Racial Prejudice In Walter Dean Myers's Life

“I write to give hope to those kids who are like the ones I knew -- poor, troubled, treated indifferently by society, sometimes bolstered by family and many times not.” Walter Dean Myers said this to The New York Times about why he writes the way that he does. Walter Dean Myers grew up in a time of racial prejudice in a poor area of Harlem. Growing up African American in Harlem during a period of repeated racial prejudice and being in the Army influenced his writing. You can see some of his life from Harlem in most of his books including The Beast. His writing affected his life and his life affected his writing. Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937. He was born in Martinsburg, Virginia. The name that he was given at birth was Walter Milton Myers. When he was around two years old, his mother died. Florence and Herbert Dean took him in and he lived in Harlem with Herbert. At the beginning of his life while living with Herbert and Florence Dean was about, “being with the woman I was learning to call Mama. When Florence Dean was home, I would follow her from room to room as she cleaned.” *Insert concluding/wrap up/transition sentence* Walter Dean Myers had a tough time in school. He had a speech impediment which caused him to not do very well. Some people made fun of his speech and when they did, he fought back
One teacher yelled at him to stop reading while he was in trouble and he threw a book. Walter Dean Myers described that in his autobiography Bad Boy, A Memoir by writing, “She saw me getting ready to throw the book and jumped to one side. The book hit her on the shoulder; and she screamed.” She threatened to call the police to escort him to a correction facility when school ended, but that didn’t happen, he was just picked up by his mother. One day he got knocked out, but Walter Dean Myers was the one who got in trouble. Books helped him find his happy