Football is the work’s organizing motif, as evidenced by the poem titles that connect football terms to situations Kareem experiences. For example, “Take the Knee” refers to a player kneeling after catching the ball on a kickoff to signal the play dead. In this chapter, Mama and Baba refuse to talk about what happened in the ice cream shop between the woman and Jameelah. When Kareem presses, Baba says, “It’s nothing,” and Mama advises, “Just ignore it” (47). Through their words, both parents are figuratively taking a knee, refusing to address the problem and just settling for the fact that the woman walked away. However, NFL Fact #3 explains that the title phrase also refers to Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 protest against racism, in which he refused to stand for the national anthem. Kaepernick’s kneeling is a form of action, much like what Jameelah does when she responds to the woman. As a result, a simple play in football takes on varied real-life meanings within the context of the narrative.

That Kareem consistently reaches for football metaphors to process all that happens to him reveals the game’s significance as a coping mechanism. For instance, when Kareem’s mother goes to Syria, he uses the sport to cope with his loss: “Football helps me forget / that Mama left / for a little while” (83). Playing the sport gives him a brief respite from life’s difficulties. At the same time, Kareem’s desire to play football is so single-minded that it sometimes leads him astray, most notably when he prioritizes staying on Austin’s good side over standing up for Fadi. On Fadi’s first day at school, Austin laughs at his English, and, instead of helping, Kareem walks ahead, thinking:

If I hang out

with Fadi,

it’ll be a huge penalty.

I’ll lose

y

a

r

d

s

in

Operation Visibility (66-67).

Kareem’s comparison of this social situation to receiving a penalty in football is ironic, as his desire to make the team has actually caused him to do something wrong. It is notable, too, that Kareem associates football with “visibility”—that is, being accepted in the popular crowd. Football is a distinctly American sport. Kareem’s love for it represents the American side of his identity, which is genuine, but his willingness to compromise his principles to secure a spot on the team figuratively illustrates the pressure he is under to reject his Syrian heritage in order to fit in. The motif thus develops the theme of True Friendship Versus Popularity as well as the novel’s broader exploration of conformity versus authenticity.