Eyes to My Soul, Essay Example

In the autobiography style of writing, Eyes to My Soul is a detailed and enlightening look at the life of Mr. Tyrone Powers, the FBI agent that overcame his childhood situations, and help to uplift others like him. However, throughout his career as an FBI agent, he encountered several situations in which he was discriminated against, harassed, and marginalized because of his race. Throughout his experience in the FBI Academy, he had to endure students that were clad in Ku Klux Klan attire and racist remarks. He was harassed throughout his time at the academy, and at the FBI bureau.  One of the biggest dilemmas he faced was, watching Warren grow into a young male deeply impacted by the events he experienced as a child, having the mentality that the police were the enemies, and fighting against the rise of Black-on-Black crime. (Powers, 1996, pg. 74) Dealing with his abusive father, to becoming a policeman, he pledges to uphold the law and protect others. However, he faced dealing with superiors such as Sergeant Jeppid, which wanted to keep Tyrone in his place, and for him to see him as his superior.

His dilemma was stated by Corporal Zachary, “an intelligent Black man scares a whole lot of white folks.” (Powers, 1996, pg. 91) Once he became “the man” Nate and Quincy didn’t have the same relationship with him because they viewed him as the enemy. Not only was Tyrone perplexed by their attitudes, but their actions in telling him that he was in the wrong, placed a division among them. As he continued as a policeman he was confronted with the fact that many white policemen had an ingrained hatred towards the black individuals in the neighborhood, and were unlawfully killing them, and getting away with it. As some of the few black police officers, he was torn with dealing with the members of his community, but also trying to uphold the law. He was faced with the dilemma of guarding the home of Ku Klux Klan members, but knew he couldn’t let the Sergeant get to him. Many of the events that Tyrone faced were racially motivated, and he was faced several times with quitting his job over racial disparities in Baltimore as police over. This would usually involve his family members and members in the community.

References

Powers, Tyrone. 1996. Eyes to My Soul: The Rise or Decline of a Black FBI Agent. The Majority Press.