Waking Up to Racism: My Journey

Growing up in a suburban mostly white “bubble” in Central Massachusetts, race relations was not something I was tuned into– until we abruptly moved to East Texas when I was 15.

My new classmates had never even heard of “Mattadooditts,” although most of them had heard of New York City. 

I used to joke that the only class I knew what was going on was Spanish, where the Texas accent didn’t seem as pronounced. 

While it was not mandatory, everyone prayed together (Southern Baptist-style) around the flagpole before (public) school started each morning.

I had one friend, Latoya, who stood by me and tried to “show me the ropes” in a small rural town where teenagers literally lassoed calves for fun on Friday nights, and racist and other oppressive behavior was just under the friendly surface everywhere I turned.

The most memorable incident was when a neighbor came by with cookies and asked if we’d like to go to her church and my dad replied, “Thank you, but I am Catholic and my wife is Jewish…” and she dropped the plate of cookies and abruptly darted off with her daughter.

Somehow I convinced my parents to let me move back north 5 months later (they eventually followed), but my TX experience made an indelible impression on this Yankee kid from mixed-religious/non-religious roots– sparking a lifelong passion for expanding my cultural horizons.

There is so much swirling around us regarding the importance of being "culturally competent" in a multicultural world.

From DEI to BLM, Affirmative Action college cases taken up by the Supreme Court at the same moment our president is vowing to nominate the first Black female Justice, Whoopi’s insistence the Holocaust was not about race, and Sha’Carri’s calling out the Olympics for racist judgments – just a small sampling of recent headlines.

It has been said that the idea of America as a ‘melting pot’ (immigrants assimilating into one culture) is no longer useful by itself. Adding the “salad bowl” metaphor encourages immigrants and their descendants to preserve their culture while enhancing our common culture or, as I like to say, our CommUnity.

I love the idea of honoring and celebrating our diversity alongside our oneness.

I have discovered that when I accept who I am (and who I am not) and continue to learn and grow, it provides an opening for people around me to do the same.

That said, I believe it is so important to call out the ISMs (racism and other forms of oppression) when we see them. For example, when I taught Urban Studies, I would pass around a 2012 Band aid box that read, “Blends with skin” and ask my college students what they thought about the messaging. 

In a room of mostly white kids, they did not tend to immediately detect this example of institutional racism >> I would need to pose the question, “Whose skin does the Bandaid blend in with? Once it was pointed out, they were upset and fired up to make change. 

This is a good reminder that there are different levels of racism. THIS RESOURCE outlines Four Levels of Racism: Internalized (lies within individuals), Interpersonal (occurs between individuals), Institutional (within institutions and systems of power), and Structural (racial bias among institutions and across society). 

As an educator and a facilitator, I really like the Small Group Questions posed at the end of the resource document. I also felt the quote by Rabbi Tarfon in Question 3 was worth emphasizing here as I wrap up this blog:

“It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.”

With Liberty and Justice for All!

Amy