How is Wilmington different from New York, and how does that influence McBride’s family?

In 1974, James and his family moved to Wilmington, Delaware, because they couldn't afford to keep up the house in Queens. After a great deal of debate, the family decided to leave Queens, but arrived in Delaware only to discover that the schools in Wilmington were segregated. When James's older brother David was pulled over for making an illegal U-turn (he was a doctoral student at Columbia at the time), Ruth decided that she hated Delaware.