Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America

Cam is the main character and protagonist of the story “Black Enough.” He is a Black teenager from Austin, Texas, who spends summers with his grandma and cousin, Myron, in Franklin, South Carolina. In Austin, he attends a mostly white, affluent school, but sees and hangs out with more children of color in Franklin. He has a crush on Jessica, a crush that he acted on the summer before, only for Jessica to stop responding to him in December. He comes to Franklin this summer in the hopes of rekindling his relationship with her, and he attempts to do this by getting a haircut, purchasing new clothes, and wearing expensive sneakers. Cam struggles to understand how to fit in with the kids in Franklin, trying hard to comment on basketball or speak in a way that they will consider “black enough.” He constantly compares himself to Myron, who seems to transition between conversations with different groups of kids easily, which he refers to as “code switching.”

Through his conflict with Jessica, Cam makes an internal change over the course of the text. At the start, he tries to combat the fact that the other kids call him an “Oreo” behind his back—because of the fact that he is “a Black boy trying to be white,” which he initially sees as not being “hard enough. Hood enough. Woke enough” (28). He fights against this at the party they attend by trying to wear expensive retro shoes, talking about basketball, and using phrases like “Wazzup, peeps” (32), despite knowing he sounds ridiculous. Most importantly, he tries to seem “black enough” so that Jessica will again be interested in him.

When he finally gets the chance to talk to Jessica at the party, Cam asks if this is why she stopped talking to him, and she laughs in response at his ignorance. She angrily tells him that his clothes how he talks, and how he acts are not important to her; what matters is the fact that he is disinterested in important things like the shooting of Linton McCants and other young Black men by police. She tells him that she “wasn’t looking for [him] to start protesting or anything. Just a simple acknowledgment of what happened would have been okay” (36). However, his disinterest and lack of any public support for the situation made her realize that what he believes is important in life is not the same as what she believes is important. This conflict makes Cam reconsider his view of things, realizing that “black enough” is not about how he dresses or talks, but about what lay underneath and what he truly cares about in relation to his culture. As the text ends, he stops Myron from turning on the music and instead asks about Linton McCants, marking his internal change.

Nivia, the protagonist of the story “Warning: Color May Fade” is a Black 17-year-old who attends Caswell Prep school. Her parents and grandfather also attended the school, making her a “legacy” student and different from the other mostly white students. Her entire family has gone to law school and pursued a career in law or politics, but Nivia instead wants to pursue art—to the disappointment of her father. She battles with who she is internally—an artist—and who she is expected to be externally, conveying the theme of Societal Expectations Versus Being the Authentic Self.

Nivia, a dynamic character who changes throughout the course of the text, deals with an internal conflict regarding how (and whether) to reveal her “truth” to the world. After she paints over a famous work of art with her own as an entry for a coveted art prize, she lacks the courage to come forth and claim the work on her own—battling with her fear of taking the final step toward becoming an artist and the uncertainty that comes with it. However, after looking through her sketchbook, she realizes that what she paints is “the side [of her] that doesn’t fit expectations. The side that’s free” (59). In order to reveal that side to the world, she creates a new project, where she takes all of the sides of herself—her drawings and paintings of her life—and forms them into a collage self-portrait. At the Parents’ Weekend dinner, she is confronted with one final choice in her internal struggle: to claim the portrait as her own (as she failed to do with her other work) or not. Her final act of standing in front of the school and her parents to say “[t]his is my story. This is my truth” marks her change (65), as she is now willing to pursue her career in art despite her family’s potential disappointment and the uncertainty it entails.

Dez is a character in the story “Samson and the Delilahs.” She is a young, Black girl who moves in next door to the story’s protagonist, Sobechi. She is described as wearing black clothes and chains and plays in a metal band with her friends. Dez serves as a foil to Sobechi, as she lacks structure in her life, doing things such as sleeping in late and referring to her uncle by his first name; conversely, Sobechi is up early every day to help his parents and practice debate, and he always acts and speaks politely.

Throughout the course of the text, Dez causes Sobechi to change. As the two become friends, she introduces him to metal music and the band System of a Down, which allows him to open up and live more freely. As he describes it: “His body is alive. More alive than it’s ever been. […] He feels like he has been struck by lightning. Thunder still rings in his ears. His insides are on fire. And he wants to do this again” (162). Dez’s music awakens something in him and makes him feel alive, allowing him to see outside of his structured box that he has always lived in.

Tank is the protagonist and a dynamic character from the story “Wild Horses, Wild Hearts.” As part of the only Black family in the small town of New Salem, he struggles daily with a feeling of not belonging and he openly faces prejudice. However, he finds solace in his horse, Big Red, and his success at winning the triennial horse race that the town holds. He also battles with his parents, who are extremely religious and have an open feud with their neighbors, the Smiths. Tank, however, meets Skyler Smith, and the two begin meeting each night to talk, as Tank slowly realizes that he has feelings for Skyler.

Tank struggles with an internal conflict throughout the text, battling his feelings for Skyler but also wanting to respect his parents—who would be against his queer identity, especially with their family’s enemy’s son. Tank’s conflict conveys the theme of Societal Expectations Versus Being the Authentic Self. After Skyler comes out to his parents and tells Tank that he wants to “take back” his happiness, Tank has the realization that his relationship with Skyler “isn’t about Momma or Daddy. This is about [him] and what [he] want[s]. This is about having the courage to tell [himself] that it’s okay to love him. It’s okay to be strong and brave and daring in the name of love” (223). This realization occurs for Tank throughout the text, as he discovers how unfair his situation is and how little control he has had over it. Ultimately, he changes, and in the climax of the text he makes the decision to allow Skyler to win the race. This act frees him from his parents’ control, while also giving him the opportunity to reveal his feelings. Although his parents react angrily, his final act of walking away from them holding Skyler’s hand reveals his changed attitude and his choice to put his own happiness first.

Devon is the protagonist of the story “Kissing Sarah Smart.” A recent high school graduate, Devon wants to study sociology, but has fought with her father several times because he wants her to go into nursing. Her relationship with her father is troubled, as he is devoted to the military and has little regard for what Devon wants; he also sees Devon’s mother’s severe depression and mental breakdown as not a big deal.

Devon’s father’s expectations have forced her to live in a way that she does not want to; however, throughout the course of the text, meeting Sarah causes her to change. In particular, Devon is aware that she is queer but has kept the information to herself, dating boys as is expected of her. It still troubles her years later that, when she was caught kissing a girl in fifth grade, her father informed her that “[t]hat’s disgusting—you don’t kiss girls, you understand? We don’t have gays in our family” (296). His reaction over a decade earlier to something as minor as a kiss makes her uncomfortable with Sarah, causing her to hide the relationship from her mother and her grandmother throughout the summer. This internal conflict conveys the theme of Societal Expectations Versus Being the Authentic Self. In the climax of the story, Devon’s mother reveals to her that she and her father are getting a divorce and that she “deserves to be happy” (309). She also informs Devon that she deserves to be happy and that she is already aware that she and Sarah are involved romantically. Her mother’s reaction to their relationship—in particular her easy acceptance of it—gives Devon the courage to discuss it with Sarah. The two agree to continue to see each other and “live in the moment” without labeling their relationship or committing to anything long turn (311). Most importantly, Devon does so without any regard to how her father would feel or what his opinion of their relationship will be.