The Office of Historical Corrections

The stories in the collection encourage the intersectional analysis of the ways that skin color and gender interact to create unique forms of discrimination and privilege. In addition to exploring racial discrimination, they also explore how gender complicates or exacerbates this racism. In particular, three stories explore four different skin color/gender pairings and how they create unique situations.

In “Boys Go to Jupiter,” the protagonist, Claire, is a white woman. As such, she has privilege that her hallmate—Carmen, a Black woman—does not. With little thought as to what the flag represents, she first wears the Confederate flag bathing suit to anger her stepmother without considering why she might find it offensive in the first place. After her photo gains traction on the internet, she not only refuses to acknowledge her wrongdoing but takes it a step further, provoking Carmen and other classmates by displaying more Confederate flags. Unlike her friend, Aaron, a Black man who is killed because white men assume he is trying to harm a white woman, Claire fears no repercussions for her actions. While she receives hate mail, the meeting with the school administration makes it clear that there are no consequences, because her actions are protected as freedom of speech.