The Great Boomer Challenge: Recent Episodes
Marla Randolph
In Part One of my interview with Masami Tyson, I talked about Masami's commitment to honesty and integrity. In Part Two, those traits dovetail with her self-awareness and form the common thread that runs throughout everything she shares. The depth of her self-awareness and her willingness to share how she has grown are such good examples for all of us. I hope you will take everything she says to heart and learn from her. She is also quite knowledgeable about Asian Americans as the "invisible minority" and the "model minority."
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In Part One of our discussion, Masami Tyson and I talk about what she experienced when she moved to the United States at the age of 18, and how life has been for her as a first generation immigrant from Japan. In particular, she describes what she knew of the United States while growing up in Japan vs. what it was actually like once she moved here. Her poignant honesty will leave you encouraged and desiring to pursue this type of courage in your own life.
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What would happen if you focused on systems in the dominant culture rather than minorities who've struggled? That's exactly what Dr. Alexander Jun did 7-8 years ago when he switched from focusing his research on minority issues in higher education to the institutions that have caused the problems. Join me as Dr. Jun discusses white privilege (or really, the privilege of any dominant group or sub-group in a culture), micro- and macro-aggressions, implicit biases we all have, and even a little bit about Critical Race Theory.
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Cindy Sawyer discusses her very humorous and thought-provoking book, Becoming Less Clueless: The White Person's Guide to Being Not-White in America. Cindy's biracial relationship inspired her telling of this story, and we discuss this topic as well as the polarization of American culture. Because of the racial divide in America, two camps have formed, circled their wagons, and communication between camps has become virtually nonexistent. When this type of polarization happens in a culture it becomes easy to dehumanize people. That is a dangerous place to be, and we need to take the risk of beginning to talk to each other.
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Join me in my discussion with educator Katy Gash as she explains what equity in education truly is. Katy is a S.E.E.D. Fellow, SEED meaning "STEM Educators for Equity & Diversity." She is eager to learn all that she can to help "right the lopsided ship" that is our education system, and in particular to affect change within STEM education for our marginalized students. She wants to validate their brilliance, fan their curiosity, and help nurture more equitable opportunities within our learning communities.
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Author Maria Garriott and I discuss white privilege, systemic racism, and how so many in our generation are unaware of our racist history. That's why new historic scholarship is so important. While our sound byte culture is polarized and we are broken into tribes, we can enter into cross cultural spaces with sensitivity, and there are opportunities for us to build true unity.
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Dr. Kelli Boling is a passionate mother, professor, researcher, and woman who is determined to do her part to make this world a more just place. Join me as we discuss Critical Race Theory, systemic racism, the need for truth in and broadening of American history writing and teaching, and why it's important to speak up. After 12 years in the marketing industry, Dr. Boling recently completed her Ph. D. at the University of South Carolina in Mass Communication. Her research interests include audience reception of media, specifically focusing on media depiction and reception by traditionally marginalized audiences based on race and gender. She has had studies published in the Journal of Radio and Audio Media, Feminist Media Studies,and Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media.Her research on women in podcast audiences has also been cited by traditional media outlets such as TIME magazine. She joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this fall as Assistant Professor in Advertising and Public Relations.
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Join me and my guests Carol E. Massey and Sally Riddle for the second half of our discussion of the critically acclaimed book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Dr. Isabel Wilkerson. She was the first woman of African-American heritage to earn the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.
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The book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,by Isabel Wilkerson, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and was named to Time's 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the 2010s and The New York Times list of the Best Nonfiction of All Time. Join me and my guests Carol E. Massey and Sally Allen Riddle for our discussion of this revealing book.
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Louise and Greg Holzhauer have been friends of ours since 1992 when we moved into their neighborhood in Altamonte Springs, FL. Our kids rode bikes and roller-bladed after school together and we participated in a monthly dinner and game night group for the 8 years we lived in Florida. We were also members of the same church. It was so encouraging to read their Christmas letter last year and learn that they were on a similar journey of waking up to the history of systemic racism in this country. I am honored to have Louise as my guest.
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Christina Caruth and I discuss the masks African-American people wear as they navigate moving between Black and white spaces. She says "The challenge, now, as some some Blacks are asked to bring our full selves and unique point of view to the classroom, board room and other spaces where we may be the minority, we are still wondering if it's safe just yet to remove our masks. You know our mask protects from rejection, shame and separation, and it can comfortably only be put aside when we see proof of true reconciliation, love, equity and a dismantling of elitism and white supremacy."
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Critical Race Theory: controversial, complicated, and people are willing to give lengthy opinions on it even if they have no idea what they're talking about. Join me as I look into the history of CRT and attempt to explain why it's such a hot button issue.
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The GI Bill was supposed to help returning WWII veterans get a leg up in their readjustment to civilian life by providing education, housing, health, and other benefits. Many white Americans benefited greatly from these benefits signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in June of 1944, due to discrimination, most Black veterans were not afforded the same privileges. In my discussions with Jim McKillop and Steve Randolph, learn how this lack of wealth accumulation has continued to hamper the lives of Black Americans to this day.
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Redlining was a practice that was begun by the FHA in the 1930s. Along with the discriminatory practices associated with the GI Bill, these two inequalities are still being felt in the wealth gap between Black and white Americans. Retired banker Jim McKillop explains redlining in Part 1 of this two-part series.
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Denine Blevins and I discuss what it costs to have the hard discussions about race, and why it costs Black people more than it costs white people. Denine defines micro-agressions and code switching and explains why these social phenomena can be exhausting. We will tell you why it's important to begin to study and learn for yourself rather than drain a Black friend or acquaintance's possibly depleted emotional reserves.
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While Christian Nationalism has been part of America since its beginning, it is now at a high water mark. Join me as we discuss its history, how it looks today, and why it is so harmful. See a list of sources on the main page of my website.
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As white Baby Boomers we might not have learned what White Privilege (or White Advantage) is. Please listen as we learn what it means to be white in America. It's easy to become defensive and say "Hey, I'm not racist," before we even consider all of the advantages we've inherently been given simply because we're white. I'll walk us through White Advantage in a way that makes it easy to understand and accept. Please join me!
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Eric Gash answers questions about growing up in Hendersonville, NC, who has had the biggest influence on his life, and how he has chosen to treat people based on that influence. He has been given a number of influential positions and always looks for ways to speak into people's lives.
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I continue my discussion with Dr. Kent Butler from the University of Central Florida. In this episode Dr. Butler candidly discusses what it will take to make the world a more racially just place, yet we as whites often fear what we might have to give up. Fear can cause us to catastrophize and assume equity involves a zero sum game, when we actually stand to gain relationally from losing some of our advantage.
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Dr. S. Kent Butler, Jr., LPC, NCC, NCSC, is the Interim Chief Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Officer at the University of Central Florida. In this episode Dr. Butler honestly and poignantly discusses his thoughts and feelings about life as a Black man in America, and he specifically homes in on what he experienced after the storming of the capitol after Jan. 6. Yet, Dr. Butler does not attempt to paint a monolithic picture of Black culture; rather, he acknowledges that many of his experiences are unique.
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