“Now every question Z asked made me realize the growing gap between the America I’d been raised to believe in and the one rising fast all around us.”

Mira wrote her memoir based on conversations with loved ones, which she uses to guide her current conversations with her son Z. Z begins learning about race and his place as a brown person in America, and Mira realizes the hopes she had for America growing up have yet to be realized. With Trump’s election, racism is escalating rapidly around her and Z, and Mira worries for his future.

“You are an American. I don’t care when your parents came here. They are Americans, too. Don’t you ever let anyone tell you that you’re not. Do you hear me?”

Ms. Morrell assures Mira that she is an American like any other after Mira is discriminated against based on her skin color. She is only 10 years old at the time, and the message rings loud and clear for her. The words Ms. Morrell speaks stick with Mira for years, and she wants to instill the same message in her son. This conversation foreshadows future conversations Mira has with Z.

“This country was built on messed up. It’s not some new thing.”

Mira’s friend points out America’s dark history. One of the major themes of the memoir is the ways that past events continue to have a hold on the present, and this is especially true regarding race and politics. America was founded on slavery and colonialism, both of which were violent acts against large groups of people based on their skin color or ethnicity.