In the novel, the characters refer to their homes in America as "the World". During this time, changes were being made in "the World" as well as in Vietnam. The Civil Rights movement was pushing for changes to be made concerning the treatment of and the rights allotted to black people in America. In the novel, the reader learns of the characters experiences with racism in "the World". The main character, Perry, mentions a Black Pride organization that was popular during this time. " I wasn't about to go down the street....A lot of them were getting out of the gang thing and into a Black Pride thing, but the gangs were still …show more content…
The squad that Perry was in consisted of a mix of black and white soldiers. Throughout the entire novel, the characters make racial jokes and slurs about each other. However, this type of name calling often led to violence within the squad. "Johnson and Walowick got into a fight. Johnson wanted something from Walowick... and called Walowick a farm boy. Walowick...called Johnson a cootie"(Meyers). Perry and his fellow black squad members also have to deal with a racist Sergeant Dongan. Dongan moves the black soldiers from their original spots in formation to more dangerous positions. Johnson confronts Dongan about the change. "He asked him how come he put a brother on point and another brother in the damn rear with the sixty?"(Meyers). At this point in the novel, the squad has ben through many life and death situations and has bonded to the point where the racism has been replaced with