Racism and Self-Deception

Name___________________________________________

Directions: Refer to the information given below and complete the diagram. Then decide how you think self-betrayal changed the way the bus driver saw himself and how he saw the black passengers.

Setting: Montgomery, Alabama, 1955

Scene: A bus driver is asked by an officer to move the board that indicates the line behind which the black passengers are allowed to sit. The bus driver feels that he should refuse this request, since that would mean that two black passengers would have to stand unnecessarily. However, the bus driver betrays this feeling and does what the officer asked him to do.