Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity

The introduction to this chapter begins with the authors at Detroit Hart Plaza observing a statue called The Fist, which represents boxer Joe Louis’s fist. The tour guide tells them that the statue symbolizes Detroit as the “Comeback City,” referencing the fact that Detroit was more dangerous in the past. Another visitor assumes the reason for the name referenced the fact that the city had been mostly Black, but the tour guide denies this idea, then argues that she’s color-blind.

Shocked, the authors explain that “color-blind” also means blindness to racism. The tour guide is also unaware of the definition of gentrification and its effects on communities of color. A student named Kasim shares that some residents believe that the label “Comeback City” really means gentrification. Some also see The Fist as symbolizing the “tireless fight for justice” (147).

The authors argue that these incidents illustrate the importance of language and advocate for “bringing your consciousness into your words” (146). They elaborate that people’s vocabulary differs based on age, socioeconomic status, and other factors; however, they suggest that some people have a limited racial vocabulary because they lack concern about language. They observe that people misuse Martin Luther King’s ideal of a “color-blind society” to avoid the subject of race.