{"id":34844,"date":"2024-01-11T21:19:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T05:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34844"},"modified":"2024-01-12T07:25:19","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T15:25:19","slug":"wheres-my-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wheres-my-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Where’s My Box?!?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before there was the \u201cbi-racial\u201d box on examines, as a kid I felt the need to find a creative way to show my race when filling out the pre-information before answering questions in English, science, or math. Most of my friends would simply color in the \u201cwhite\u201d box. Most expected me to fill in the \u201cblack\u201d box, but I never felt like that fully expressed who I was since I was \u201chalf\u201d white as well. I also did not want to fill in the \u201cother\u201d box. This put me in a dilemma, which eventually inspired me to fill in half the \u201cblack\u201d bubble and half the \u201cwhite\u201d bubble. These half-filled bubbles felt like a more accurate representation of who I was when it came to \u201ccolor\u201d. It also illustrated how I consistently felt when it came to race and ethnicity. I did not fit in the box\u2026or bubble, I guess. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yascha Mounk, in The Identity Trap<\/em>, mentions this growing dilemma in America as \u201cmixed race\u201d people (like me) increase. He argues, \u201cA society that encourages all of us to see the world through the ever-present prism of identity will make it especially hard for people who don\u2019t neatly fit into one ethnic or cultural group to develop a sense of belonging.\u201d [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

From my childhood to my teens, I was much more familiar with \u201cwhite southern culture\u201d. I was raised by the white side of my family on a farm, attended a predominately white school, was part of a white church, and, ironically, drove a white truck. However, the small white town where I lived, my school, and even my church reminded me often that I was different. Looking back, there were plenty of struggles and hurt, especially when it came to dating, but I wouldn\u2019t change it, even though both subtle and blatant racism was part of my experiences. My early formative years coupled with my faith gave me ample opportunity to develop and practice forgiveness, grace, courage, and tenacity. It also gave me a lived experience that allowed me to better relate with other groups who are marginalized, dismissed, rejected, misunderstood, or silenced.<\/p>\n

Due to my painful experiences surrouning race, I, like many others, want human equity, respect, and appreciation for diversity. The trick is finding the right avenues to achieve it with the least amount of unintentional side effects.<\/p>\n

Yascha Mounk\u2019s theory and arguments concerning identity synthesis reminded me of those pharmaceutical commercials that promote a new medicine as a remedy for (fill in the blank), then lists side effects from A to Z. Mounk admits that identity thesis, at its core, is motivated by a legitimate desire to fight injustice and bring human equality, but many of its methods and mindsets seem to be proving counterproductive. This possible overemphasis<\/em> of embracing and highlighting race, gender, and orientation may be giving westerners a too simplistic of a lens to perceive one another and a faulty way of interpreting social and cultural dynamics.<\/p>\n

Are certain strategies for diversity and inclusion actually perpuating division?<\/p>\n

This book reminded me of a peculiar situation that happened during my master’s graduation ceremony. My graduate program was extremely diverse. We had people of all races, religions, and sexual orientations. Social justice, diversity \/ inclusion, and tolerance were major values emphasized during my time there. Part of the ceremony included bringing in and celebrating alumni from 50 years ago. The row behind me, all African American students, many of them my friends and several of them going into ministry, refused to stand in honor of this group because there were no African Americans represented. I could hear one of my classmates say, \u201cI\u2019m not standing, there is not a single black person in that group up there\u201d and the rest of the row fell suit. To an extent I get it, for them they felt the group on stage represented historical oppression, racism, and exclusion and to stand and clap would be celebrating that. However, I had a different viewpoint that would not allow me to stay seated. I saw a common bond between us and them, my class and theirs both worked hard to earn our degree, and with the history of the school, I believe many on the stage likely fought for the equality we were pushing for as well. \u00a0This isn\u2019t meant to be a \u201cwhose right\u201d scenario, but this incident was the culmination of many moments when I felt some of the things Yascha discussed in his book.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help but resonate with Mounk when he says, \u201cBy encouraging us to interpret every historical fact and every personal interaction through the lens of race, gender, and sexual orientation, advocates of the identity synthesis make it impossible to understand the world in all of its complexity. And by portraying society as being full of bigots who pose a constant threat to members of every conceivable minority group, they encourage more and more people to feel adrift in a relentlessly hostile world.\u201d[2]<\/a> I believe there are certain mindsets and assumptions that unintentionally nurture division and hostility in the pursuit of fighting for equality in the west. The current day fight might actually be, as Yascua proposes, against the extremes of both ends of the conservative to liberal spectrum. As Jonathan Haidt says in, The Righteous Mind<\/em>, humans are naturally \u201cgroupish\u201d.[3]<\/a> We love to join teams, but<\/em> when we bind to one group it naturally and subconsciously blinds<\/em> us to other groups and views them as a threat which is what Mounk is exploring with identity synthesis and its emphasis on categories of race, gender, and sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

A while back I watched an interview where an African American rapper known as Lil Wayne talked about a cop who saved his life after he shot himself at the age of twelve.[4]<\/a> I understand many African Americans have had the exact<\/em> opposite experience with cops, \"\"<\/a>which shows the complexity of these dynamics. However, in Lil Wayne\u2019s case, the only person that took interest in his bleeding body was a white man he now calls Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill chewed the rest of the police force out, some of them black, for stepping over this kid\u2019s body with a bullet hole in his chest. He grabbed him up before the ambulance could arrive and personally drove him to the hospital, which ultimately saved his life. This experience forever shaped Lil Wayne\u2019s worldview. In the interview he says, \u201cRacism doesn\u2019t\u2019 exist\u201d. I can\u2019t agree with that statement and not sure what he really meant by it, but I do think it is important to acknowledge and broadcasts these types of stories for healing to occur.<\/p>\n

Honest question:<\/p>\n

Is identity synthesis causing minorities and oppressed groups to immediately <\/em>view, consciously or subconsciously, other groups as a threat, oppressive, and prejudice?<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Mounk, Yascha,\u00a0The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time, (<\/em>New York: Penguin Press, 2023), 14.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Mounk, The Identity Trap<\/em>, 285.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Haidt, Jonathan,\u00a0The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, (<\/em>New York: Vintage Books, 2013),\u00a0221.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> 1.\u00a0Lil Wayne Stands by His \u201cno Such Thing as Racism\u201d Comment.<\/em>,\u00a0YouTube<\/em>\u00a0(YouTube, 2016), https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IwwwJr36HFk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before there was the \u201cbi-racial\u201d box on examines, as a kid I felt the need to find a creative way to show my race when filling out the pre-information before answering questions in English, science, or math. Most of my friends would simply color in the \u201cwhite\u201d box. Most expected me to fill in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2978],"class_list":["post-34844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-mounk-dlgp02","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34844"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34866,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34844\/revisions\/34866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}