Gentrification is one of the work’s most significant themes, introduced in the first words: “It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first they want to do is clean it up. But it’s not just the junky stuff they’ll get rid of. People can be thrown away too, like last night’s trash left out on sidewalks…” (1). The book immediately introduces Zuri’s critical point of view of gentrification of her Bushwick, Brooklyn, neighborhood. By comparing the people who are “thrown away” to trash, these words demonstrate the way gentrification solidifies class disparities. The book sees Zuri’s fear that her family will be one of those “throw aways” realized, when the Benitez family is forced to leave Bushwick because their building is sold to a real estate developer.

Pride further highlights the ways in which gentrification aligns with race. In Bushwick, white people come in and people of color are pushed out. Zuri calls this out when she notices the many white people in the park, telling Darius: “Maria Hernandez Park should probably be called Mary Hernan Park now instead” (64).