DAY 1: How do you think about your racial and social identity?
“There’s no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.” – Zora Neale Hurston
Each and every one of us has a race and our experience of race shapes our lives and shapes our relationships with each other. For some of us, race plays an outsized role in our day-to-day lives while for others, race is a distant thought as we go about our lives. These different experiences can prompt us to wonder, why is that? And, what can I learn from this?
To avoid assuming and making a… something… of you and me, let’s go back to basics. What is race? How is it different from ethnicity or nationality? Race is a way that we have grouped people based on their appearance and traits like skin color, hair texture, and facial features. Race and who is included in a race has changed over time. Ethnicity on the other hand is a “a shared culture (e.g., language, food, music, dress, values, and beliefs) related to common ancestry and shared history”(APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2023). Nationality generally refers to our citizenship and how we’re recognized by a country as being American, Canadian, Mexican, etc. What is your race, ethnicity, and nationality?
Being curious about our friends’, neighbors’, colleagues’ and family members’ experiences can offer an understanding not only of them, but of ourselves. We can and will over the next 21 days, explore the complex history of race in our country and concepts like structural racism and segregation, but today, let’s start with ourselves and our own understanding of race. Be patient with yourself and join us from a place of wonder.
Today’s Challenge
How do you think about your racial identity and its impact on your life? Consider how your experiences with family, friends, schools, and religion may have shaped your awareness of race. How might it have shaped your awareness or perception of those who are similar to you? How might it have shaped your awareness or perception of those who are different from you?
Identity matters for all of us. It affects who we think we are and who others think we are. It can have an influence on all aspects of our lives. Think about the first time you became aware of your race. What is the first thing that comes to mind?
Read
- Race and Racial Identity https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/race-and-racial-identity
- Explore this document to better understand the stages of racial and ethnic identity development.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oO42QQhHL6JZanPI9KNOA5iQmtPBAa7O/view
Watch
- An Arbitrary Racial Identity (Shaquan McDowell, TEDxBrandeisUniversity). This TED Talk
investigates racial identity through a historical lens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2KYU4EmSho - Racial Identity Development. This video briefly touches on the 4 stages of racial identity and the feelings that may be associated with each stage. (2024, 5:19 mins) Bing Videos
Listen
- Listen to this Stateside episode with Eddie Moore, Jr., executive director of The Privilege Institute, about the White Privilege Conference in Grand Rapids creating a space for people to have “tough conversations.” (8 min)
https://www.michiganradio.org/families-community/2018-04-03/white-privilege-conference-makes-space-for-tough-conversations-in-grand-rapids
Reflect
- What do you hope to gain from the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge?
- Why are you participating?
- What strengths and tools are you bringing to this space to keep you curious, open, and engaged?
