Defining One's Place In The World In Stranger In The Village

Being the only? What does this phrase really mean? To me this phrase means being a diamond in the rough. It means to be the only one of your kind. This can be anything; race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, political views. Everyone at one point in their life has experienced this feeling. For the most part, this experience is barley ever a positive one. Humans are so judgmental if you don’t fit the status quo you're immediately cast out of the masses. An example that really stands out to me is James Balwdins writings about being a stranger in the village. These essays are about a novelist James Baldwin and his experience being the only Black man in Leukerbad, Switzerland. There, the people in the village were either scared or curious of him. They've never seen someone who looked so different compared to them. The children were especially fascinated by his physical appearances. Baldwin also experienced blackface for the first time. The villagers didn’t even understand how it was morally wrong what they were doing. This is just one of the negative things about being the only one of your kind. You have to experience ignorance and there's really nothing you can do about it. How would Baldwin explain how blackface is morally wrong if the people no nothing about the history and it's their first time seeing a person of color.

Is the glass half full or half empty? This is a great question that is often debated furiously. This greatly depends on the person and their individual experiences. Perspective greatly influences perception. What you perceive is strongly influenced by your past experience, education, culture, values and other factors. For example it could be a random Black kid walking home. From two different perspectives one being a white man and the other being a Black man. The White man could think look at that kid up to no good, probably going to steal something from someone. The perspective of the Black man could look at that young man tired from working hard at school all day. The white man's perception is based on his perspective. Maybe he grew up in a rough neighborhood and got robbed by some men that just so happen to be Black men. Or he just has a preconvive perspective of how he believes the black man should act. The White man's perception is due to past experiences. This is just one of many examples of how perspective influences perception.

Sometimes this can harm people and other times it can save someone's life. I recently read a book titled Can't hurt Me by David Goggins. This book is the autobiography of David Goggins. He is a former Navy Seal and is currently an ultramarathon runner. In the book he talks about his journey to becoming the “toughest man on the planet”. I brought up this book because throughout the book he talks about being the only. The only Black man in school, in navy seal training, and the only one his team. One story in particular that stood out to me was when he talked about being the only Black kid going to his school in Virginia. The son of the Grandwizard of the Ku Klux Klan sat right behind him in class and would constantly call him racial slurs and tell all kinds of sick jokes. Another instance was when a kid put a drawing in his english book saying “we’re going to kill you niger”. He ran out of the classroom in tears and went straight to the principal's office. All the principle said, being an older white man was,” look at that David that's just ignorance. They didn’t even spell it correctly.” Another of many instances was when Goggins first got I car when he was leaving from school saw that other students had spray painted racial slurs on this car in black paint. This is how being the only translates in most cases. It equals hate and disdain towards you just for being different from everyone else.

Being a stranger in a village is being different from everyone else. It's a setting where you feel out of place and in some cases unwelcomed. My Grandmother experienced this first hand. She attended the University of Alabama in 1968, being only sixteen at the time. The first Black students attended the university just a few years prior on June 10, 1963. During this time the Governor of Alabama George Wallace promised his white followers,”Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation Forever!”. When Black students first tried to desegregate the university the Governor flanked by troops literally blocked the enrollment office. Later on June 10, 1963 President federalized National Guard troops and deployed them to the University of Alabama to force desegregation. My Grandmother tells me of many horrifying stories about her four years attending the University. She wasn’t the only but might as well have been. Including her only 12 Black students attended the University compared to the thousands of white students. In many of her classes she was the only. Not the only Black women, but the only Black person in her class surrounded by hateful whites who wanted nothing better to harm her in any way they could possible. Everyday was a fight for survival. Many whites even going as far as trying to follow her home. Don’t let the Alabama football programs team fool you. The starters on the team are 80% Black, but the total population of the university is only 11% Black. To this day I have heard of many racist instances going on at the university. This is what happens when your the only in Alabama. You get ridiculed simply because of how you look and what people perceive about you and your people.

I am originally from Greenville Alabama. It's a small city just forty-five minutes south of Montgomery Alabama. This town is predominantly Black with also a high population of whites and Hispanics. I attended W.O Palmer now called Greenville elementary in first through third. Then went to a magnet school called Georgiana Magnet school for fourth grade. After that I moved to Birmingham, a city two and a half hours north historically known for its relevance during the civil rights movement. I then moved to Central middle school in Vestavia Hills. I attended this school system from the fifth to eight grade. This school system was ninety-seven percent white. Throughout my experience there I was the only. A stranger in a village if you like. It was a huge culture shock to me.

All the schools I attended previously had a pretty good mix of different ethnicities, but this one was pretty much all white.Along with its many racial problems, Birmingham is now also known as the third most dangerous city in the whole United States. Birmingham used to be predominantly white but now is predominantly Black. Due to the white flight. All of the white family moved to the suburbs. Birmingham is racially divided to this day by Red mountain. Whites live on one side of the mountain and Black people lived on the other side. I remember my first day of school. Being so surprised at all the white faces looking at me with curiosity. Probably wondering if I was lost. It was a couple other Black kids throughout the school, but I was the only one in all of my classes. I didn’t experience much racism in the younger years because hate is learned not hereditary. Mostly just a lot of slick and ignorant comments. What surprised me the most about being the only was most of the dicrimination came from my fifth grade teacher not the students. It surprised me because she wasn’t even white she was an Indian woman from Pakistan. I thought since we were both people of color she would understand what it was like being the only non-white on staff. If all the kids were talking and having fun she would always single me out and makes me sit by myself. I remember one instance in particular were she sent me to the office for drawing stick men with guns(being 90 degree angles). I was simply drawing a war picture. She looked at me with terror as if I was a monster, but if you looked in the hallways hung up it was dozens of patriotic pictures hung up with very detailed pictures of guns. It's funny because I remember a very specific scene in the Despicable movie were they showed a man in egypt protecting the pyramids with a gun. A white kid stood up pointed at the screen and said “hey look a terrorist”. Everyone in the classroom laughed but me and the teacher. I was disgusted but not surprised. The teacher was so shocked, but all she was able to sputter was,`` Who said that? That was so racist.” She didn't send him to the office or anything. Being the only means having to be twice as good to even get half of what others get. Being the only means consistently being exposed to ignorant, racist, and slick remarks. Being the only means being judged before you can even open your mouth to speak. That the true meaning of being a stranger in the village.