York Symbol Analysis

York—the black slave who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition throughout the Western U.S.—is a symbol for Jade’s own experience with navigating the discrimination she faces as person of color. At first, York’s story speaks to how out of place Jade feels at St. Francis, as in the two years she’s been there, none of her history teachers have ever mentioned York. Jade finds out about York from Lee Lee, her best friend who attends the local public high school in their predominately black and low-income neighborhood. As Jade does more research into York’s biography, she draws a number of important parallels that help her identify with York. For instance, York was the only black person on Lewis and Clark’s expedition, and during the expedition, he was allowed to carry a gun and got a vote in matters pertaining to the journey. However, as a black person in the first few years of the 19th century, Jade recognizes that these privileges were symbolic more than anything else—York may have had power briefly during the expedition, as Clark didn’t free York until years after their return east.

Jade sees that at St. Francis, she occupies a similar position: as one of the only black students at school, she’s a curiosity and she doesn’t feel like she can actually speak out or advocate for herself, given her understanding that she’ll be seen as nothing more than black and angry. Similarly, the opportunities she’s awarded (such as a place in the Woman to Woman mentorship program) seem contrived and patronizing rather than genuine—in Jade’s mind, efforts like this are a way for white people to feel good about themselves for helping her, rather than genuinely beneficial experiences for her. Like York’s false sense of temporary freedom, then, Jade remains disempowered in her environment despite the opportunities awarded to her by white authority figures.