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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On the Come Up, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Individuality
Racism and Prejudice
Trauma, Poverty, and Childhood
Control, Image, and Fame
Summary
Analysis
Bri sits and stares straight ahead in Dr. Rhodes's office while Ms. Clark calls Jay at work. Bri is confused when Ms. Clark says that Christ Temple Church told her Jay doesn't work there anymore. Bri realizes that this is what the Popkenchurch was about. Fifteen minutes later, Jay arrives wearing work clothes, worriedly looks Bri over, and angrily asks why Bri is handcuffed. Dr. Rhodes steps out of her office with Long, asks him to release Bri, and invites Bri and Jay into her office. Bri's backpack is open on Dr. Rhodes's desk, revealing her candy stash.
The discovery that Jay probably lost her job makes this whole thing even worse for Bri—given that the gas is already off at home, this means that Bri selling candy and possibly being expelled will be the least of their worries. That Dr. Rhodes allowed Bri to sit handcuffed in her office suggests that Dr. Rhodes is also not a person Bri can trust, since this would imply that she believes whatever Long is saying and assumes Bri to be an automatic threat.
Themes
Dr. Rhodes tries to tell Jay that there was an "incident," and Bri mumbles that Long and Tate threw her on the floor. With a sigh, Dr. Rhodes says that Long and Tate will be investigated and disciplined, but Bri is in trouble too for selling candy. Bri argues with Dr. Rhodes that Long and Tate go after the black and Latinx kids, and Jay says that even Trey used to tell her that guards pick on certain kids. Calmly, Dr. Rhodes stands her ground, but says nothing when Jay asks if the guards throw all the kids on the floor. Dr. Rhodes says that Bri was "argumentative and aggressive," as usual.
Dr. Rhodes's behavior shows that she's far more interested in policing black students at school than she is in protecting them or giving them a safe space to learn. In particular, her unwillingness to truly listen and hear what Jay and Bri are saying shows that she's already made up her mind and sees this incident as merely annoying from a public relations standpoint, not something that exposes the racist elements of her leadership and should be fixed.
Themes
Bri thinks of all the times when she's said things to her teachers they don't like. She's asked teachers why they don't teach about black people outside of Black History Month, or why they teach boring books from the literary canon. Mrs. Murray is the only teacher who hasn't gotten upset with her—but she's also Bri's only black teacher. Dr. Rhodes says that she's suspending Bri for three days.
The literary canon—or what's considered literary classics, like works by Shakespeare or Charles Dickens—is overwhelmingly male and white. This suggests that Bri's school as a whole is unwilling to question if it's properly serving all of its students by not exposing them to a variety of experiences and viewpoints—some of which have the ability to make Bri feel like a valuable member of the school community.
Themes
On the car ride home, Bri thinks about all the things that "hoodlum" rhymes with and looks at the destroyed storefronts left over from the riots. Jay comments that it seems nobody is fixing Garden Heights so the residents don't forget what happened. She reminds Bri that when things happen, she needs to think of her safety and let other people think they're powerful. Jay sighs and says that Bri has to play a different game at Midtown since she's black, and refuses to let Bri transfer to Garden High. She insists that Garden High is basically a prison and doesn't help anyone succeed.
While Jay's assessment of the two different available schools makes sense, it's also questionable whether or not Midtown also functions as a prison-like entity for someone like Bri, who isn't white and part of the majority. The idea that Garden Heights is still unfixed after the riots to send a message tells the black residents that they don't matter as much to government entities, showing again how black people are systematically targeted and put down.
Themes
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Jay sighs that they don't have a lot of options right now, so Bri has to make Midtown work. Bri asks if Jay lost her job, and Jay admits she did. Since the church was damaged in the riots, they had to reallocate funds to fix damage and had to let Jay go. Bri knows that her family is in trouble now—they're already struggling to make rent and already don't have gas. Jay assures Bri that God will take care of them, which Bri finds questionable since a church laid her off. Jay says she's interviewing for jobs and has filed for unemployment. She admits that Trey knew about this and Bri pouts: Jay always seems to treat her like she's too young to handle hard things. Bri refuses to speak to Jay after this, and as soon as they get home, she jumps out of the car and walks off, feeling like she's drowning.
Bri's pouting and sense of being kept in the dark is both understandable and indicative of her youth. It's worth giving Jay credit; she's doing everything she can to give Bri the opportunity to be a teenager without terrifying adult worries and responsibilities. She keeps things from her for this reason, but this also makes Bri feel like Jay doesn't trust her and thinks of her as a small, immature child when what Bri wants is to be treated like an intelligent young adult, capable of processing difficult things like this.
Themes
