January 17, 2022 • 8 mins
Welcome Back to United States of Race!
In this inaugural episode of Season 2, host and producer, DB Crema, reflects on season one, discussing challenges as old as time, like Identity - how we see ourselves, how we want others to see us, and how others actually see us.
Excited for what’s coming in this season, this episode gives a sneak peek at some of the poignant and powerful moments we will share as we use the power of storytelling to build connections and bridge divides.
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Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:10):
This is United States of Race. Personal stories of how
our earliest memories determinea lifetime of relationships. I'm
your host, DB crema.
And we're back with season two,what started out as a spring
break from season one ended upextending into a much longer
(00:33):
break, I blame 2021. But itactually ended up being just the
break I needed. It was a reallybeautiful time of reflection and
a time to connect with so manyof you about the power of
sharing our stories, andcreating a space for
conversation and betterlistening.
You know, because when I startedthis podcast last year, the
(00:55):
conversation felt super urgentand very necessary. But I think
I needed that time away toreally reflect and to feel
reinvigorated that this ishelping the discussion. So since
it's Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day, what better time torelaunch the conversation.
(01:17):
As I reflect on Season One, whatI thought would start as an
exercise in sharing and creatingconnection through, you know,
better understanding of ourrange of personal experiences,
turned into a journey ofreflection for so many people
that were involved. What I foundmost interesting was that we
heard from people of variousraces and backgrounds talk about
(01:40):
this difficulty that theyexperience between fitting their
personal sense of self into alarger societal expectation of
what their identity should be.
Into this kind of societal normsof the identities that have been
labeled upon them. And I thinkabout, you know, Holly talking
about being a non presentingblack girl, but deeply carrying
what it is to be black withinher and knowing that people
(02:04):
don't see that. Or Alex, who isa white man, but just has never
connected as an immigrantrefugee has never connected to
what it means to be a white manin this country and have those
privileges that come with it. Ora Akeem, who, you know, did not
see himself as white because hewas never treated as white, even
(02:26):
though on some government formsomewhere, he probably qualifies
as white. You know, there'sthis, like dissonance in all of
these stories, this dissonancebetween who they feel that they
want to be, and what communitythey want to be in, versus how
the outside world sees them.
(02:49):
And it's that dissonance thatcreates this kind of long term
distress, I think anincongruence in people's lives.
You know, imagine living alifetime of incongruent thoughts
about who you are versus howpeople see you based on your
skin color and your gender andany other superficial
(03:14):
characteristics.
And now there's season two. Whenyou think about the world we
live in, how we see it, ourrelationship to it, and how we
interact with each other. How wesee the world is shaped by all
(03:34):
these stories that we've beentold by other people, by our
parents and our siblings, ourteachers and authorities since
the day we were born. Basically,everything we believe we've been
taught by someone else to seeand think.
From a young age, I was seen asa threat from the beginning,
(03:57):
because of my skin color. When Istarted to realize this was
going to be part of how I walkedthrough the world, man... I was
I was a brown kid.
I have two little girls and myolder one struggles. She wants
blue eyes and blonde hair. Shehas said she does not want to be
(04:19):
black, because people don'ttreat black people well. And she
wants people to be nice to her.
She kind of has this likementality like I don't want to
be on the losing side. And herunderstanding right now is that
being black is being on thelosing side.
If this black professor islooking at me, and telling me
(04:41):
that this is a community I'mpart of, I can't let that go.
Because everyone else, you know,teachers, parents, guidance
counselors, they were all whiteand what's white people love to
do? Avoid the subject of race.
But when I was speaking withthis black mentor, I couldn't
say no.
Because I thought if this personrecognizes me, if he's seeing
(05:03):
me, that's very different than awhite person mistaking me for
Black.
You'll hear statements wherepeople were like, well, I've had
this experience or that thing,or the classic line, I have a
black friend, you know, and it'slike, well, you could have a
black friend, and you couldstill be racist. You know, I
think that's the other thingI've come to realize all these
(05:24):
people can make these claims whythey can't be blamed to be
racist. And I'm like, justbecause you have relationships
doesn't mean you aren't, youdon't have tendencies.
All of these stories that we'vebeen told all our lives, each
story is like a thread, a yarnthat gets woven into a tapestry
(05:44):
that we carry around with us,this blanket that lays over us.
It's this tapestry that hangsbetween us and the world. And
everything we see and hear isthrough that blanket. And these
stories are like an inheritance.
You know, through these stories,we've been told who to trust,
who to doubt, who to listen to,how to listen to them, and what
(06:05):
we're going to actually hearfrom what they say. So, in
season two, we're going to thinkabout how we might go about it
differently. I mean, sure, wecan't change what we've been
taught. But we can change whatwe do with what we've been told,
and what we do about how wetreat each other.
(06:26):
In season two will have slateformat changes. We'll have a
longer introduction with some ofmy thoughts on a topic for the
week, you know, specific to theconversations with each guest.
And we'll also have slightlylonger episodes. You know, we've
had such great conversations,and I realized that in season
one, I was trying to keep themtoo tight, too clean in the
(06:51):
interest of keeping them short,but they lose some of the
humanity that way. And thesehave been such great
conversations with folks whohave been so generous in sharing
their story, that I just wantedto make sure that we honor that.
You know, these stories remindus that we have such a long way
to go to reach Martin LutherKing Junior's dream, to live in
(07:13):
a world where we fundamentallytrust each other and we assume
positive intent.
So thanks for listening. I'm theproducer and host DB crema. We'd
love to hear from you with anyreactions, questions or stories
that you'd like to share. Youcould use the app on your phone
to record a voice memo and emailit to
(07:34):
unitedstatesofrace@gmail.com.
That's United States of Race atgmail dot com. You might even be
included in an upcoming episode.
And be sure to hit follow orsubscribe on whichever podcast
platform you're listening. Thatway you won't miss a single
moment. Until next time
This is United States of Race. Personal stories of how
our earliest memories determinea lifetime of relationships. I'm
your host, DB crema.
And we're back with season two,what started out as a spring
break from season one ended upextending into a much longer
(00:33):
break, I blame 2021. But itactually ended up being just the
break I needed. It was a reallybeautiful time of reflection and
a time to connect with so manyof you about the power of
sharing our stories, andcreating a space for
conversation and betterlistening.
You know, because when I startedthis podcast last year, the
(00:55):
conversation felt super urgentand very necessary. But I think
I needed that time away toreally reflect and to feel
reinvigorated that this ishelping the discussion. So since
it's Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day, what better time torelaunch the conversation.
(01:17):
As I reflect on Season One, whatI thought would start as an
exercise in sharing and creatingconnection through, you know,
better understanding of ourrange of personal experiences,
turned into a journey ofreflection for so many people
that were involved. What I foundmost interesting was that we
heard from people of variousraces and backgrounds talk about
(01:40):
this difficulty that theyexperience between fitting their
personal sense of self into alarger societal expectation of
what their identity should be.
Into this kind of societal normsof the identities that have been
labeled upon them. And I thinkabout, you know, Holly talking
about being a non presentingblack girl, but deeply carrying
what it is to be black withinher and knowing that people
(02:04):
don't see that. Or Alex, who isa white man, but just has never
connected as an immigrantrefugee has never connected to
what it means to be a white manin this country and have those
privileges that come with it. Ora Akeem, who, you know, did not
see himself as white because hewas never treated as white, even
(02:26):
though on some government formsomewhere, he probably qualifies
as white. You know, there'sthis, like dissonance in all of
these stories, this dissonancebetween who they feel that they
want to be, and what communitythey want to be in, versus how
the outside world sees them.
(02:49):
And it's that dissonance thatcreates this kind of long term
distress, I think anincongruence in people's lives.
You know, imagine living alifetime of incongruent thoughts
about who you are versus howpeople see you based on your
skin color and your gender andany other superficial
(03:14):
characteristics.
And now there's season two. Whenyou think about the world we
live in, how we see it, ourrelationship to it, and how we
interact with each other. How wesee the world is shaped by all
(03:34):
these stories that we've beentold by other people, by our
parents and our siblings, ourteachers and authorities since
the day we were born. Basically,everything we believe we've been
taught by someone else to seeand think.
From a young age, I was seen asa threat from the beginning,
(03:57):
because of my skin color. When Istarted to realize this was
going to be part of how I walkedthrough the world, man... I was
I was a brown kid.
I have two little girls and myolder one struggles. She wants
blue eyes and blonde hair. Shehas said she does not want to be
(04:19):
black, because people don'ttreat black people well. And she
wants people to be nice to her.
She kind of has this likementality like I don't want to
be on the losing side. And herunderstanding right now is that
being black is being on thelosing side.
If this black professor islooking at me, and telling me
(04:41):
that this is a community I'mpart of, I can't let that go.
Because everyone else, you know,teachers, parents, guidance
counselors, they were all whiteand what's white people love to
do? Avoid the subject of race.
But when I was speaking withthis black mentor, I couldn't
say no.
Because I thought if this personrecognizes me, if he's seeing
(05:03):
me, that's very different than awhite person mistaking me for
Black.
You'll hear statements wherepeople were like, well, I've had
this experience or that thing,or the classic line, I have a
black friend, you know, and it'slike, well, you could have a
black friend, and you couldstill be racist. You know, I
think that's the other thingI've come to realize all these
(05:24):
people can make these claims whythey can't be blamed to be
racist. And I'm like, justbecause you have relationships
doesn't mean you aren't, youdon't have tendencies.
All of these stories that we'vebeen told all our lives, each
story is like a thread, a yarnthat gets woven into a tapestry
(05:44):
that we carry around with us,this blanket that lays over us.
It's this tapestry that hangsbetween us and the world. And
everything we see and hear isthrough that blanket. And these
stories are like an inheritance.
You know, through these stories,we've been told who to trust,
who to doubt, who to listen to,how to listen to them, and what
(06:05):
we're going to actually hearfrom what they say. So, in
season two, we're going to thinkabout how we might go about it
differently. I mean, sure, wecan't change what we've been
taught. But we can change whatwe do with what we've been told,
and what we do about how wetreat each other.
(06:26):
In season two will have slateformat changes. We'll have a
longer introduction with some ofmy thoughts on a topic for the
week, you know, specific to theconversations with each guest.
And we'll also have slightlylonger episodes. You know, we've
had such great conversations,and I realized that in season
one, I was trying to keep themtoo tight, too clean in the
(06:51):
interest of keeping them short,but they lose some of the
humanity that way. And thesehave been such great
conversations with folks whohave been so generous in sharing
their story, that I just wantedto make sure that we honor that.
You know, these stories remindus that we have such a long way
to go to reach Martin LutherKing Junior's dream, to live in
(07:13):
a world where we fundamentallytrust each other and we assume
positive intent.
So thanks for listening. I'm theproducer and host DB crema. We'd
love to hear from you with anyreactions, questions or stories
that you'd like to share. Youcould use the app on your phone
to record a voice memo and emailit to
(07:34):
unitedstatesofrace@gmail.com.
That's United States of Race atgmail dot com. You might even be
included in an upcoming episode.
And be sure to hit follow orsubscribe on whichever podcast
platform you're listening. Thatway you won't miss a single
moment. Until next time
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