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

The introduction to this chapter begins with the authors’ experiences in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is 92.6% white. When they seek interviewees, no one wants to discuss race. Three months later in New York City, interviewees remark on the city's diversity and equality, even though it is still largely segregated. The authors argue that this illustrates the interviewees’ indifference to real diversity, which means equity, not just equality or integration. A student named Kyle explains equity this way: “Equality is a truck showing up and giving out only size 8 Nikes. Equity is a truck that shows up and has a size shoe that fits everybody. That way, everyone can walk around” (251).

In the first of the 10 interviews in the chapter, Aaron G. describes how race is a social construct that becomes internalized and creates inequities. He has faced racial and religious discrimination as a Black man who practices the Baha’i religion; he grew up in a small town in Colorado where swastikas and “the n-word” were prevalent. He joined Black Lives Matter in 2014 and outlines a path for healing from racism: healing from one’s personal trauma, relational work with others, and addressing the systems at work.