Stella by Starlight and Boxers & Saints

**These posts originally appeared on a Historical Fiction for Youth discussion board for my Children's Literature Class**

Title: Stella by Starlight
Author: Sharon M. Draper
Genres and themes: juvenile fiction, historical fiction, regional fiction, southern fiction, female African American protagonist, diverse reads, racism

Stella lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Unfortunately, the beauty of the surrounding landscape is marred by a burning cross one night when Stella and, her brother, Jojo stumble across a secret Klan meeting. It’s 1932 during the heart of the Jim Crow era and little Stella has not been immune to the racism of the era (she was slapped in the face when she was five years old for accidentally bumping into the town’s doctor). She and the rest of the children in the African American section of Bumblebee, NC, attend a separate school from the white children. Riverside School is a one-room schoolhouse that often receives “leftovers” such as raggedy books from the fancier, whites-only school, Mountain View. Healthcare services are also segregated, which Stella unfortunately found out during a medical emergency.

Despite the harsh social environment, Stella loves school even though she is not the best, straight-A student. Stella loves arithmetic but struggles with writing; she sneaks out of the house every night to practice her writing skills in private (I think this was Stella’s most impressive quality- the perseverance and discipline to improve a skill she was not naturally good at). Fortunately, for little Stella, she receives continual encouragement about her writing from her teacher, Mrs. Grayson, and her parents:

“You are an amazing thinker- a gemstone hiding inside a rock…What I’m reading here is thoughtful and beautiful, just like you are.”

“More like tangled, like my hair” (Draper, 2015, p.101).

At first Stella doesn’t know how to accept these compliments but after she is given a typewriter to practice her writing skills, and the bravery to type out her reactions, thoughts, and feelings to the events going on around her, we see her confidence bloom into the first steps of a budding journalist: “…words were starting to make sense. Bright, perfectly formed ideas smoldered in her mind” (Draper, 2015, p.102).

One of the most powerful scenes in the book occurs in Chapter 22, “Their Declaration of Independence,” when Stella’s father, Mr. Spencer, and Pastor Patton go into town to register to vote. The town registrar hurls insults at their faces and subjects them to a timed literacy test and a poll tax, while he lets white people register with just a signature and a smile. Mr. Pineville tries further voting suppression tactics (refusing to “grade” their literacy test immediately) until the men and Stella stage an impromptu sit-in, complete with singing of gospel spirituals. The men passed the test but the Klan retaliated with terror tactics at the Spencer home a few days later.

Throughout the novel we see Stella progress from a shy girl with a secret (writing at night) to a strong, confident journalist in-the-making that manages to save three lives (Hazel Spencer, Paulette Packard, and her mother). Stella is quite an amazing little girl and an excellent literary role model for the middle grade reading audience. My only beef with this book is that I wish the author had written a scene with Dr. Packard’s reaction to Stella saving Paulette from drowning. Maybe the author didn’t include this scene because some people never overcome their racist mindset? What do you guys think?

I was curious as to the tune of the traditional African American gospel songs/spirituals sprinkled throughout the text. Thanks to technology I found the titles, lyrics, and video performances online:

“Children, Go Where I Send Thee” (p. 51)

 “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” (p. 144)

“Get on Board” (p. 197)

Last week, I attended the Southeastern Library Association Conference and I visited a session titled, “Tragedy, Healing, and Understanding: Using Library of Congress Primary Sources with Children and Teens.” This session was geared mostly for school librarians, but as a parent whose goal is to teach my child respect inclusion of others, I will probably use this resource with my son. Since the Library of Congress site can be overwhelming, the Teaching Civil Rights History with Primary Resources website was created by various departments at the University of South Carolina to assist teachers and librarians in finding teaching aids: https://scloccivilrights.com/civil-rights/elementary-school/

Readalikes:

The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier: (Goodreads review) “ When Minerva and Keira King were born, they made headlines: Keira is black like Mama, but Minni is white like Daddy. Together the family might look like part of a chessboard row, but they are first and foremost the close-knit Kings. Then Grandmother Johnson calls, to invite the twins down South to compete for the title of Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America. Minni dreads the spotlight, but Keira assures her that together they'll get through their stay with Grandmother Johnson. But when grandmother's bias against Keira reveals itself, Keira pulls away from her twin. Minni has always believed that no matter how different she and Keira are, they share a deep bond of the heart. Now she'll find out the truth.”

New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer: (Goodreads review) “Set in the South during the time of segregation, this lushly illustrated picture book brings the civil rights era to life for contemporary readers as two young girls find an inventive way to foil Jim Crow laws. When her brother's hand-me-down shoes don't fit, it is time for Ella Mae to get new ones. She is ecstatic, but when she and her mother arrive at Mr. Johnson's shoe store, her happiness quickly turns to dejection. Ella Mae is unable to try on the shoes because of her skin color. Determined to fight back, Ella Mae and her friend Charlotte work tirelessly to collect and restore old shoes, wiping, washing, and polishing them to perfection. The girls then have their very own shoe sale, giving the other African American members of their community a place to buy shoes where they can be treated fairly and "try on all the shoes they want."

Citations:

Ballad of America (2012). Get on board. Retrieved from http://www.balladofamerica.com/music/indexes/songs/getonboard/index.htm

Desmond [Username] (2008, January 16) Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFveRxXfM4

Draper, S.M. (2015). Stella by starlight. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Frazier, S.T. (2010). The other half of my heart. New York: Delacorte Books for Young Readers.

Impasse0124 [Username] (2009, November 28) Children, go where I send thee [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0y7YN6M0Og

Meyer, S.L. (2015). New shoes. New York: Holiday House.

Title:  Boxers & Saints

Author: Gene Luen Yang

Genres and themes: graphic novels, juvenile literature, historical fiction, colonialism, war

The main theme between Boxers and Saints is parallelism. The first and obvious sign of parallelism is the simultaneous release of both volumes and their corresponding artwork:

Each cover features the protagonist accompanied by his or her supernatural mentor. Our protagonists are teenagers who have experienced various kinds of tragedy: Four-Girl/Vibiana is the victim of domestic violence by her grandfather, uncle, and cousin. Bao watched his father never fully recover mentally from a physical beating. Both Bao and Four-Girl are warned about the “foreign devils” by an elder:

“Daughter, we Chinese are not meant for the foreign devils’ religion. Their beliefs will poison your mind and destroy your spirit” (Saints, Yang, 2013, p. 74).

[Master Big Belly to Bao]: “Those devils have no respect for our ways. They blemish our skies with smoke and build metal railroads across our dragon lines. They incite the land’s anger” (Boxers, Yang, 2013, p. 85).

Four-Girl’s conversion to Christianity was a slow process; her visits to the local Catholic priest were a way for her to eat more snacks, avoid her chores, and escape her abusive family. When she announces her conversion, her family’s violent reaction forces her to leave the only home she’s ever known. Bao’s “conversion” to the mercenary lifestyle occurs after watching his fellow countrymen and women suffer from the greed of the foreigners and their Chinese converts (referred to as secondary devils). Four-Girl is assisted on her journey of self-discovery through visions of Joan of Arc; Bao’s warrior journey is encouraged through rituals and dreams of Chinese opera gods.

While these two volumes and plots shared many characteristics, an interwoven plot, and tragic endings, there a few slight differences between the two texts. Saints starts off on a negative tone and the panel colors are muted, almost sepia tone like vintage photographs. Boxers starts off on a positive note (springtime and spring festivals) and the all the panels are full color illustrations. (Any thoughts or theories on why the difference in coloring between the two books?). The sections in Saints are divided by Four-Girl’s age while the sections in Boxers are divided up geographical location and year. I believe that Yang created and released these two volumes simultaneously to show young readers that there are two sides to every story- even in war. The Christian missionaries and their disciples thought they were fulfilling God’s work converting the Chinese to Christianity and taking care of orphans. The non-Christian Chinese viewed their converted countrymen as traitors to the glory of China, and thought the missionaries were greedy, rude, and disgusting. It probably didn’t help that every time Bao met a foreigner, that foreigner was committing some kind of anthropological no-no (smashing idols, taking food without asking, practicing bodily harm on another human being, etc.).

While I was reading Boxers and Saints this week, my 10-yeard old son saw these books and took one while I was reading it and ended up reading both. He loves to read graphic novels but my husband and I got a chuckle that I had to wait for my turn to read a book for my class (Hubby turned to me and said, “I had a feeling this would happen at some point during this class). My son reads below grade level so we encourage him to practice reading as much as possible. Thankfully, these graphic novels aren’t too violent and the few sexual innuendos went over his head. When he was done, reading them, I asked him what he thought of them: “They were crazy. Just crazy.”

After my son’s remark I decided to look for children’s books on the Boxer Rebellion, to supplement the graphic novel. And I found very little children’s books on this subject. Publishers and historians- you need to get on to this! A search through the PINES catalog (the statewide online catalog for public libraries in Georgia) found these titles:

Fifty-five days of terror: the story of the Boxer Rebellion by Burt Hirschfield (published in 1964)

The Boxer Rebellion: anti-foreign terror seizes China, 1900 by Irving Werstein (published in 1971)

Recommended Readalikes:

Persepolis, Volumes 1 &2 by Marjane Satrapi

(From my review on Goodreads): “Chronicles the life of Marjane Satrapi as she grew up during the political unrest in Iran from the late 1970s through the late 1990s. It's her autobiography in graphic novel form and it gives Westerners a rare glimpse into a mysterious country and region. As a little girl, Marji parrots the political slogans and ideologies she hears from the grownups around her. As a preteen her eyes slowly open to injustice in the world as she and the other females in Iran are subject to harsher and harsher rules regarding dress, opposite-sex relationships, and public etiquette. Marji's parents send her to Europe for her safety and to continue her education; although Europe is not dangerous, Marji's ethnicity keeps her from truly fitting in. She returns to Iran but finds that her home country has changed dramatically under the leadership of religious fundamentalists.”

Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics – edited by Chris Duffy (Goodreads synopsis): “As the Great War dragged on and its catastrophic death toll mounted, a new artistic movement found its feet in the United Kingdom. The Trench Poets, as they came to be called, were soldier-poets dispatching their verse from the front lines. Known for its rejection of war as a romantic or noble enterprise, and its plainspoken condemnation of the senseless bloodshed of war, Trench Poetry soon became one of the most significant literary moments of its decade. The marriage of poetry and comics is a deeply fruitful combination, as evidenced by this collection. In stark black and white, the words of the Trench Poets find dramatic expression and reinterpretation through the minds and pens of some of the greatest cartoonists working today.”

Citations:

Duffy. C. (editor) (2014). Above the dreamless dead: World War I in poetry and comics. NewYork: First Second.

Hirschfield, B. (1964). Fifty-five days of terror: the story of the Boxer Rebellion. New York: Julian Messner, Inc.

Satrapi, M. (2000). Persepolis. New York: Pantheon.

Werstein, I. (1971). The Boxer Rebellion: anti-foreign terror seizes China, 1900. London, UK: Franklin Watts.

Yang, G. L. (2013). Boxers. New York: First Second.

Yang, G. L. (2013). Saints. New York: First Second. 

King Leopold's Ghost

Title: King Leopold's Ghost: A story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Author: Adam Hochschild
Genre: non-fiction, African history, colonialism, racism

**This review is adapted from a reflection essay for my Modern World Civilization class**

            Before reading this book, I knew that Africa had been politically “carved up” between various European powers without any input from Africans and I knew that the Belgians had colonized the Congo but I had never read or learned about the details of Belgian colonization until now. After reading this book, I think the Belgian regime can be summed up in two words: greed and brutality. The Belgians were in Africa due to the restlessness and greed of King Leopold II. His ambition and restlessness affected his personal life (his wife and daughters despised him; Leopold disowned his daughters), he constantly defrauded the Belgian government to raise money for his insatiable desire for land and empire, and his race-based, Euro-centric regime killed and maimed millions of Congolese. After thirty-eight years on this Earth I am aware that humans have been cruel to each other since the beginning of recorded history, yet I am always horrified to find out how that cruelty is manifested.

            Hochschild uses the phrases “African cake” or “cake of Africa” many times throughout this book, a sentiment first expressed by King Leopold to one of his staff members (Hochschild 1998:58). This phrase confirms the European attitude towards African and its inhabitants: an object or thing to be devoured or consumed instead of a continent that was (and is) home to millions of human beings. After Britain abolished slavery in the early 1800s, the British empire focused on abolishing slavery in other parts of the non-European, non-Christian world as well: “Righteous denunciations poured down on a distant, weak, and safely nonwhite target: the so-called Arab slave-traders raiding Africa from the east” (28). Africa became an object of desire in the Victorian era since “these were the years when, to the distress of many young male Europeans, Europe was at peace. For a young man looking for a battle…the Congo was the place to go. For a white man, the Congo was also a place to get rich and wield power” (136). When it was confirmed that Africa could provide the raw materials needed to fulfill increased manufacturing and consumer demand during the Industrial Revolution, (27) Africa’s fate was doomed. Once Europeans reached Africa they viewed Africans as lazy (68) yet forced them to do hard labor that benefited European interests: “To Europeans, Africans were inferior beings: lazy, uncivilized, little better than animals. In fact, the most common way they were put to work was like animals, as beasts of burden” (121). Thanks to this inhumane treatment and racist mindset, thousands of African men died from the intense physical labor, meager food rations, and disease.

            Victorian-era explorers, soldiers, and businessmen cloaked their racism under the banner of guns and glory; unfortunately, some missionaries also hid their racist biases under the guise of humanitarianism or a spiritual call to serve. British Protestant missionaries were originally sent to Africa to help Africans improve their quality of life (according to European quality of life standards) (211). This goodwill eventually morphed into the belief “that improving the lot of downtrodden people everywhere was good for business” (212). Sometimes missionary zeal developed and colluded with something more sinister: Leopold planned for military, religious, and vocational schools to be set up for African children (133). The military schools were filled with children whose orphan status was in doubt- these schools were run by Catholic missionaries loyal to King Leopold who rewarded their loyalty through financial means. Like the male adults, African children often died of disease or starvation on their way to the orphanage or soon after their arrival.

            The Belgians maintained control of the Congolese through firepower and the much-feared chicotte which was a “whip of raw, sun-dried hippopotamus hide cut into a long, sharp-edge corkscrew strip” (120). Lashes from the chicotte were unleashed on a victim’s bare buttocks while the victim was tied to two poles laying on the ground during the administration of his punishment. To add salt to the wound, “the bulk of the chicotte blows were inflicted by Africans on the bodies of other Africans” (122). This allowed the Belgians to physically and psychologically separate themselves from the dirty work of administration and “created a class of foremen from among the conquered” (122) and probably soured relations between Africans.

            Other terror tactics included alliances with certain ethnic groups (which did not protect them from later enslavement by the Belgians), the lack of promotional opportunities for black soldiers (who were mostly conscripted), and state-sanctioned kidnapping. In a cruel twist of irony, Hochschild points out that “white officers who bargained with village chiefs to acquire ‘volunteer’ soldiers and porters were sometimes dealing with the same sources that had supplied the east coast Afro-Arab slave-traders” (130). During the natural rubber boom of the 1890s, male laborers were forced to meet rubber-harvesting quotas. To prevent rebellion and runaways, the Belgians would loot a village of all its foodstuffs and food sources and then kidnap the village women until the required rubber quota was met (161). Rubber-harvesting areas were also controlled through the issuance and denial of travel permits for Africans (similar to the travel permissions in the antebellum South). Males were required to wear a metal disk around their necks that noted the status of their rubber quota (163). Sometimes rebellious Africans were shot on sight by the colonial police force (the Force Publique) but this practice was frowned on by the officers who wanted proof that bullets had been used in military skirmishes, not in recreational hunting (165). The proof soldiers brought back was the right hand of dead Africans (165). Like all unofficial policies, this was not enforced, and soldiers amputated hands from living Africans to cover up personal use of ammunition.

The atrocities in the Congo were finally exposed through the words and evidence provided by three whistleblowers: Edmund Dene Morel, William Sheppard, and George Washington Williams. Williams was an African American Civil War veteran, pastor, journalist, and lawyer. He was no stranger to controversy- while in the States he often spoke out against post-Civil War violence against blacks. The purpose of Williams’ trip to the Congo was to scope out work opportunities for African Americans: “In Africa, surely, there would be the chance for pioneering and advancement then denied blacks in the United States” (105). Williams’ idealistic vision of opportunity was quickly dashed by the horrors he personally witnessed. Williams used his outrage to publish a pamphlet exposing King Leopold’s regime to the world. Williams’ Open Letter “was the first comprehensive, systematic indictment of Leopold’s colonial regime” (109). Williams accused the Belgian regime of fraud, widespread death and destruction, excessive cruelty, starvation, kidnapping, slavery and other “crimes against humanity” (112). The Belgian government issued a rebuttal against these accusations while Belgian newspapers defended Williams. Williams died soon after his exposé which allowed the Belgian government to save face.

Edmund Dene Morel was a clerk for the Elder Dempster shipping company which held a lucrative and exclusive monopoly on all shipping between Antwerp and the Congo. Morel was tasked with supervising the shipping between Liverpool and Antwerp and he soon realized that his reports submitted to the Belgian government did not match up with the trade statistics released to the public. Upon further investigation he discovered that weapons were being secretly shipped to the Congo, someone was making a huge profit (King Leopold), and African workers were not being paid for their labor: “From what he saw at the wharf in Antwerp and from studying his company’s records in Liverpool, he deduced the existence-on another continent, thousands of miles away-of slavery” (180). Morel quit his job at Elder Dempster to focus on exposing Leopold’s lies full time; Morel created and edited the weekly journal, The West African Mail. Thanks to his extensive research and fact checking, documents and photographs were smuggled to him by missionaries and others within the Congo (190). The photographs were the most important pieces of evidence against King Leopold for they “provided evidence that no propaganda could refute” (215).

William Sheppard was an African American, Presbyterian missionary who brought joy to everyone he met in Africa. Hochschild notes that Sheppard grew in self-confidence while in Africa once he was away from the chafing restrictions of American society and the Southern Presbyterian denomination. His outlook as a marginalized American allowed “his writings [to] show an empathetic, respectful curiosity about African customs” (156). His demeanor, curiosity, and language skills allowed him to meet with the Kuba, one of the last African kingdoms, unharmed. Unfortunately, not all of his discoveries and adventures were pleasant- he discovered the policy of severed hands mentioned above and published his findings in numerous missionary magazines upon his return to the United States. His reports along with the photographic evidence submitted to Morel was the beginning of Leopold’s downfall in the public eye.

I think the truth of the Congo was able to stay secret for so long was due to multiple factors: Leopold put a humanitarian spin on his conquest and colonization of the Congo and very few people seemed to question his real motives. After Leopold’s death, his real motives were revealed through his convoluted accounting system which took years to uncover (276). Most Europeans didn’t think anything was wrong with their treatment of the Africans; Europeans believed themselves to be a superior race and civilization. When Leopold did set up investigative committees, these committees were mostly a PR move to maintain his humanitarian image. Committee members were usually appointed by the king and they had personal and financial interests in the activities and future of the Congo. When investigative committees did release reports criticizing the king, the reports were never released to the public or they were rewritten in a more favorable light.

Hochschild also points out that the humanitarians that were outraged at the atrocities found in the Congo often turned a blind eye to atrocities committed by their own countries or political allies, “…it was a safe target. Outrage over the Congo did not involve British or American misdeeds, nor did it entail the diplomatic, trade, or military consequences of taking on a major power” (282).  “The Dark Continent” as Africa was called, was not only an allusion to African skin color but was also a euphemism in the eighteenth century about the unexplored portions of the continent. The Dark Continent is also a metaphor for the dark deeds perpetrated by various European regimes over the past four centuries- deeds based on greed and the thirst for land, resources, and power.

****************************************************************

During our class discussion of this book, the professor asked us, “How would you describe this book in one sentence?” As you can see from my above review it would be very difficult to describe the events recounted in King Leopold’s Ghost in once sentence. Well, one of my classmates responded with this succinct statement: “King Leopold was a douchebag!” In all seriousness though, the class was shocked that the world (outside of the Congo) knows little to nothing about this “forgotten holocaust.”

Black and Blue

Title: Black and Blue: Inside the Divide Between the Police and Black America
Author: Jeff Pegues
Genre: nonfiction, American history, racism, civil rights, African American history

**This review has been adapted from a book review I wrote for my Anthropology and Pop Culture class**

            The beating of Rodney King was one of the most infamous police brutality cases of the twentieth century. Police brutality cases involving African American men appear to be on the rise in recent years- between 2014 and 2017, Laquan McDonald, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Keith Lamont Scott, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Philando Castile, and Terrence Crutcher died during police interactions or while in police custody. Jeff Pegues, in Black and Blue: Inside the Divide Between the Police and Black America, brings to light why police brutality is once again making headlines throughout America: the roots of racism in police brutality, the lack of accountability in policing, and the need for reconciliation between the police and the African American community.

            The first theme that Pegues tackles in his book is accountability. Members of the police and African American communities were interviewed by Pegues about their thoughts on police accountability. Both sides agreed that police need to be held accountable and punished when they overstep their bounds but each side measured that accountability in different ways. Achieving accountability was on the minds of many Chicagoans after the police shooting death of Laquan McDonald in 2014. After the shooting, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) originally released a statement that the shooting was justified after McDonald had acted in an aggressive manner; when the video was released to the public thirteen months later, the video revealed that “Van Dyke fired the first sixteen shots, and Laquan McDonald was leaning away from the officer. The CPD’s so-called code of silence had been exposed along with other systemic problems going back decades” (Pegues 2017:63).

            What is the “code of silence’? It depends on whom Pegues interviewed. Mayor Rahm Emanuel described the code of silence as “the tendency to ignore. It is the tendency to deny. It is the tendency [to] in some cases cover up the bad action of a colleague or colleagues” (Pegues 2017:46). Dean Angelo, a CPD veteran and president of the Fraternal Order of Police claims the thin blue line “keeps the beast from the door” and is “the line of separation between the good and the bad” (Pegues 2017:54). To Angelo the code of silence is not covering a colleague’s bad behavior but “listening, not talking. Learn by observing, learn by hearing” (Pegues 2017: 190). The police view the thin blue line and the code of silence as the noble concepts of protection and duty while the African American community views it as an “oppressive force” (Pegues 2017:50) of corruption.

            In response to the Laqaun McDonald shooting the CPD established the Police Accountability Task Force to “actively seek out, listen, and respond to voices all over this city” (Pegues 2017:63). The Police Accountability Task Force would also be responsible for the thousands of abuse complaints that are lodged against the CPD every year: “From 2011 to 2015, 40 percent of complaints against police officers were not investigated” (Pegues 2017:114). The Task Force also recommended the creation of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability- this agency would have “greater power to investigate alleged police abuse and the use of deadly force…offer recommended changes to both police policy and procedure” (Pegues 2017:222); Unfortunately, the civilian task force was a voter-based ordinance which was struck down by voters, especially voters in white neighborhoods that contained police residents.

            The rejection of the civilian-led accountability agency by white Chicagoans sheds light on a dirty secret within the police community (and the second theme of this book): the infiltration of white supremacists in the law enforcement community. Some of this infiltration manifests itself in obvious ways and sometimes racial bias within in police ranks is more insidious. In our class lecture, we learned that some Los Angeles police officers hailed originally from Mississippi and they brought their racial biases with them to California. These LAPD officers were known to cruise African American neighborhoods for the sole purpose of stirring up trouble by yelling racial epithets and acronyms from their police cruisers (Trunzo class lecture, September 5, 2017). Liberal San Francisco was no better in their viewpoints towards African Americans- one police precinct in an African American neighborhood was known to have a picture of a KKK grand wizard displayed on a public bulletin board (Trunzo class lecture, September 5, 2017).

            An example of insidious racial bias within law enforcement is the controversial “stop and frisk” policies initiated by the New York Police Department that were later adopted throughout the country. The original purpose of stop and frisk was crime prevention: “officers were encouraged to stop and question pedestrians and then frisk them for weapons” (Pegues 2017:26) but complaints and statistics show that this policy was abused by cops with racial motives and usually only enforced in minority communities. For example, in Baltimore stop and frisk was “concentrated in predominantly African American neighborhoods and often lacked reasonable suspicion” (Pegues 2017:22) and

BPD searched African Americans more frequently during pedestrian and vehicle stops, even though searches of African Americans were less likely to discover contraband. Indeed, BPD officers found contraband twice as often when searching white individuals compared to African Americans during vehicle stops and 50 percent more often during pedestrian stops (Pegues 2017:23).

On paper, this aggressive form of law enforcement appeared to lower crime but there were other repercussions: the breakup of families, job loss, increased prison populations, and the temptation by police departments to turn stop and frisk into a source of revenue.

            The final theme in Black and Blue is reconciliation which is repeatedly mentioned in the book by Pegues and by many of his interview subjects. Pegues recognizes that reconciliation will be a long process and hard work for both sides of the thin blue line. Pegues recommends a multi-step reconciliation process: acknowledgement, expungement of bad cops, sessions of open dialogue, and the establishment of positive interactions between civilians and the police.

            “This divide in the United States between law enforcement and black Americans shows that our country is still grappling with a troubled past when it comes to race” (Pegues 2017:99). The “troubled past” this quote refers to are the slave patrols in the colonial and antebellum periods of U.S. history and the Jim Crow laws “which set different rules for blacks and whites…based on the theory of white supremacy” (Pegues 2017:100). Because of hundreds of years of oppressive regulations, laws, and policing techniques, the African American community not only distrusts most police departments but has also had to resort self-protection because they knew help would not be available outside their community. Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) points out that acknowledgment of racial bias must also include racism within the police ranks, not just racism between police officers and the community (208).

            The cliché “one bad apple spoils the bunch” is also symbolic about bad cops who ruin the reputation of their own police department and the entire law enforcement community. The Chicago Police Data Project found that police officers “with 10 or more complaints- make up about 10% of the force but receive 30% of all complaints” (Pegues 2017:229). Another way to root out bad cops is the prevention of bad hires in the first place. Various entities quoted within this book mentioned that hiring standards for police officers needed to be increased: stricter psychological testing, increased salaries for police officers, and continuous training which includes: “bias awareness, crisis intervention, mental health issues, interpersonal and communication skills” (Pegues 2017:135) just to name a few, and police departments need to acknowledge that not every police academy candidate is mentally capable be a police officer. Local government officials also need to view police as “critical infrastructure… If we don’t invest in our infrastructure, what happens? It breaks down” (Pegues 2017:133). Finally, Pegues believes there must be civil, open dialogue between the police and the local African American community to build trust with one another. This tenuous trust must be sustained through continuous positive interactions between African Americans and law enforcement.