Stats and Monsters

As explained by Bucher and Hinton, young adults want “works that will force them to confront their own beliefs” (Bucher 140). Many young adults, regardless of race, are well aware of the racial disparities of incarcerated people in the United States. Although they possess this awareness, they also struggle with how to address their perceptions. Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, discusses the racial disparities of crime and criminals in New York City, specifically Harlem. This text offers educators and students an opportunity to evaluate how perceptions of African Americans charged with crimes and how those perceptions are formed. By pairing Monster with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Criminal Justice Fact Sheet and National Public Radio (NPR) transcript of Ed Gordon’s interview with George Washington University professor of law Paul Butler, students are exposed to statistical facts about crime disparities and concrete ideas on how to support their communities.

As Monster follows a young Steve Harmon through his trial, crime statistics provide a new dynamic to the reading of the text. Shortly before the trial begins, Steve records a conversation between the stenographer and one of the guards. The stenographer notes that she hopes the trial lasts for several days. The guard responds with “Six days—maybe seven. It’s a motion case. They go through the motions; then they lock them up” (Myers 22). In addition, Steve’s own lawyer says the jury persuaded of his guilt because “You’re young, you’re Black, and you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?” (Myers 86). This is a stark reality. The NAACP’s crime statistics present a similar reality. Their fact sheet indicates that “African-Americans represent 26% of juvenile arrests, 44% of youth who are detained, 46% of the youth who are judicially waived to criminal court, and 58% of the youth admitted to state prisons” (Criminal Justice Fact Sheet). Those are startling statistics. Myers shows through his text that youth, and African American youth, are vulnerable to crime and connections with criminals. The above statistics prove that this is reality. Our classrooms may be filled with diverse groupings of students or they may contain a single ethnicity. Students need to be aware that this is not just a story, it is real life. High school sophomores are arrested on suspicion of murder. Providing statistics can help students translate the fictitious events in the text to real events.

While students are confronted with the realities of crime and punishment, providing concrete ideas on how to support their communities is important. As students become more intimately aware of the racial disparities of incarceration, they must decide how to react to that stark reality. NPR’s Ed Gordon conducted an interview with Paul Butler that both sheds light on that stark reality and presents methods to enact change. While some of the ideas discussed in the interview are not realistic for students to achieve, such as integrating communities socio-economically, Butler does explain what students can achieve. For example, Butler explains that African American students need to graduate from high school because “If they graduate from high school, by and large, they do not commit the kinds of streets crimes that are the subjects of these statistics” (Butler). He further explains that by increasing the graduation rate of young black men, the crime rate and incarceration rate of that demographic would be reduced (Butler). The most troubling fact Butler discusses with Gordon is the concept of normalcy associated with jail. Not only do students need to understand the value of a high school education, but Monster and this NPR interview must shift the perception that jail is a normal part of life.

Monster is a dynamic piece of literature that presents a social problem in the United States in a way students can understand. By exposing students to statistics and interviews that discuss similar topics, Monster is brought into focus and the realities that are exposed within the text can be discussed. Students of all races and both genders need to understand the disparities found in the text and in the news. Providing statistics and interviews clarify the themes found in Monster and forces students to discover for themselves what Steve Harmon experiences. With an influx of racial tension between African Americans, police, and the judicial system, Monster is a powerful text that can provide avenues of discussion for students and educators. It is an important text and should be read in the classroom.

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Butler, Paul. Study Highlights Issues of Race and Crimer. with Ed Gordon. National Public Radio. 30 September 2005. Web. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4930683&utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150608&utm_campaign=npr_email_a_friend&utm_term=storyshare>.

Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. 2015. Web. 8 June 2015. <http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet>.

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. HarperCollins e-books, 2008.