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Sarah-Jane (SJ) Friedman
Blake is a white student at Braselton Preparatory Academy, and one of Jared and Manny’s good friends. Unlike Jared, whose racism is often subtle (even if still hurtful), Blake takes things extremely far, as evidenced by the fact that he wears a Ku Klux Klan outfit as a Halloween costume. This makes both Justyce and Manny uncomfortable, but neither of them speak up because they don’t want to be accused of being too “sensitive.” When Blake gets to the Halloween party, though, he encounters members of a local gang called the Black Jihad, who punch him in the face. Nonetheless, he doesn’t seem to learn his lesson from this encounter, as made painfully clear when he throws a party later in the year and asks Justyce and Manny to help him have sex with a certain black girl, telling them he thinks he would have a chance with her if she saw that he’s friends with two black guys. Worse, he calls them the n-word, and when Justyce calls him out on this, he acts like it’s no big deal, trying to make it seem like Justyce is overreacting. This upsets Justyce so much that he attacks Blake. In the aftermath of Manny’s death, Blake tells the media that Justyce attacked him, thereby presenting an unfavorable image of Justyce that aligns with Officer Tison’s untrue claim that he shot Justyce and Manny because they were threatening him.
Blake Benson Quotes in Dear Martin
The Dear Martin quotes below are all either spoken by Blake Benson or refer to Blake Benson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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November 1 Quotes
Me: Well, either way it went, I was sayin somethin’, you know? Staying woulda been a statement of solidarity with these guys I grew up with—and who look like me. Leaving was a different statement, and the fact that I chose to do it with a white guy who was dressed as a Klansman…well…
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Chapter 10 Quotes
“You coming over here asking us to help you use a black girl IS a big deal, Blake. That’s not to mention you tossin’ the n-word around like you own it.”
Blake: You don’t own it any more than I do, bro. Nobody owns words. I’d think you’d know that as someone “smart enough” to get into Yale.
Manny: All right, y’all, let’s calm down before this gets outta hand.
Justyce: It’s already outta hand, Manny. Your boy Blake is a racist.
Blake: What is it with you people and the goddamn race card, huh?
Justyce: We people. You realize Manny is one of us people too, right?
Blake: Except Manny’s got some sense and doesn’t make everything about race. Why don’t you loosen the hell up?
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Chapter 11 Quotes
“That’s what it was like for me at the new school. Everybody saw me as black, even with the light skin and green eyes. The black kids expected me to know all the cultural references and slang, and the white kids expected me to ‘act’ black. It was a rude awakening for me. When you spend your whole life being ‘accepted’ by white people, it’s easy to ignore history and hard to face stuff that’s still problematic, you feel me?”
“I guess.”
“And as for you, the only way you’re gonna thrive is if you’re okay with yourself, man. People are gonna disrespect you, but so what? Guys like Jared don’t have any bearing on how far you get in life. If you know the stuff they’re saying isn’t true, why let it bother you?”
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"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Blake Benson Character Timeline in Dear Martin
The timeline below shows where the character Blake Benson appears in Dear Martin. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
After class, Jared, Manny, and their white friends Blake, Kyle, and Tyler enter the “senior lounge.” Justyce is also present, but nobody sees him...
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...days.” He then says that Manny’s parents are “proof that things are equal now,” and Blake immediately agrees. All of the white boys then agree that “things really are equal nowadays”...
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...‘as black,’ but Justyce knows damn well the police would,” Stone notes. However, Jared, Kyle, Blake, and Tyler don’t pick up on Manny’s discomfort. Instead, Jared tells them to “raise [their]...
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Chapter 5
...Justyce is at Manny’s house getting ready for a party with Jared, Kyle, Tyler, and Blake. Jared has convinced them all to dress as various stereotypes for the party, claiming it...
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Even Jared seems uncomfortable about Blake’s costume. He and Manny go into a different room to discuss it, leaving Justyce with...
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When the group of friends gets into Manny’s car, Blake puts on his hood and does a Nazi salute. Suddenly, Justyce knows this plan isn’t...
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November 1
...on his behalf in class when Jared was voicing racist sentiments. “Hearing her apologize after Blake didn’t?” Justyce writes in his diary. “It got me, Martin. Now I can’t get her...
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Chapter 10
...doing anything. “Being alone in your current state isn’t good for your mental health, man. Blake’s birthday party is tonight, and you’re coming with me,” Manny says. Shortly thereafter, Justyce drinks...
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Justyce continues to drink while Manny drives them to Blake’s party. It is perhaps because he’s so drunk, then, that he finds it especially hard...
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As soon as Blake finishes speaking, Manny’s smile fades, as if he knows Justyce won’t be able to ignore...
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Continuing his defense of himself, Blake says that Justyce should know that “nobody owns words.” “I’d think you’d know that as...
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At this point, Jared and Tyler approach Manny, Justyce, and Blake. “Homies!” Jared says. When he sees how angry Justyce is, though, he disparagingly asks what...
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...isn’t taking his side, Justyce tells him that he’s “just as bad as” Jared and Blake. Going on, he says, “These dudes disrespect you—disrespect us—all the time, and you never say...
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Chapter 11
...though, he can’t help but get angry when he thinks about Manny letting Jared and Blake say such racist things.
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Chapter 12
...following week, Justyce notices both Manny and Jared are absent. He sees Tyler, Kyle, and Blake grouped closely together and whispering, throwing him dirty looks. After school, he finally sees Jared...
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...what happened. Manny explains that he went to a “festival” on Saturday night with Jared, Blake, and the others. He admits that what Justyce said about him being a “sellout” got...
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Chapter 19
...phone to Martel. When Martel gives the phone to Justyce, Justyce see a picture of Blake below a headline that reads, “JUSTYCE McALLISTER’S VIOLENT PAST: A FORMER VICTIM SPEAKS OUT.” The...
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Chapter 21
...surprised to see them, since he’s been waiting to be accused of something ever since Blake claimed publicly that he assaulted him (this “fell flat,” apparently, since “even the pundits were...
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Chapter 22
Tison’s attorney continues with her cross-examination, bringing up the fact that Justyce assaulted Blake and Jared at Blake’s birthday party. “It wasn’t unprovoked,” Justyce clarified. As he tries to...
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