This Side of Home

Maya wants to tell Essence and Nikki that she’s dating Tony while they’re shopping for dresses for the winter formal, but her plans change when Nikki invites Kate along.

After buying their dresses, the girls have lunch at a place called Soul Food. The vegetarian menu and the absence of other customers of color leads Essence to object, “[t]his is not soul food [...]. They need to call the restaurant White Food!” (203). This makes all of the girls laugh, but even Essence ends up enjoying her meal. Essence asks Kate if Tony has a date for the dance, and she answers, “I do think he’s in love with someone. He’s been acting weird lately” (205). Mrs. Jacobs thinks that Tony has feelings for either Maya or Nikki. Kate is going to the dance with Roberto, but she hasn’t told her father because she doesn’t think that he’d approve of her dating a Mexican boy. Maya asks if Mr. Jacobs would approve of his son dating a Black girl, but she doesn’t answer.

Principal Green schedules a student council meeting before school. Maya puts up a poster about W. E. B. DuBois, and Charles sees her. Instead of reporting her, he straightens the poster.

The next morning, Charles brings a poster about Ida B. Wells, who was a journalist, activist, and one of the founders of the NAACP. He says, “[i]f Principal Green won’t let us celebrate Black History in the assembly, we’ll celebrate it in the hallways” (209). He has prepared other posters and suggests putting up one a day. He’s surprised to learn that Star has been helping Maya with the posters and he asks if Tony is involved. She tells him, “[h]e doesn’t know about this [...]. And no one knows about us” (210).

Mrs. Armstrong asks her students to determine why she asked them to research the list of historical figures she gave them. Tony admits that he didn’t complete the assignment because he found it disheartening to read about the injustices committed against Black people. Maya points out that not everyone on the list is Black and that it’s important to learn all of their stories. She tells Tony about Karl Fleming, a white journalist who covered civil rights protests. When Mrs. Armstrong asks her students why she gave them this assignment, they offer a number of insightful answers, including, “[b]ecause you wanted to show us that both men and women, Black and White people, worked for freedom” (215).

Maya goes to school early to put up posters of Karl Fleming and Jim Zwerg, a white Freedom Rider.

During an assembly, Tasha calls Maya derogatory terms and says that she is “[w]hite on the inside” (217). Later, Tasha asks why Tony is so invested in celebrating Black History Month, and Maya walks past Tony without acknowledging him. As Maya and Tony head to class, he asks her, “[s]ure you want to be seen standing next to me?” (220). Instead of going into the classroom, he walks off.

That evening, Tony comes to Maya’s house and asks if they can talk. He drives them to a spot near the airport and then apologizes for walking away from her. He asks why they’re together if she doesn’t want anyone to know about them, and she points out that he hasn’t told his father about them. He explains that his mother and his friends from his old school know about her, but he hasn’t told his father because he is “ashamed of [his] dad. And afraid of what he’ll say about [her] or to [her]” (224). Tony says that he still wants to be with Maya but that he needs some time. She wonders if Essence was right when she said that she should stay with Devin.

Kate, Maya, Essence, and Nikki decide to go to the winter formal as a group of friends. Maya appreciates this since she isn’t sure that she and Tony are still together. A few of Kate’s friends from St. Francis are in attendance, and they tell her about the latest gossip, including substance abuse among the student body. Tony arrives at the dance and asks to talk to Maya. They go outside, and he tells her that he’s informed his father of their relationship. As she kisses Tony, she hears her twin call her name.

The next morning, Maya’s father reveals that he saw Tony “sitting on his porch looking lovesick and pathetic” the day before and encouraged him to be with Maya (230). He asks her to respect Nikki’s decision to consider other colleges besides Spelman. He then gives his daughters some privacy.

Nikki says that she is upset because Maya kept her relationship with Tony a secret. She doesn’t care if her sister has a white boyfriend even though Maya is still somewhat conflicted about that. Nikki doesn’t want to confront racism the way that her sister does, but she goes to the white-owned stores on Jackson Avenue despite the ways that people sometimes stare at her or ignore her entirely as a way of demonstrating that “this is [her] neighborhood and [she’s] not going to hide” (236). Maya asks if she’s a hypocrite for falling in love with a white boy, and Nikki tells her that her relationship with Tony doesn’t take away from her commitment to race and class issues.

Tony and Maya walk through the school’s halls hand in hand, undeterred by the stares and whispers from their classmates.

Mrs. Armstrong encourages Maya, Charles, Tony, and Star to find another event where they can bring in an alumnus to speak and prove the stereotypes about Richmond wrong.

Maya and her friends gather information on the achievements and whereabouts of Richmond High’s student body presidents for the last decade. They include business owners, pastors, and a Broadway performer.

The school’s diversity assembly takes place on the last day of February. The guest speaker gives an uninspiring talk and then asks to meet with the student council after school. She and Principal Green want the student council members to put up posters which they claim have inspiring messages. However, the posters reinforce damaging stereotypes. For example, an anti-drug poster depicts a Black man offering a Latina student weed. When Maya challenges the posters’ messages, Cynthia accuses her of putting up posters without school permission. Tony, Charles, and Star try to take the blame, but she defends them.

Principal Green asks to speak with Maya one-on-one, and she tells him that she “can’t be the student body president and not fight for the students” (249). She criticizes him for taking away the school’s celebration of Black history and for making changes without student involvement. He listens to what she has to say and then suspends her for two days. However, he says that she can remain student body president and participate in senior activities, and Maya is relieved. She seizes this opportunity to pitch the principal her idea to have alumni speakers at the senior party.