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Russell E. Mullen's The Room

Decent Essays

The Room, by Russell E. Mullen, is an account of the author's racial journey. Russell is a Caucasian raised in Central Florida, and being a baby boomer born in 1957, he experienced the racial conflicts that existed during the civil rights movement. As a child, he constantly heard negative comments about Black Americans from most of his relatives and other people around him, but he just couldn't understand the reason for the racial discrimination. His father was the only one he knew that never said anything bad about the African-American people and this got him more confused. Consequently, he sought answers to many questions popping in his head.

By and by, Russell joined the army, and after Basic Training, he was taken to Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany. After orientation classes, he was assigned to a permanent station and then put in a room that accommodated a multiracial crowd. In this room, he met two non-racist African-American young men, who educated him about their race and made him understand both sides of the racist equation better. Racism is a highly controversial subject, and oftentimes, one has to be careful when discussing it to avoid being misunderstood and …show more content…

In an engaging way, he describes the roles played by the Black and White Americans, America's leadership, and media in either fueling racial conflicts or encouraging racial progress. From his own point of view, he gives the reason why most African-Americans don't discuss racial issues with a white person. Also, he gives some insight into the N-word rules. Exploring the themes of the consequences of racial prejudice and drug abuse, carefully, this book examines racism and the ways employed to bridge racial gap. Although the narrative is enlightening and discourages racial discrimination, some race realists may not like its

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