Earticle

The aim of this paper is to examine interracial romance and multicultural community represented in Sharon Draper’s Romiette and Julio. Firstly, this paper examines how interracial romance between Romiette Cappelle, an African female, and Julio Montague, a Hispanic male, causes bullying and violence by members of a black gang called ‘The Family’ or ‘the Devildogs’. The characters, contexts and settings represented in Draper’s Romiette and Julio are seen as realistic portrayal that shows the complexities of contemporary American classroom. The gang’s threat reflects the very similarity to what really goes on in high schools today and shows how the gang gains power and takes control of peers. Secondly, this paper also discusses how the couple continue their relationship and gain their power by overcoming their parents’ prejudices and the gang’s threats. Lastly, this paper also explores the possibility of Romiette and Julio as a multicultural problem-solving novel in contemporary classroom environment by examining how important role friends and community play in helping young couple develop their interracial romance.