Tayla Conroy

RTS-335
Short Paper #1
3/17/17
Racial Consciousness Development

Growing up I was surrounded predominantly by white people, with a scarce amount of

ethnic and racial minorities. The neighborhood I grew up in is the typical white, middle class

suburb. Racism didn’t exist in my world, I never acknowledged its existence. Movies, television,

and media was also catered towards my race. My appearance was always represented in the

numerous white Disney princesses. Most of the television shows that were available when I was

a child had a white lead, and I never felt the need to question this reality. I perceived my world as

being the same reality as everyone else.

My favorite Disney princess was actually Belle because she had brown hair unlike the

other princesses. I never questioned the absence of black or Hispanic princess and never

considered how they felt being underrepresented. When I entered Kindergarten I remember

having this one friend that I was really interested in. She was one of the only black students in

the class and I really wanted to be her friend. I was so drawn to the curls in her hair and seeing

her family when she got off the bus. I still remember where her stop was today when I drive by

it. Now that I think about it I was probably so intrigued because there was so little representation

of African Americans during my youth, and befriending her expanded my understanding of

reality.

Although I was expanding my perception of reality, I was still ignorant to the existence of

racism. Sometime during Elementary school I was introduced to Martin Luther King. When we

had to pick a historical figure to do a research on, I picked him. He fascinated me and I viewed
him as a hero. I still did not really comprehend racism, but I thought it was exclusively an issue

of the past that was defeated by Mr. King. I think this is still a problem for many Americans who

believe our racist history doesn’t influence our contemporary attitudes and institutions. Many

people think because our policies do not support racism, racism isn’t present. Throughout middle

school there were racist jokes about racial stereotypes. I always laughed along because I thought

that racism was no longer a problem, and therefore these jokes are harmless.

In high school I had no friends outside my white group of friends. I had acquaintances

with races outside of my group, but everyone remained in homogenous racial groups. White kids

befriended white kids, Asian kids befriended Asian kids, black kids befriended black kids, and

Hispanic kids befriended Hispanic kids. There was friendly interaction between all groups,

however there were scarce close friendships between heterogeneous groups. Exclusively

interacting in homogenous groups perpetuates unconscious racial biases. As Bryan Massingale

writes, we need “cultivation of authentic interracial solidarity and transformative love”.

However, I understand why racial minorities may prefer friendships within their own

communities because they live an experience that we are largely ignorant to, and they can’t find

as much relation in us.

At this time in my life I was still predominantly self-involved. I didn’t look outside of my

own reality enough to identify my privileges. I didn’t consider the lives of neighboring racial

minorities because there was seldom interaction with them. What truly challenged my perception

of racism in America was the influence of one of my teachers. In her class it was a requirement

to be updated on world events. Because my world was never an issue, looking toward world

events never was a concern. When I researched online different world matters, my conception of

reality began to change. Reading or viewing the experiences of people different than me opened
my eyes to the undeniable racial problem America has. Through online sources, I was gaining a

perspective I have never been taught before.

My lack of interaction with racial minorities, and the absence of essential topics such as

Malcolm X, The Black Panther Party, and famous civil rights marches in my education sheltered

my ignorance. I was unable to empathize with this community because I was never exposed to

their reality, past and present. As I was gaining more information I tried to identify my own

perpetuation of the problem. I stopped laughing at racist jokes and reacting defensively to the

topic of racism. I felt motivated to shed my ignorance, rather than defend it. I began to listen,

which I never done before. I know now that I have a job to combat racism on a micro level, by

being critical of my conditioned racial biases as well as combating racism on a macro level, by

supporting marginalized communities and enacting protective policies.