The Scholarship Jacket
Racism is a well known problem throughout this world. We get judge every day whether its our race, the way we dress, the way we talk, how we do academically, and if were going to succeed in life based on others people way of thinking what success is. The following story that I read is an excellent example of the way people underestimate us just because of our race or where we stand in society.
“The Scholarship Jacket” by Marta Salinas is about a young girl wanting to figure out why life sometimes seems harder for her just because of her race and where she stands in society. The main characters in this story are Martha, her grandfather, and the principal. They are some few minor characters, her two teachers. The story begins by telling us how she feels about the scholarship jacket and how it important it is for her to receive it this year, because it is her last year. She describes how it looks like enthusiastically, already imagining winning it. Her older sister had won the jacket also so she was already expecting to win it.
Martha’s parents didn’t have enough money to raise her so she was given to her grandparents at a very young age. She was not able to play any sports because of the fees they had to pay in order to play, so therefore she can not get a sports jacket. Martha really wanted a jacket so she saw the scholarship as the only way to get one. She knew she deserved it. She always got straight A’s since the first grade.
One day she overheard her two teachers talking about. She stopped and try to listen to what they where saying. She overheard them arguing about deciding who to give the scholarship jacket to. One teacher argued about how Martha deserved it because of her outstanding academics. He refused to give that chance to someone else that he knows she does not deserve it. The other teacher argued on why they should not give it to Martha because she is Mexican and the other girl was one of the board member’s daughter...