Black Brother, Black Brother

Many students tryout for the Middlefield Prep fencing team, including Trey and Donte. It’s likely that others want to join because the two boys started fencing.

The current team helps to test tryouts. Most work to show the new kids how to fence, but Alan and his friend Danny tease the newbies. Donte keeps his distance from the others. The headmaster stands near him on the bleachers, asking if he’s going to try out. The headmaster adds that the coach had seen Donte at the preseason meet and that Donte would be good for the team.

Donte looks at the blue banner reading “Non Nobis Solum” in the gym and asks what it means; the headmaster says that it translates to “Not for ourselves alone” (194). Donte doesn’t think that’s what the school really values. He sees the headmaster for who is really is: “Now that [the headmaster’s] heard I might be good at fencing, I’m no longer the suspicious black kid” (194). Donte knows that he’s talented. He wonders why he ever thought he needed to beat Alan.

The coach has Alan and Danny do a practice bout. Donte watches carefully, and Alan wins, showing off for the crowd. However, Alan has a tell, and Donte has seen it. Donte decides to stick with the Boys and Girls Club instead of trying out for the Middlefield Prep team. He and Trey leave.

Donte feels more comfortable in his body than ever. He’s less twitchy because of anger and feels more in control of his physicality.

When Zarra enters practice, she brings a copy of Olympic Fencing, turning the page to a female African American fencer who won the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and points out that Ibtihaj Muhammad won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics. They continue to talk about how there were five fencers of color on the 2016 US team.

Trey asks why most fencers in Boston are white, and Coach explains that there is a race and class bias. Public schools don’t offer fencing while private schools do. Lacrosse is similar, and because pools used to be segregated, many inner-city children never learned how to swim. When Coach admits that he can’t, so do Zarra, Zion, Trey, and Donte.

They agree that it’s unfair, especially when the author of the most famous novel about fencing—The Three Musketeers—was written by Alexandre Dumas, a Black man. Dumas’s father was General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, also known as “The Black Count,” and he was the best general in Napoleon’s army. Napoleon sent him to jail because he was jealous. Hollywood erased years of Black fencers in the movie adaptations of Dumas’s books.

The team grabs their foils, lifting them up and saying, “All for one, one for all” (207). 

An excerpt from Peter Westbrook’s Harness Anger: The Inner Discipline of Athletic Excellence makes up this chapter. It discusses how fencing is physical and mental. Great fencers combine both. Therefore, “[f]encing is life” (208). There is a drawing of Donte in his fencing gear.

At the Massachusetts regional competition, the team believes in one another, knowing that they belong there, especially after learning about the Olympic fencers, Dumas, and the Black Count.

To advance, they each have to bout. Donte tries to remain calm. He knows he doesn’t have to prove anything, but he still feels like he does. He feels Alan’s racism “echo in [his] bones, mind, and blood” (212). Breathing as Coach taught him, he is able to work past the unease.

Zarra fences first again. She scores first and continues to score. During her bout, Donte notices that Trey is upset and that he’s pretending to be okay. Donte sees a crumbled-up piece of paper in his hand and takes it. There are two sheets. The first one says: “Why play with…” and Donte doesn’t open the second, knowing it will have an offensive word on it (214). Coach notices what’s happening and squeezes Trey’s shoulder, telling him he’s okay. Trey agrees.

Zion and Zarra advance. Trey loses his bout but fences well. Donte and Zarra advance to the semifinals. Donte is fencing Nate in the semis, and he feels good about his performance. He scores the first point, then Nate gets the second touch. The better Donte does, the more flustered Nate becomes. Ultimately, Donte wins by scoring five points. As Donte walks back, Alan trips him, but Donte remains cool. Coach gives him Advil; his wrist hurts from the fall. Donte realizes that they expect him to quit, even though no one talks about how he was made to fall on purpose.

As the last semifinal match takes place between Alan and another boy named George, Trey comforts Donte, reminding him that they’re in it together. Donte knows that “Trey’s as black as me; I’m as white as him. We’re both our parents’ sons. Mixed bloods” (220). When they sit together, it’s like looking in a mirror.

Alan wins, and Donte has to face him. Donte takes deep breaths, convincing himself his wrist doesn’t hurt. He thinks of Dumas, of his ancestors. He feels that “[f]encing is in my blood” (221).

Donte faces Alan. The first period of three minutes passes without a score. Alan is frustrated. In the next period, Donte doesn’t fall for Alan’s trap, luring the other boy into one of his own. He scores. Donte’s wrist huts so much that it’s difficult to aim his weapon. When Alan comes at him fast, Donte responds quickly. He scores again. The second period ends with a score of two to zero, Donte winning.

In the third period, Alan regroups and scores. When they prepare to resume and reset, Donte takes a second to massage his wrist, trying to get Alan to feel overconfident. Alan falls for it, and Donte scores. Alan beats his blade; he gets a penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior since they hadn’t resumed yet. With thirty seconds left, Donte scores the final point, winning five to one.

Donte is in pain and exhausted. However, he goes over to Alan, and slowly, they shake hands. Thinking it interesting to see their Black and white hands together, Donte holds Alan’s. When Alan tries to remove his, Donte holds it until Alan says, “Congratulations.” Donte wants Alan to look him in the eye and see him. Everyone has to see him now since he’s the fencing champion. He feels more confident than ever and demonstrates this by raising his foil.

Zarra wins silver, and all the team members celebrate their victory. Donte has a great time.

At school, Trey and Donte are celebrated. Alan tries to quit the fencing team, but his parents don’t allow it. Denise’s court case is ongoing. On the anniversary of Donte’s arrest, he and Trey wear corresponding t-shirts. On one day, Donte’s shirt is black and reads in white letters: “Black brother.” Trey’s is white and reads in black letters: “White brother.” On Wednesday, they switch. On Thursday, they both wear the black t-shirts. On Friday, Donte wears a white shirt that says: “Race is not a color.” Trey wears a black one with “Heritage is lit. What’s yours?” (232-233).

The following Monday, the student council has a Heritage Sit-In, and everyone celebrates. It feels like one small step toward a more inclusive world.

Parker Rhodes learned about how students of color are disproportionately punished when researching Ghost Boys. She wanted to explore ideas about racism and colorism in Black Brother, Black Brother and how a person of color with lighter skin is often treated better than a person with darker skin, even though categories of “white” and “Black” are socially constructed.

She goes on to discuss how her children are biracial. Like Donte and Trey, one has darker skin and the other lighter. As a result, they had different experiences. Rhodes believes that racism can end.

Parker Rhodes discovered how colorism tried to erase Alexandre Dumas’s African heritage. She asked herself: “How many children of color failed to dream of becoming a fencer because of a white master literary and media narrative?” (238). This is how fencing became part of the novel.