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Sabrina Reyes
Professor Jackie
English 114B
16 March, 2015
But Im Not Racist
Adam Mansbach is the brave author of Angry Black White Boy. The novel follows the
fictional character Macon Detornay a white Jewish kid who has a deep love for African
Americans, their culture and an even deeper hate against the white race. One day Macon feels
that himself and black people have had it with the mistreatment against their race so he creates
A Day of Apology an event from his Race Traitor Project. A day when white people must go
around town apologizing for everything that has happened to black people. The novel is a satire
that uses stereotypes to address real issues. Detornay includes many examples of racial profiling
of the African American race, but this is very ironic because the African American characters in
the novel are friendly people. Racial profiling is what is ruining the image of African Americans
and their ability to be seen as non-violent.
Racial profiling is a common issue in the book and in reality with African Americans
because it is with them that we see the most deprecation and violence upon the innocent. It has
been proven over time, simply through history that the main contributors of racism towards
African Americans have been white people. One of Macons white cab riders proves this by
adding her two cents of racist thought saying, Thank God. I thought Id never find a white cab
driver (Mansbach 108). She makes assumptions that if her cab driver wasnt white then it
wouldnt be safe to catch a ride with them; this indirect titling is what gives black people a bad
rep. When in the cab she obnoxiously states Im not taking my chances with that maniac on the

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lose. Hes some kind of black militant wacko or something. Im not a prejudiced person. But this
guyhe robs white people and cops cant find him. I dont want to get raped (Mansbach109).
The crime committed is robbery, no one ever mentioned anything about rape, this is an example
of how white people exaggerate every act of violence when black people commit it. Her
knowledge of his alleged race leads her to this conclusion and her claim to not being prejudice
results in her statement to be exactly that. With so little words she makes the robber out worse
than he already is and the truth is the robber is not even black, he is white Macon Detornay. In
todays society, there have recently been far too many cases of exaggerated unnecessary police
encounters and it all begins with racial profiling.
In an article from The Huffington Post, Jason Silverstein shares that On Tuesday, April
17, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing on "Ending Racial Profiling
in America" (Silverstein). Supporters of racial profiling argue that it helps identify criminals,
protect innocents, and prevent crime. By using race, police may apprehend the criminals before
they hurt us, or so the argument goes. By using crime statistics to justify the races profiled,
supporters claim to be different from racists (Association). Supporters must be in denial if they
believe that racial profiling does not consider them racist. The act of racial profiling basically
deems you racist because it is the act of generalizing people and/or races based on behavior or
characteristics- if used in a negative way. If they claim it protects the innocent then Eric
Garnerss death is the perfect counterargument.
Eric Garner was a 43-year-old African American male who was being harassed by an
officer after breaking up a fight. He was minding his own business; he did not commit any crime
that day and when he resisted arrest an officer tackled him to the ground in a chokehold where he
also hit his head on the pavement. He yelled out several times that he couldnt breath but officers

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would not get off of him. A few hours later Garner was pronounced dead (Murray). In this case
racial profiling could not prevent a crime because there was no crime made to begin with. The
crime is against the officer who used excessive unnecessary force on this innocent black male.
The argument that police are allowed to apprehend the suspect before they hurt them is
unreasonable because in the video taken of the incident, Garner shows no motives to hurt the
officer. The officer is the one who caused the permanent damage. Racial profiling leads to bigger
problems that cops especially are protected from and that is when the injustice is done; like the
officer who put Garner in the chokehold, he was not punished. But that is a whole set of different
problems. The novel embraces and embodies a time period when hip-hop was booming and
shows that the lifestyle of it is connected with violence.
Due to the culture that embodies Hip Hop, violence is a big issue and African Americans
have been crowned the origin of this issue. When the police description of the cab robber turns
out to be a black male the issue is presented. The victims could not see clearly through the
partition in the cab so they assumed Macon was black because apparently only a black person
would commit a crime like this. When Nique tells Andre about the robber he says Only niggas
do shit like thishe flips and robs these two yuppies at gunpoint (Mansbach 55). It is even
detrimental that Nique is okay with the relationship between his people and violence. African
Americans have gotten used to racial slurs like nigga that they themselves use it to describe
others of their same race; nigga used to be a word that was used to deteriorate the worth of
African Americans back in the time in slavery. This racist remark coming from a man of color
about another man of color expands the racisms shown towards African Americans in the novel
and how over time it has been accustomed to do that to your own people.

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The novel shares the idea that black people are to blame for violence and white people
are to blame for racism. When The Day of Apology comes, the crowd is confused on what
exactly it is that they should be apologizing for and Nique lays it out for them. He shouts out to
the crowd saying, Imagine youre walking home late at night and you see me coming down a
dark alley right towards you. Whats the first thing that crosses your scared honkey minds.
Apologize for that (Mansbach 229). The white crowd agrees in unison that they do develop
racist reactions in situations like those. Nique is right to put the blame of black oppression on
white people because they just admitted their guilt. Even Macon who considers himself a nonracist, cant deny how he truly feels about African Americans. In chapter six, Macon decides to
take a stroll through the park and A notty-beared black dude staggered into view around the
next bend.( Mansbach, 84) As he passes Macon, Macon wiped sweat from his forehead,
shaking it from his hand onto the pavement. Macon turned his head sideways, checking out his
shadow underneath the streetlights and the scant moon, hoping to see a Classic American Profile.
Instead, his face was stretched flat against the ground, pale and distorted (Mansbach, 85). This
shows his mistrust with African Americans, he was so scared and nervous because a black guy
walked by him at night. If he were truly on the side of black people then he wouldnt have
needed the comfort of a white person. Many people make assumptions based on image or
behavior to negatively profile a person.
Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old black male who was walking home from a 7-11 one
night where he bought a bag of Skittles and an iced tea, wearing a sweater with the hood on. He
was spotted by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. According to Zimmerman,
Martin looked suspicious. Zimmerman called 911 and informed them of the suspicious guy in
the hoodie and informed them that he was following him. The dispatcher told him that was

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unnecessary but he kept following him. There were no witnesses that saw exactly what happened
but it resulted in the death of the very young and innocent Trayvon Martin by gunshot and
Zimmerman was trialed innocent of the murder charges (Botelho). There was an altercation
between the two but Martin was just a kid, unarmed and full of life to live. Now he is dead
because a man profiled him to be dangerous just by the judgment of his clothing. Something that
people like Zimmerman should consider is a day of apology.
The Day of Apology turns into a huge mess, something Macon did not expect but is to
blame for. The day that was called for peace and forgiveness turned into a riot, while acts of
violence erupted everywhere. Now, he cant control peoples actions but when Nique tells Macon
to say something, he refuses and when Andre says that theyll blame him Macon says, As well
they shouldIf I hadnt thought black people could handle their stupid asses( Mansbach
262). Eventually Macon does speak up but his words make no change; he cant handle the blame
so he leaves. If Macon were a true leader then he wouldnt have walked away from an issue that
he wants to change so bad. He walks away carrying and accepting the blame but there is no
resolution for the issue.
Perhaps white people will forever be in debt to African Americans but at the same time
we must accept the past for what it was and move on. The Day of Apology was a brilliant idea
but no one, not even Macon, expected it to end the way it did. Racism has reached a point where
even African Americans themselves feel okay using racial remarks towards each other. Society is
reaching its peak of destruction with things like this. People are destroying their own race,
eventually living up to racist titles, not allowing each other to prosper and grow out of the
stereotypes. The events in the novel link to real life situations, like Eric Garner and Trayvon
Martin. Due to the color of their skin and the racial profiling that accompanies it, their lives were

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lost. Racism in this novel is used to subvert the African American race through racial profiling.
Many people can be dangerous but its time to stop causing huge problems by profiling every
Black Man as dangerous.

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Work Cited

Silverstein, Jason. American Anthropological Association."OnEndingRacialProfiling

inAmerica."TheHuffingtonPost.TheHuffingtonPost.com,17Apr.2012.Web.24Mar.2015.
Botelho, Greg. "What Happened the Night Trayvon Martin Died - CNN.com." CNN.
Cable News Network, 23 May 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
Mansbach, Adam. Angry Black White Boy, Or, The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay: A
Novel. New York: Three Rivers, 2004. Print.
Murray, Ken. "VIDEO: Man Dies after NYPD Cop Puts Him in Chokehold." NY Daily
News.3 Dec. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.