Blog #13

Throughout the story the author refers to race as the "whack color game" meaning that people base their beliefs and judgments of oths strongly on their race. The whack color game is almost like a game of identity, how race determines people's conceptions of others. Within he story the main character explains his inner conflict with his identity using his hair as an explanation. His African/Japanese hair is a strong factor in how people view him, which changes how he views himself. In America we judge heavily on appearance and first impressions. Ethnicity happens to be one of the first things we notice whether we realize it or not. Often times we assume that people of certain races have a certain appearance, such as a black man having curly hair. This has a strong impact on people in society because it causes people to struggle with who they are and who they want to be seen as. "I am angry too, but, in a sick kind of way, excited that my hair is such a visible sign of my heritage. My hair is a symbol of my identity. My hair is my pride. My hair is- an answer." (P.112)  This shows that the author took himself out of the whack color game in a way, he chose not to change his hair or himself as a person.