The History of Racism in America

The author explores this theme chiefly through the various stops Scoob and his grandmother make during their road trip through the South. As they progress, G'ma shares memories of how racism affected her own life as the white wife of a black man and the mother of a mixed race son, interwoven with events from (real-life) American history. Though Scoob knew some of this information before they set out on their trip, he had little idea how much his grandmother personally suffered from the racist attitudes of Americans in the 1960s.

The Travelers' Green Book that G'ma keeps in her treasure box is the primary symbol of this theme, as it represents how dangerous the South was for black people during Jim Crow. The Travelers' Green Book was a travel guide specifically for African Americans, informing them which towns, hotels, and...