Blog Journal #5/Darkness At Noon

I believe Harold Krents’ purpose for writing this story was to show other’s that having a disability didn’t mean a person couldn’t live life to the fullest. There are a lot of people in the world today who are different, look different and have disabilities. They are working, playing sports, raising families and living life to the best of their abilities. I agree with Harold’s viewpoint and people should never judge a book by its cover. It can be very hurtful and even leave a scar for life.

I have a little brother who will be 20 years old this month. His name is Dominic and I love this kid like the stars love the night sky. He’s mixed with black and white, and since he was a little boy people would look at him and my mother like they were both different. People would treat my mother unfairly because she had this little high yellow, light skinned kid at her side. People would always look at them with mean stares like they had done something wrong anytime they were out in public. My little brother didn’t like going places with my mom because he was afraid of how they might get treated. My mother always feared this and usually spoke up by saying something to people when this sort of thing happened.

As time went on though and my brother got older, it wasn’t so bad, but it still happened occasionally. He never knew what to consider himself when he was in school. He didn’t know whether or not to mark black or white when filling out paper work that asked for his ethnicity, but after a while he started seeing himself as white. Kids would make fun of him in school calling him names like white boy, speck or zebra. The black kids didn’t want to be friends with him, which made him sad and to the point where he didn’t want to go to school because of it. He started acting out and getting into trouble and didn’t care what happened to him. I had to take him in, take care of him and send him to school with my kids. It’s a good thing I did too. It made all of the deference in the world. When he was at school with my kids, he gain respect, popularity and the confidence and self esteem that he needed to be himself and who he wanted to be.

Today my little brother is very popular with his peers of all races. He has a world of friends that love him for who he is and for the person he has become. He’s a skater and love’s Tony Hawk. He loves and listens to a lot of rock and alternative music. He raps, writes songs and put beats together with my son. My kids, nieces, nephews, and all of the cousins look up to him. They all call him Uncle Dom because he’s the bomb. I love my little brother and is very proud of him. I couldn’t have ask for a better brother.