What I missed as a white kid in Anytown, U.S.A.

I thought Maplewood, New Jersey, was perfect. Then I remembered what I heard.

A protester.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock, Library of Congress)

Is it possible for a child to truly understand the place in which he or she is raised? Especially when a full understanding might damage the illusion that everything is as it should be?

I grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey, a suburb of 24,000 some 15 miles west of New York City. The town was, and remains, picturesque: Its 25-acre Memorial Park was designed by the storied Olmsted Brothers firm in the 1920s, and its downtown business area — anchored by a movie theater, a diner, and a train station — has remained essentially unchanged since the 1930s. Popular descriptors of the town include "leafy" and "charming." Growing up there molded my view of what other places should be like, and as such, I largely found them wanting. As a student at the University of Delaware, I was appalled by that state's seemingly endless sprawl; compared to my hometown, it felt airless and deadening. If Maplewood wasn't perfect, I thought, it was close enough.

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Jacob Lambert

Jacob Lambert is the art director of TheWeek.com. He was previously an editor at MAD magazine, and has written and illustrated for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, and The Millions.