Equal Opportunity Essay

In this short story, Equal Opportunity, written by Walter Mosely, Minority Socrates Furtlow, faces the dilemma of getting a job. Socrates is an ex-con, having served 27 years in prison. While drunken, he killed two of his good friends, and now lives life as a bumb who goes around collecting bottles and cans for a living. This story tells his struggle to find honorable work as a black man in society because of his background. Because there were no jobs in Socrates neighborhood that would hire him, knowing of his background, finding a job was a complicated task for this African-American, 58 year-old man who hadn’t worked in 37 years. As Socrates travels approximately 14 miles, 3 bus transfers from his apartment in Watts, South Central, Los Angeles, he arrives at Bounty Supermarket to try and get a job. As he enters the store, he wondered what the workers would think of him working there surrounded by money because of his prison background. Socrates, though was a murderer, not a thief! During his job search at Bounty Supermarket, he attempted to retrieve an application. Being a man of his stance, he had already practiced how he would attempt to ask for â€Å"an application. Anton Crier, assistant store manager of Bounty Supermarket, was a young white male who Socrates interacted with during his first visit. Anton was reluctant to give Socrates the time of day, mainly because of his appearance. Anton’s first question to Socrates was â€Å"Uh. How old are you sir? † As an ex-convict, with the stereotype of knowing the law, Socrates knew that this question was a violation of is rights for Equal Opportunity, and he surely informed Anton. Socrates stated to him the law of discrimination, equal opportunity, and his right to basically be given a chance and to at least to turn an application. Determination allowed Socrates to â€Å"demand† his right to fill out the application and wait for a reply, based on the information submitted on the application and simply not his race! After he turned in the application with a borrowed pencil Anton loaned him, he informed Anton and the store manager Halley Grimes of his dilemma of not having a phone, but an address where they could write to him he results of his application. He had to explain to them his address was valid because they were already going trying not accept it based on the fact he did not have a phone . He also questioned them about an information section on the application about his ability to travel to work. The question asked if he had a car? Although he didn’t, he didn’t mind using the public transportation (RTD -Rapid Transportaion District) bus route. Over a five day period, Socrates proved to them both his willingness to work and get there on time even if he was using the bus. He arrived at the supermarket for those five days straight on time, and before 9:30am. On the fourth day, Halley informed him his application had not been accepted and that she had thrown the fax away stating his denial. Unable to produce proof, Socrates called the main office himself, finding out his application was never submitted. In the midst of all this, Halley had also reported that Socrates was a threat to her and was afraid that he would do her harm because of him coming in all the time demanding his application results, knowing that she hadn’t submitted them. So that fifth day when Socrates came to the supermarket for an answer, he was approached by two gentlemen in lieu of his business there. He was called into the manager’s office and then was asked explained to the men, Mr. Parker and Mr. Weems his situation. Surely as they thought about his rights, end up offering Socrates a job at one of their other locations. As Socrates faces dilemma in his position as a black man during the Harlem Renaissance period, he ultimately succeeds in doing what he set out to do†¦.. find a job. As honorable as Socrates claimed he would be while trying to get this job, he ended up lying in the end about another question on the application he had missed. That question is the one who would identify him as a felon for his past mishaps. As appreciation for Mosely’s short story, one must believe that Socrates and many other African-Americans struggled to be successful, and to survive during this time period. This story tells the struggle of a man who just wanted to work to survive, and that knowing his rights and acting on them with patience and non-violence helped him get what he wanted eventually!