Quote:
Originally Posted by Senusret I
I wonder if the young women (and at least once on GC, a young man) in this situation ever contemplate their blackness or brownness prior to pursuing membership in a GLO.
I guess I always wonder what's going on in the lives of people who grew up in a different class and/or different racial dynamic than I did, and whether this fear of not being accepted is the first time they've had to deal with race.
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I think you hit the nail on the head. I think our generation is the first one where there's a shared experience of growing up in integrated middle or upper-middle class neighborhoods where there may have only been a handful of kids of color in their schools. Their class and postwar political correctness may have insulated them from the harsh realities of race relations so, yes, they've never really HAD to contemplate their blackness. If you're a black girl who grows up as an "Only" in your school and social world (and you didn't have an alternate black social outlet in terms of church, social organizations, or family), and your extended family is pretty much the same way, there aren't a lot of opportunities to contemplate your Otherness unless you're self-aware in ways that a lot of 18 year-olds just aren't.
When they go to college, they assume that their high school life will be identical to their college life. Their friends are planning on joining sororities, and they know that it's pretty much all-white on a lot of campuses. Can they fit in? Will they be able to continue to coast on the political correctness and well-meaning liberalness of upper-middle class suburban neighborhoods? Are they considered sell-outs if they join ADPi instead of AKA? These are pretty big questions to deal with for the first time when you're 18; I think that's why we get so many of these posts.
I'm also sure that someone else can say this far better than I can.
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