Living in Brownsville and being white is interesting. White privilege obviously works differently here, but it still exists, of course. I always felt like it would be beneficial for me to live somewhere (in this country) where I'm a minority, but even the luxury of having that interest reflects my privilege. But it's still challenging sometimes, though I don't even think about it a whole lot, it's kind of always there. People regard me with slight surprise. People are generally kind though. And I feel so happy to be in this place where Mexican/border culture are so pervasive, and that landscape makes me happy and comfortable most of the time.
Prejudice (do I want to say racism?) looks different here, but it also looks sort of the same. My landlord's Tia was telling me that people here are very prejudiced, and that she wishes she lived somewhere else but this is where family is, so here she stays. When I told her I wanted to do my PhD and teach at a college somewhere someday, she said 'Not here, right? I have to tell you, someone as white as you, they will run you off the campus. They did that to most of the white professors.' I told her that I didn't have plans to do that (I don't; I don't see staying in the Valley more than maybe 2 years and then going back to California to school, most likely). Being black in Brownsville, she said, is much, much worse (as in, harder). And that is pretty clear. But then, young people from here say that it is getting a bit more diverse. That they are seeing different looking people in the street (but it being a novelty for them to see someone 'different' seems sad to me; dare I forget that I come from a rather homogenous white small city in New Hampshire where I remember that same novelty).
There's a lot more to say, or maybe none of this needs to be written at all, but thinking about it is good, I think.
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