At one point Bethany tells the author that she worries he’s pigeonholed her, that she isn’t a victim, that she is more—far more—than just a struggling single Black mom. To his credit, he doesn’t walk away but instead reflects on how he may have failed her. After some consideration, he offers to let her write the epilogue to the book, and in those few sharply written pages we have a clear-eyed take on what has occurred in a place like Penn Hills coupled with a passionate plea for what could be.

“We want to build good lives for ourselves,” Bethany Smith writes. “We want to raise our children in safe environments. We want to have them in schools where they are being taught and governed by folks who have their best interest at heart. We want the same deal that the suburbs gave white families like Ben’s. This time, though, we want it to last.”

"I WANT WANT WANT WANT." This is African American discourse in its purest form. It's how they've been trained.

I'm far from convinced of the idea that white suburban townships just borrowed a lot of money they never paid back. Maybe their debt repayment plan hit a snag when the taxpayer base started moving out.