If I Ever Get Out of Here

Throughout the novel, Lewis faces racism as a Native American. Growing up, Lewis heard tales of the notorious boarding schools, whose motto was “Kill the Indian but save the man” (108), and of the mistreatment and abuse that many, including his grandparents, suffered at the hands of racist teachers and administrators. Much of Lewis’ earlier life was spent in relative isolation on the reservation. It is until he reaches junior high that he begins to contend with racism on a personal level. 

At school, he increasingly must come face to face with people who dislike him simply because of his ethnicity. At one point he comments on this realization, saying, “All this time, I thought I had been the problem, not my address” (19). From this point onward, three archetypes of racial discrimination emerge: The first type, and the type that features least in the novel, is the passive type of racism wherein someone doesn’t like and ignores Lewis simply because he is Native American. Artie and Stacey display this sort of dislike for Lewis. However, toward the end of the novel, Stacey realizes her racist behavior toward Lewis and apologizes. Stacey was influenced through the beliefs and words of others that connoted racial aversion to Native American, which is the second