Both Sides
Fun fact about me: I am half white and half black. My dad is white and married my mom, who is black. Thus, David Fox was born!
Over the years people have asked me about the challenges, struggles, confusion, etc. that come with being both black and white. And whenever I’m asked this question I laugh a little bit. I laugh because honestly, I have never really noticed any sort of problem of that or any kind stemming from my race. There’s always a chance that, being a slightly oblivious person at times, I just didn’t notice when a possibly tense, racially-fueled situation popped up. I know that my older brother Isaac has had some bad experiences with things of this nature. When I first found out about this it shocked me a bit, since as far as I know my life has been completely devoid of anybody ever making a big deal about my skin color. I guess growing up with seeing both white and black extended families made me think that it would be crazy for anybody to think differently of someone based on something as insignificant as the color of his or her skin.
Through a historical lens, my situation takes on a very different light. If, say, a southern white man from the civil rights era took a look at my family, I’m sure that he would have very many extremely rude things to say. The farther back in history you go, the stronger the negative racial feelings would get. However, history is as much about looking forward as it is about looking back. If, instead of looking at the back end of the timeline, I were to look more towards the closer end, I would find things that would support my personal belief that race should not be a factor that changes the way people think of you. The best and most recent example of this would be the election of Barack Obama, a black president. If a historian one hundred years from now were to look at the world history he would see that, starting from when slaves were brought over from Africa all the way to the year 2010, the world has been steadily been becoming a more tolerant place. This tolerance is how I am able to live my life without even once having to face any sort of racial indignities.
