Race and Place Yellow Palace Description

Describe Hall’s childhood local library, the “yellow palace.” What were its features and/or barriers? Where was it located within her community?

Tracie Hall's description of the yellow palace begins on page two of the article. She describes anti-theft bars on every possible point of entry. It contained two reading areas, each quite small, that separated children from adults. It was in good company what with being adjacent to the police station and neighborhood jail. It was painted a drab yellow, thus the 'yellow palace'.

The neighborhood of the yellow palace was poverty stricken and dysfunctional. There were no grocery stores, the hospital had closed and was replaced by a smaller health clinic. The ambulances were very far away and so was the 'real' hospital they would take you to. There were plenty of churches in the neighborhood, but the author considered the library dearer to her than the churches.

The only key features of the library were that it provided the impoverished community a library. It was very dear to the author, and possibly other children. The grandmother in the story has said she never had anything like it when she was young. The barriers of the library far outweigh the features. Drawbacks like the location near the jail and the community itself being without a hospital or grocery store and people like the author's grandparents who did not receive much education are far more prevalent than the few 'features'.