No matter how many sophisticated ways I could turn it over to convince him, nothing would make sense to my dad. Letting Mr. Hart take me home was the worst acid I could have poured into his stomach. (3.43)
Sheesh, when Manny says that Dad doesn't favor white guys, he means it. When it comes to interacting with another race, Manny's dad doesn't want to feel like he owes anyone anything.
Quote #6
Chico once tried out for the basketball team, but he was too short and couldn't dribble to save his life. When scratched from the roster, he blamed Coach Rogers, the basketball and boxing coach. […] Where Chico got the story, I don't know, but he said the coach once caught a Mexican guy frisking around with his daughter and ever since then he didn't like Mexican guys. (7.35)
It's a bummer if Coach Rogers has a negative stereotype about Mexican people because of one dude, but we're thinking that there's also another guy making some assumptions here, and that's Chico. We may very well have anassumption on top of assumption in this scene. How do you think we can parse out what really happened? Or is it impossible?