Susan
Eugene, OR
After a lifetime of feeling uncomfortable around most people, white or of any race, my face now defaults to a doubtful distrustful set of creases in the presence of strangers. Sometimes I feel like telling the rare black person I see off campus that I’m awkward around everyone, but it’s also true I’m sometimes more awkward around blacks. There can be a subtle tension. In this country I’m always aware of black people seeing me as a white person, but when I visited Liberia and Kenya, I felt more comfortable; I was viewed as a foreigner but not especially a white foreigner, and also I was there to volunteer so people seemed to feel more open, relaxed, matter-of-fact around me.
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