Oak Cliff, Texas

Oak Cliff is the predominantly black Dallas suburb where Casey spent the majority of his childhood. Formerly prosperous, Oak Cliff had become economically depressed by the time of Casey’s youth. At Yale, one of Casey’s classmates, who was also from the Dallas area, described Oak Cliff as “the ghetto,” and surmised that it was “a miracle that [Casey] made it out alive. He must be in a gang” (166). Oak Cliff therefore represents the impoverished, violent identity that Casey attempts to disavow by achieving academic and political success.

Yale University

Casey attended Yale as an undergraduate, having been recruited to its football team during his senior year of high school. The citizens of Oak Cliff were awed by the improbable good fortune of one of their own making it to the Ivy League, and complete strangers sent Casey off with heartfelt joy. The elitist...