LIBA 171: 1st Question

[Magdalena]

When Cedric arrived at Brown I believe that he had a stereotypical view of “white people”. In the text, he describes a white world, a world with “two-car garages and dads home for dinner- and unintentional verities”(183). Cedric is not comfortable because he can’t relate to most of his classmates. Cedric came from a single parent household, struggling to pay the rent. When it came to his studies he had to work hard. Cedric does not know every student individually but the majority of his class is white and non-Hispanic. Students that come from a white world, whose parents probably attended college and had the resources to receive amazing test scores. When the students were discussing their SAT scores, Cedric received the lowest score. Cedric already feels like an outcast compare to his classmates. Yet, as Cedric starts to talk with different people he discovers that he is not so different. Cedric meets Zayd and realizes that they have similar qualities. Unlike Cedric’s roommate, Zayd is neat and listens to the same music as Cedric. Cedric was surprised, because Zayd is white and did not realize the similarities. Cedric hardly socialized with “white people” before coming to Brown. He only knows the stereotypical version of white people. Cedric does have his own beliefs about white people but as he socializes with his classmates his views will start to change or stay the same.

[Alex]

Hi! This is MariaCarolina!
Based on Cedric’s early days at Brown I think he associates whites with wealth and either a higher intelligence, more resources, or both. He looks at their behavior, how they talk, how they dress, how they act and believes that they are wealthy and superior to other races. This is seen in the discussion of the SAT’s which for the most part confirms his fears that he’s among whites who proved to be smarter. As a result he goes to try to get his classes changed to easier because he doesn’t think he’ll be able to handle it. The school’s racial proportions don’t help out at all. There is huge majority of whites and that plays into the stereotypes in his head that there are more whites because they’re somehow better. He also uses his lack of resources to further distinguish the difference he feels between himself and his classmates. As he explains to his counselor as an excuse for taking easier classes, he came from a poor school.
Another example of how he sees whites as superior is demonstrated when he first meets his roommate he is immediately surprised that Rob doesn’t feel uncomfortable with his closeness. On page 166 it says, “Cedric, who has always thought white people, in general, don’t like being too physically close to blacks, feels himself loosening up.” He assumes, without anger or bitterness, but rather as a norm, that Rob would shrink away or create space between them because he is white. All these stereotypes that he’s formed in his mind create a barrier between him and his classmates, a barrier made of fear that he is running a race in which he knows everyone is faster than he is.