Episode 77: Identity Part 1 - Latino, like espresso

In this episode, Leslie explains why "Where are you from?" is a question only satisfied by an answer that explains the origin of his brownness. He talks about his biracial struggle: not white enough for the white half of the family, and not brown enough for the brown side. We mention the excellent book So You Want to Talk About Race? (https://amzn.to/2DtVMvP), and the mindblowing Seeing White (http://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/) podcast series. The Identity series is a "Learning Out Loud" exercise; we don't have all the answers - we are really just learning how to ask the right questions. We encourage you to use this conversation as a springboard into your own inquiry about identity!

In this episode, Leslie explains why "Where are you from?" is a question only satisfied by an answer that explains the origin of his brownness. He talks about his biracial struggle: not white enough for the white half of the family, and not brown enough for the brown side. We mention the excellent book So You Want to Talk About Race?, and the mindblowing Seeing White podcast series. The Identity series is a "Learning Out Loud" exercise; we don't have all the answers - we are really just learning how to ask the right questions. We encourage you to use this conversation as a springboard into your own inquiry about identity!

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11 ways race isn’t real - Vox — Every time someone struggles to explain or select a racial identity, every time we have a public debate about should check get to check box, and every time a person's looks don't seem to match up with what they call themselves, it's a reminder that race is a social and political construct.

But what does that actually mean?When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity | Pew Research Center — Hispanics are also divided over how much of a common identity they share with other Americans. About half (47%) say they consider themselves to be very different from the typical American. And just one-in-five (21%) say they use the term “American” most often to describe their identity. On these two measures, U.S.-born Hispanics (who now make up 48% of Hispanic adults in the country) express a stronger sense of affinity with other Americans and America than do immigrant Hispanics.Census Historical Comparison Tool — A fascinating tool from the Pew Research Center that lets you see every single racial/ethnic category on the United States Census from 1790 to the present. Census may change questions on race, Hispanic origin for 2020 — Federal officials are considering major changes in how they ask Americans about their race and ethnicity, with the goal of producing more accurate and reliable data in the 2020 census and beyond. Recently released Census Bureau research underscores an important reason why: Many Hispanics, who are the nation’s largest minority group, do not identify with the current racial categories.So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo — In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today's racial landscape--from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matter movement--offering straightforward clarity that readers need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.Seeing White – Scene on Radio — Scene on Radio host and producer John Biewen took a deep dive into these questions, along with an array of leading scholars and regular guest Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, in this fourteen-part documentary series, released between February and August 2017.Why America adopted race-based slavery. — This article neatly sums up how and why the early Americans transitioned to using race (and appearance) as a justification for enslaving another human being.Slavery to Mass Incarceration: a brief history of white supremacy by the Equal Justice Initiative — A narrative of racial difference was created to rationalize and justify the continuation of slavery. That myth has simply evolved over time.