The Head-Patting Incident

     In class, we discussed whether Martine’s race matters in the head-patting incident and why? In my opinion race matters. Both cases (with a white person or a black person) are weird since Benji is already a teenager in this story, and head-patting is generally done to children. However, when a white person does this, it is much more serious since they generally do it to appease their curiosity. Rather than trying to praise a black person, they do this because they believe they have a right to touch another person's head, and in a way, they treat them almost like a pet by doing this. Benji even demonstrates how common of a pattern it is by explaining that this has been happening to him since elementary school. However, he doesn't mention any such pattern happening with black people touching other black people's heads, so it is reasonable to assume that if head-patting happens among black people, it is more often to show appreciation. Black people have no reason to touch other black people's heads because they already know what it feels like. Therefore, race does matter.

      As for whether I think that Benji is justified in his actions toward Martine (even though Martine turned out to be black), I do think he is justified. Even though Martine probably doesn't 't think twice about the head-patting, his action is incredibly ambiguous no matter his race. Even if he is black (which he is), patting a teenager's head can have a wide range of interpretations, so by committing such a confusing act, he opened himself up to the possibility of repercussions. I don't condone what Benji did, but I do understand why he did it, and I think that he has a solid reason for his actions.