Who do you like better: the white guy or the black guy?

By Tom Quiner

John was a pretty average student in school.

He worked hard to simply pass some of the math and science classes. He just wasn’t all that good at them, but pass them he did. He held down part time jobs while in school to save toward college. The savings helped him enroll in the local community college. Two years later, he advanced to a local university and earned a Bachelor’s Degree.

John continued to work hard. He kept his nose clean. He avoided drug use and consumed alcohol in moderation. Upon graduation, he found the job market was pretty tough. He took a job that was probably beneath his level of education, but it paid his bills and helped him to begin whittling away on his school loans. The job gave him valuable work experience, including how to get along with people, how to communicate with co-workers and customers, and how to be disciplined in a job. Several years later, he found a better job more in line with his educational background that paid him about a hundred bucks a week more than his old job.

He was making progress.

Trevell presented an interesting contrast to John. He had a mind that was quick. Science and math came to him pretty easily. Nonetheless, he blew off a lot of his courses in high school. The school counselors lamented his relentless under achievement. For whatever reason, Trevell didn’t care about school. Maybe it was the crowd he hung with.

They did drugs.

Even more, they sold drugs.

Even more, they got into fights. His circle of friends grew until they had a full blown gang. Inevitably, Travell ran afoul of the law, again and again and again.

He dropped out of school and got a job at a car wash for awhile, but the money was bad. He could make more peddling drugs. So that’s what he did. One drug deal went really bad, and Travell ended up seriously hurting someone. Somehow, though he was able to stay ahead of the law this time.

Trevell had a string of girl friends in his teen years and early twenties, impregnating three of them. Two of the pregnancies ended in abortion, and one girl friend went ahead and gave birth to Trevell junior, even though Trevell senior had nothing to do with his kid.

Frankly, Trevell simply enjoyed having sex without consequence. He didn’t care if a girl friend got pregnant or not. It wasn’t his problem.

He went to prison for the first time at age 24, and spent the next decade in out for a variety of offenses including drug convictions and armed robbery.

Meanwhile, John kept plugging away in his life. He had a few girl friends. He didn’t sleep with any of them. He met the girl of his dreams in his early twenties and married her when he was 24. They ended up being blessed with three children by the time he was thirty.

I have a question for you: who do you like better, John or Trevell?

Before you answer, you should know that John is a black guy; Trevell is white.

Okay, which of these guys do you like best?