Clean Getaway

Much of this novel centers around the persistence of racism in the United States throughout its history. G’ma serves as Scoob’s guide, explaining what happened to Medgar Evers, the four little girls killed in the bombing of a church in Birmingham, and Martin Luther King Jr. In the time of the Jim Crow South, which lasted from approximately 1877 to the mid-1960s, African Americans were heavily persecuted and often the victims of hate crimes at the hands of white Americans who believed in segregation and that they were superior to African Americans.

As a result, it was often difficult for travelers moving through the South. African Americans could be hurt or killed in certain places—called “Sundown Towns”—because racism was so prevalent. Law enforcement would often turn a blind eye to such crimes. Out of this context, the Green Book was born. Its full title is The Negro Motorist Green Book, and it served as a guide for African American travelers on places to stay, eat, sleep, drink, and get gas throughout the country that would be friendly and help them to avoid the racial prejudice still prevalent in the United States. It was published by Victor H.