The irony of the scholarship
Sweet's parents expected their son to have a better future after receiving a scholarship to study at Howard University. When Sweet left home for Detroit to study medicine, he anticipated everything would go as planned. Ironically, after arriving at the university, the management told Sweet his scholarship did not go through. Sweet was forced to do menial jobs to meet his daily needs.
The irony of the police
The police must protect all American citizens regardless of gender, race or religious affiliation. In the 1920s, the American constitution provided guidelines on how the police were supposed to conduct their activities. Ironically, the police were on the front line, promoting racism and profiling Black people. In the case of Ossian Sweet, the white police officers ganged up with the local white community to couch witnesses to testify falsely against Black people.
The irony of buying a house
In the 1920s, the white community in Detroit did not expect any Black person to get money to buy a house in their neighborhood. Black people could not access mortgage facilities to enable them to buy houses. Ironically, a Black man called Ossian Sweet defied the norm and purchased his first house in the middle of the white-dominated neighborhood.
