by the author as exemplified by his last paragraph and last line of the paragraph above it...."but one word sapped his strength. It destroyed him-to know he couldn't get beyond that label". That is "the label" that takes a human being and turns them into something other than human in the negative intent meant by the speaker of that word. With that line, the author grasps the reality of the racists intent, to dehumanize. Yet further on the author implies victimization and crutches when the one having to deal with the impact of that word and their possibly negative response, verbally or physically, is described. I think this shows the confusion and inability of a lot of white people, author included, in really facing and understanding the depth and absolute nature of the truth of white racism, that racism is a soul destroying, self image wrecking vehicle that cannot be overcome WITHOUT referring to the dehumanizing character of white racism as exemplified by the race of these two characters. To deny the effect of racial discrimination upon the black character is damn near impossible, but in glimpsing the soul/social class of the author, he tries to diminish that effect by his last paragraph..

Everything is there in this that last passage, acknowledgement of historical, social and cultural forces at play in the family and lives of these two young men from "different sides of the track", metaphorically speaking about Hobie and Kirk. The author is white with a certain unshakeable self image of his status that is set firmly in the reality of the privileged of this society. As I have seen many times, with people who enjoy that privilege, that while they can acknowledge the racism intrinsic in that privilege and be sincerely bothered and/or troubled by it, they usually cannot come to grips with the reality of the damage that racism does to the recipients of that racism. And because of this inability to truly recognize the human damage done to a soul and self image by white racism predictably falls back on the well worn, "it's the victims fault if they don't ignore that outside hate and negative self image and self hate eating away at ones humanity and feelings of self worth. No, their solution when dismissing the damage, is one must pick themselves up by their bootstraps and move on. A lot of people from "the other side of the tracks" simply cannot grasp the depth and nature of the destruction racism causes to a humans soul because they have NEVER really had to face being described as something other than human every day of ones life in one manner or another.....just my take to your query. Hope the point is salient.