How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)

“If she’s from the Park or Society Hill, then hide the cheese in the cabinet above the oven, where she’ll never see it. Leave a reminder under your pillow to get out the cheese before morning or your moms will kick your ass.”

This section shows the issue of poverty or at the very least an underprivileged home situation. The cheese is connected to the idea of social service government aid. The result is that the reader sees the lengths that the narrator goes through to hide aspects of himself.

“Take down any embarrassing photos of your family in the campo, especially that one with the half-naked kids dragging a goat on a rope. Hide the picture of yourself with an Afro.”

This is another instance of the protagonist hiding his cultural heritage and identifying factors of his culture. There is the sense that there are negative connotations to them from his perspective, and this is one of the first instances of this shame over being an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.

“Since your toilet can’t flush toilet paper, put the bucket with all the crapped-on toilet paper under the sink.”

Poverty is a small factor of this story, and one that has loose connotations with the narrator’s reluctance to disclose his overall socioeconomic background. However, this excerpt shows that there is a root for some of the performativity and hesitance to show his true self or living situation throughout the story.

“Her parents won’t want her seeing a boy from the Terrace—people get stabbed in the Terrace—but she’s strong-headed and this time will get her way.”

This is another example of how the protagonist shows some reservations toward his environment and the ways that people will judge him for it. Most factors of oppression in the narrative are external and are of socioeconomic origin. It also shows how the distinction between girls and their backgrounds garner different reactions.

“Sometimes she’ll run into her friends and a whole crowd will show up, and even though that means that you ain’t getting shit it will be fun anyway and you’ll wish these people would come over more often.”

There is joy to be found with people of the same age, whether peers or classmates of the narrator. However, this line seems to point to some form of alienation on the part of the protagonist. This could be due to his cultural background and other allusions to how it negatively affects his relationships.

“The neighborhood is full of traffic—commuters now cut through the neighborhood—making it hard on the kids and the viejas, who are used to empty streets.”

The nostalgia here is another example of a cross-cultural interaction within the story. The narrative presents a gap between the expectation of local people in the neighborhood (both young and old) and how the space has become more transitional for others. This could be a metaphor for how the protagonist feels about his immigration and new home.

“Call her house and when her father picks up ask if she’s there. If he sounds like a principal or a police chief, a dude with a big neck, someone who never has to watch his back, then hang up.”

Authority plays a small but vital role in the characterization of the narrator. Here the reader is shown the limitation of him being able to hide his true self from others. This also seems to be consistent with other adults in the story.

“Run a hand through your hair like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa. She will look good.”

The narrator often obscures his ethnic background in the text. This is one of the instances where he does so. And it seems that there is some measure of reluctance to expose his lineage because of the different negative stereotyping that goes into his experiences.

“The directions you gave her were in your best handwriting, so her parents won’t think you’re an idiot.”

One of the central themes of the story is the notion of performativity and much of that comes from the outside world. Parents or caretakers seem to represent the limits of legitimacy or normality that the narrator can try to live up to.

“Tell her about the pendejo who stored canisters of Army tear gas in his basement for years until one day they all cracked and the neighborhood got a dose of military-strength stuff. Don’t tell her that your moms knew right away what it was, that she recognized the smell from the year the United States invaded your island.”

One of the few times that there is mention of an oppressive regime in the narrator’s homeland of the Dominican Republic appears here. In some ways the idea of generational trauma can also be seen.

“Howie weighs two hundred pounds and could eat you if he wanted. But at the field he’ll turn away. He has new sneakers and doesn’t want them muddy.”

Howie and the narrator are foils in that both are performing certain identities. Both choose not to engage in conflict, underscoring that both refuse to drop their respective façades in front of people inside and outside the neighborhood. Although Howie usually uses violence to represent his masculinity, he—like the narrator—also believes in the importance of appearance in performing masculinity.

“A halfie will tell you that her parents met in the Movement. Back then, she’ll say, people thought it was a radical thing to do. It will sound like something her parents made her memorize.”

This selection refers to the girl of multiracial heritage in more clear terms, linking her parentage to the social movement within the Chicano movement of the mid-20th century. This mode of thinking complements the narrator’s since it seems like the idea of the diaspora also affects this girl. The difference is that she is willing to disclose the information while he is still apprehensive to share more about himself.

“A local girl will have hips and a nice ass but won’t be quick about letting you touch her. She has to live in the same neighborhood as you do. She might just chill with you and then go home. She might kiss you and then leave. Or she might, if she’s reckless, give it up, but that’s rare. Kissing will suffice. A white girl might give it up right then.”

This is one of the few places in the story where the narrator describes physical intimacy. One of the notable factors of this section is the presumptive attitude that he has toward the different races of the girls and how he can anticipate what they may do based on it. One of the interesting parallels is that while he may have an idea of how they could behave based on race, it is also a constant fear for him throughout the story.