The Color of a Lie

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, death, and anti-gay bias.

From an undisclosed time in the future, Calvin Greene addresses the reader, telling them that he’ll reveal his “truth” about an escalating series of lies that affected his identity in his youth.

Calvin and his parents flee from Chicago to Levittown, Pennsylvania. His parents try to comfort him, but Calvin misses his best friend, Ray, and his sister, Charlotte, who is dead. His brother, Robert, Charlotte’s twin, was disowned and lives in a nearby township. Calvin’s parents put on a “charade” for the real estate agent, Mr. Vernon, altering their clothes and names to purchase an “American dream” home in a neighborhood for white veterans.

Calvin thinks that their new life is a “delusion.” When Mr. Vernon leaves, Calvin and his mother express hesitation about their decision to pass as white in a “sundown” town. His father tells him that they will be fine if Calvin alters the way he speaks, his interests, and who he befriends.