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Questions/Vocabulary

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Characterization Activity

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Use article

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Use Article

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Article- Thursday

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RACINE - At 8, he knew he wanted to be a drug dealer when he grew up.

When he was 13, his mother got him real drugs to sell so he wouldn't be killed for selling licked-off Lemonheads crushed to look like crack.

Back then, he didn't think he'd live past 16, but on Saturday, at age 31, he graduated from college.

Anton House has, at times, wanted to hide his past from his peers at school. Now, he wants to tell his story of gang member turned college graduate to show others they, too, can change.

The former drug dealer graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside with a bachelor of arts degree in history. This summer, he'll be saving up for graduate school and checking books off his reading list, including "The Black History of the White House." Then he'll be bound for Washington, D.C.

A Racine native, House grew up on 11th Street, throwing the Gangster Disciples' pitchfork sign and shuffling from one relative's house to another, as was typical for a child with a drug-addicted parent.

As a boy, he saw the dealers going in and out of a drug house across the street from his grandmother's, flaunting big gold chains, leather outfits and adidas track suits.

"Seeing this, every kid wanted (that lifestyle)," House said. "We identified what represented wealth."

He was 13 when he came up with the idea to sell licked-off Lemonheads for $20 each. After that, his mom got him some real drugs, knowing what addicts would do to him when he got caught selling fakes. To him, that was her way of loving him: "If you're going to do it, do it. Don't play because people will kill you."

He had kept a big gun since he was 13, wore a bulletproof vest around the 'hood and dropped out of Case High School at 16. He was turned off from school, House said, because all he heard about being black was that his ancestors were slaves.

His first encounter with "juvie" was at 15, after getting caught with a sawed-off shotgun. A year later, he was back on the streets, where nothing had changed.

He became so numb to the lifestyle, he said, that he didn't care if he sold drugs to pregnant women, robbed people or shot them.

"I was so negative that if there was someone positive around me, I'd try to influence them, get them drunk, get them high, 'Here, take my pistol,' " House said. "I'd try to corrupt them because I was so miserable myself."

House went to prison for the first time in 1998, at age 18, for possession of cocaine.

By the time he got out, after two years, he had an 18-month-old son to support. But he had no luck finding jobs with a felony on his record.

"I had no money; I had nothing. But now I had a son," House said. "After that, I was back selling crack."

He got caught selling drugs again in 2001, and this time went to prison for five years.

It was in prison that he came across "The Destruction of Black Civilization," recommended by a man who was serving a life sentence.

After that he read every day - books on black history, philosophy and more, in his search for his identity, driven by a desire to change and a natural penchant for learning.

House had received his high school equivalency diploma while in prison, and found motivation and accountability in the Community Re-entry Program once he got out.

He entered Parkside in 2007 as a full-time student after being rejected from jobs with no work experience and two felonies on his record.

While studying came naturally, House said it was harder to get used to the university culture.

He got worried when a letter arrived saying he was on the dean's list: "I thought it was something bad."

But he overcame the initial challenges, and later became the president of the Black Student Union.

House defied the high recidivism rate for prisoners through his inquisitive and hard-working nature, said Parkside Associate Provost Dennis Rome, former chair of the university's Criminal Justice Department.

"I was struck by his willingness to learn," Rome said. "For him to have that insight and say, 'Hey, I want to change my life,' it's unusual."

House has been accepted into Howard University in Washington for its two-year master's program in African diaspora studies.

There are many things he wants to learn about, including the creation of gangs, the Black Panther Party movement, the rise of crack in inner cities and the assassination of black political figures.

His goal is to become a professor, to write books about positive cultural identity, helping educate black youths to value themselves and rise above the reality of not having.

The new graduate said: "As a kid, I would've never seen myself in this position."

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From gang life to grad school -- 'I would've never seen myself in this position'

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RACINE - At 8, he knew he wanted to be a drug dealer when he grew up. When he was 13, his mother got him real drugs to sell so he wouldn't be killed for selling licked-off Lemonheads crushed to look like crack.

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On page 35, Cherry states, “Things are rough all over.” Explain the meaning of this and the significance of this statement concerning the theme of the story.

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Compose a "critique" of The Outsiders according to what you have read so far. Is it a seemingly parallel to our society today or are these events specific to the 1960's?

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What does it mean to be an insider or an outsider? How does that look in our community or in our world?

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How do we choose an identity in a conflicted society? How would you describe your identity? What do you hope people remember about you some day?

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Watch the following commercial and then relate it to our definition of stereotypes. What do you think the creator of this commercial is trying to reveal? What type of stereotype are they trying to discourage? What did you like or dislike about it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4BuUnimp8s