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That Was Then, This Is Now

by S. E. Hinton

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Editor's Choice

In That Was Then, This is Now, why did Connie condemn Mike, and what happened to his brother's car?

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Connie condemned Mike due to deep-seated racial tensions and distrust. Despite Mike's help against harassment, Connie, as a black woman, felt compelled to maintain her community status, which involved retaliating against him as a white man. Her call for violence reflects the racial hostility and mistrust prevalent in their environment. Regarding Mike's brother's car, it likely suffered damage during the attack on Mike, as he was hospitalized afterward.

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Connie's condemnation of Mike can be interpreted as a disturbing example of scapegoating in the context of race relations. Possibly, Connie needs to maintain her status as a black woman among the members of her black community, and though Mike did try to help her, her status means that he must suffer for being white.

Race relations at this time and place in American history were tense and filled with a sense of mistrust and hostility. White people often treated black people, the minority, as lesser than themselves, which created resentment in the black community. Mike had made an effort to help Connie and to defend her against the white men harassing her, but his single gesture cannot make up for the hundreds of negative experiences Connie and her friends may have suffered.

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As a young black woman, Connie has been persistently victimized by white men and by the racist...

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attitudes of white people as a whole. She finds herself unable to escape this worldview and struggles with understanding how or why a white male would be willing to help her. Although she accepts a ride home from Mike after his gang harasses her at the convenience store, she still does not fully trust him. After all, he is a stranger and a member of the gang who was just giving her trouble.

Thus, she calls for the group waiting for her at the house to attack Mike for two reasons: 1) out of distrust for Mike and white men as a whole, and 2) to maintain the status quo in the tense relationship between white and black folks. This is evident in her language choice, as she very specifically demands that they "kill the white bastard." If Connie had defended Mike, it very likely would have been received as an act of betrayal by her "gang."

Finally, to answer your last question, since Mike is in the hospital following the beating, the car most likely took a bad beating in the attack as well. 

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VERY good question. In my opinion, and what I teach my kids, Connie condemned Mike after he took her home just out of fear and being sick of being victimized. Although Mike was nice to her and took her home, he did fraternize with the boys who tormented her at the store. Guilt by association. Now she had the opportunity to teach one of the white bigots a lesson by doing the same thing to him as what is done to her on a daily basis. Granted two wrongs don't make a right, but sometimes it just feels good to have a lil revenge.

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