This point is important to talk about because for minorities, schools serve a contradictory function. On one hand, schools and school spaces are part of a larger American imperial project that seeks to assimilate minorities into the larger fold of American society by emphasizing the importance of learning American culture, language, and norms over the culture of minorities. One example is the strict emphasis on using “proper” English in speaking and writing over using Pidgin, which many of the main characters in the book prefer to use over English. On the other hand, to many of these middle-school minority kids, schools also function as portals of experimentation and self-discovery. For many of these characters, experimentation with various