Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dear Martin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Privilege, Entitlement, and Implicit Bias
Appearances and Assumptions
Support, Acceptance, and Belonging
Opportunity and Upward Mobility
The Media and Public Discourse
Summary
Analysis
“Dear Martin,” Justyce writes. “You know, I don’t get how you did it. Just being straight up. Every day I walk through the halls of that elitist-ass school, I feel like I don’t belong there, and every time Jared or one of them opens their damn mouth, I’m reminded they agree.” He also notes how difficult it is for him to turn on the television and see that another young black man has been shot, a constant reminder that “people look at [him] and see a threat instead of a human being.” He tells Dr. King that he recently saw a white man on television arguing that cases like Tavarrius Jenkins’s and Shemar Carson’s “deflect from the issue of black-on-black crime.” “How are black people supposed to know how to treat each other with respect when since we were brought over here, we’ve been told we’re not respectable?” Justyce wonders.
After his fight with Blake and Jared at the party, it’s evident that Justyce is more discouraged than ever. Moreover, his sense of social isolation has grown, which is why he reflects upon the fact that he doesn’t fit in at Braselton Prep. This feeling of ostracization is only made worse by the way the media talks about young black men, framing the entire country’s population of black teenagers as dangerous. No matter where he looks, then, Justyce has to confront unfair assumptions and biases.
Themes
Justyce asks Dr. King what he’s “supposed to do.” He doesn’t want to act like Manny and pretend there’s “nothing wrong with a white dude” using the n-word and asking his black friends to “help him exploit a black girl,” he says. At the same time, though, he also doesn’t want to be accused of being too “sensitive.” “What do I do when my very identity is being mocked by people who refuse to admit there’s a problem?” he asks.
The question Justyce poses to Dr. King in this diary entry speaks directly to the nature of his dilemma—namely, that he can’t call people out on their racism when they refuse to admit the existence of racism in the first place. In this way, readers see how difficult it is to confront bigotry in a context that actively discourages open dialogue.
Themes
