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TRAGEDY IS OFTEN THE START OF UNDERSTANDING

Smoky Night
by Eve Bunting (San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994)

Introduction

This story is set in Los Angeles during the rioting that happened after the police beating of Rodney King and the ensuing trial. It teaches us the importance of being friends with your neighbors who are not of the same race or ethnic group.

Summary

Daniel lives with his mother in an apartment building. They are watching rioting and looting in the dark streets below. They watch as looters break into Kim Market, the market owned by their Korean neighbors Mrs. Kim. But Daniel’s mother never shops there because she says it is better to “buy from our own people.” Daniel and his mother are African-American.

Soon, the apartment building is set on fire. The tenants flee, but Daniel and Mrs. Kim can’t find their cats. Daniel and Mrs. Kim both have a cat they love. These cats do not like each other and they constantly fight.

A firefighter rescues the cats from the building. The cats, now friends, teach the importance of overcoming past fights and differences to become friends.

Excerpt

[A firefighter arrives with two cats—Daniel’s and Mrs. Kim’s cat.]

“The two of them were under the stairs, yowling and screeching,” the firefighter] says. . . .
“The cats were together?” Mrs. Kim asks.
The fire fighter nods. “They were so scared they were holding paws.”
I grin. “No, they weren’t!”

. . .

A woman puts down a dish of milk. “Here kitty, kitty,” she calls.
Jasmine jumps out of my arms, and Mrs. Kim puts her carrot-colored cat down too. The cats drink from the same dish. . . .
“Look at that!” Mama is all amazed. “I thought those two didn’t like each other.”
“They probably didn’t know each other before,” I explain. “Now they do.”

[The room is filled with people of diverse ethnic, racial, religious backgrounds. They lived next to each other, but they are not friends with each other — they barely know each other. The room becomes silent upon hearing the inspired words of Daniel. His mother introduces herself to Mrs. Kim and invites her and her cat into her home. Mrs. Kim, perhaps somewhat taken aback by this offer of friendship from this African-American neighbor who had avoided her and who had never shopped at her store, hesitantly accepts the invitation. It is the first step in getting to know a person, rather than just the label of race and ethnicity.]

Questions and Discussion

Daniel comments that the cats no longer fight each other because they now know each other, and therefore know that the other is good. A tragedy, such as rioting and arson, can throw individuals together, but it is still up to the individuals to take steps to brake down their own barriers and reach out to befriend someone they see as an outsider.

From the story, it seems that Daniel’s mother never spoke with Mrs. Kim, despite living in the same apartment building. Mrs. Kim was different from Daniel and his mother—she looked different, sounded different, had a different culture. Likewise, there is nothing in the story to suggest that Mrs. Kim ever made efforts to talk with Daniel and his mother—rather only to yell at the cat in with words Daniel couldn’t understand. Do you have neighbours in your neighbourhood that you never talk to or greet? If so, what is it about them that makes you behave in this way?

It took strength from Daniel’s mother to introduce herself to Mrs. Kim and invite her over to her apartment. Daniel’s mother, in front of so many neighbors, was opening herself up to public rejection. And Mrs. Kim could have easily projected her anger from the financial losses of the looting of her store to Daniel’s mother, an African American, since it is very likely she saw African Americans among the looters since the riots were a direct result of the treatment of Rodney King, an African American, by police and the judicial system. Both women, however, were willing to give the other a chance and get to know the other. Do you know of examples of this happening in your own community?

Often, parents, unknowingly, teach children what is different and that difference is not desirable. One example of this is Daniel’s mother telling Daniel that it is better to buy their groceries from “our own people” rather than going to Kim’s Market that was across the street from the apartment building. Although Daniel’s mother never says anything negative about Mrs. Kim or Asians in general, she emphasizes their difference from Daniel’s “people.” Do you hesitate to go shopping in shops that are obviously different from those you are used to? Why do you think this is?

What are some ways in which we create categories and differentiate between us and those we place in these artificial categories? Brainstorm some of the things we regard as "different" enough to be able to place in a category.