Reading Inquiry- How does the way people are treated in your books and your life make you feel?

In today’s modern society, unfairness and injustice are not uncommon. The way people are treated may be hard to understand, especially if there is no reason behind the cruel ways people act. These reactions are found in novels and newspaper articles, but in our lives, this inequality can be easily recognized. Some common acts of discrimination exclude homosexuals, women, families or individuals on the lower class rung, and people who are not white.

            The book “The God Box” portrays a Christian teenager who is questioning his sexuality. Paul is reluctant to admit this, but a new teen in his small religious town is openly gay, and not afraid to tell everyone. Through Paul’s confusion, he learns a lot from his new friend-what it’s like to be in love, and how people interpret the Bible differently than how it was meant to be read. Paul and Manuel develop a great friendship, but Manuel is very often excluded from school bible meetings and churches in the town. It is upsetting that Manuel is ostracized for that reason, and even more upsetting that everyone else believes that he doesn’t deserve to be Christian. Manuel’s rejection leads to Paul being bullied for hanging out with Manuel. Many people agree that this is unfair, because being a good, friendly person should not be punished.

            The upfront magazine article “Justice Denied” by Dan Barry tells of killed black men and women in the 1960’s during the civil rights movement. Hoping for justice many decades after these cries, families and friends of the victims sought after help from the F.B.I. “The F.B.I. has sent letters to all but about 20 victims’ families saying that their cases have been closed.” This is inconvienient, but some people believe that there is in fact a reason that these cases have been closed. Another death around that time was reported a few years ago by a white family in the U.S. It is racist and unjust that the F.B.I reported the white family’s case and not all of the other cases belonging to black families.

            Society has made it clear that certain people are favored through media such as books, articles, and even movies and tv shows. The world has come a long way as far as accepting people and treating others fairly, but there is still much that needs to happen. Nobody deserves less then the net perso just because of their skin color, gender, or sexuality, and no one should be separated for those reasons either.