Brown Girl Dreaming

 Will Pikus

10/26/22

EN-497-01

            Woodson’s poetry is absolutely eye-opening. Her book paints us a picture of what is was like growing up in Greenville, SC. In the first half of the book, we witnessed her move from Ohio to South Carolina. In the second half, Woodson makes it obvious that there are still obstacles for her to overcome. Eventually, she moves to New York. 

            Woodson says that when she goes to Brooklyn, she has a friend. This friend goes to stay with “rich white people” in Upstate New York and comes back talking about fresh air. Woodson writes “When Maria returns she is tanned and wearing a new short set. Everything about her seems different. I stayed with white people she tells me. Rich white people. The air upstate is different. It doesn’t smell like anything! She hands me a piece of bubble gum with bubble yum in bright letters.  This is what they chew up there. The town was called Schenectady.” (Woodson 242). Woodson then goes on to say that the white people kept calling Maria poor and insisting on giving her stuff.  This is a clear example of white saviorism. It reminds me of a program that is alive and well today. The fresh air fund is a program that takes children out of their low income hometowns, and temporarily spreads them out in upstate New York and Southern Connecticut. Though this sounds nice, the children from low income areas usually come from cultures that aren’t accepted very well in the rich white suburban neighborhoods. This leads to the kids being stripped of their culture, and essentially whitewashed for their time away from home. 

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