City Coldson’s adventures in Jackson and Melahatchie, Mississippi, teach him about how his cultural background and nation’s past impact who he is in the present and can be in the future. In Part 1, City initially defines himself according to his style and intellect. He sees himself as the one with “the best waves of anyone in the history of Hamer” and “the second-best rebounder in the school and a two-time reigning CW (Class Wittiest)” (5). He isn’t at the top of his class, but he’s “known as the best boy writer in the history of [his] school” (4). These facets of City’s life define who he is and grant him a sense of pride. However, once City participates in the Can You Use That Word in A Sentence contest, he begins to realize the importance of his personal, familial, and national history. As Mama and Principal Reeves teach him, he has to take “responsibility for the morality and future of this country” by making informed choices in the present (18).

However, the novel also pokes fun at the idea that any individual’s choices can “solve” a problem as sweeping as systemic racism.