Chapter 7: Black-Self/White-Context: An Autoethnography of Hurt, Hope, and Heroism in Predominantly White Schools

The untold story within me begins where my memory collides with my present reality. On an uneventful Friday night of Netflix navigation, I stumbled across Skin, a movie based on the true-life story of Sandra Laing. Sandra Laing is a South African woman of color who was born to White Afrikaan parents in the 1950s. Their matching DNA but diverging outward display of skin tone, facial features, and hair textures were categorized as a genetic occurrence called the throw back. Sandra’s story of navigating her way as a non-White White in school ignited my own deeply suppressed story of marginalization in predominantly White schools from kindergarten to the attainment of my PhD. Sandra’s story was evocative, poignant, and heart-wrenching, but most importantly it was personal.