“As I got older and progressed through school, I began to question my answer to the question ‘what am I?’ I learned about racism in the U.S., about its historical context internationally, and about how important race is to people. That’s super cool,” my friend responded, intrigued. “Whoa! So you have considered Judaism your one-word identity your entire life. All my young self cared about was how special and efficient it was to say I am Jewish, as it answered all identity questions with a singular word.” My young self didn’t care about the complexities among race, ethnic, national, and religious identities. And, most shocking to me, not one of my friends answered with their religious beliefs. I received answers ranging from ‘Italian’ to ‘African American’ to ‘Latino(a)’ to ‘Chinese,’ and while these answers did talk about race, ethnicity, and nationality, they only spoke about one or two of them at a time. “However, much to my elementary-school-self’s surprise, none of the responses were what I had expected. And, when I learned it, I thought it was pretty cool that all my identities could be expressed with a singular word, so I began asking my friends at school what they considered themselves, preparing myself to proudly say I was Jewish after they had answered with their singular ethnic-national-racial-religious identity. “When people ask my family their race or ethnicity they answer ‘Jewish’ without hesitating, as if it were an ethnicity, a nationality, a race, and a religion all scooped up into one. I began answering his question by giving him context. Most importantly, how can I answer the questions “what is my ethnicity?” and “what is my race?” What did our observations imply for a Jew living in a Christian society, on a secular campus that features a 210-foot chapel at its center. Thoughts about my identity started rushing through my mind. “Hey, Andrew, I know you’re Jewish… Do you consider that to be your race, ethnicity, or something else?” A question I have been struggling to answer my entire life: He paused for a second, considering something and then asked me a question about my identity. My response was met by a nod of agreement from my friend who remarked, “It’s interesting that race and ethnicity seem to be the most impactful categories of identity, the categories that both separate and bring us together most.” People sat with others who looked like them, who identified with the same race and came from similar ethnic backgrounds,” I quickly replied. When people eat, they satiate an instinctual desire. Perhaps it was because we were both hungry, or perhaps it was because we both intrinsically knew that food brings people together in a way nothing else can. I answered affirmatively, laughing to myself, as I was about to ask him the same question. “Did you see who people sat with during lunch today?” he asked. Now was the time we could share our observations and compare our “field notes.” We were particularly interested in observing the friendships that formed as the week-long program progressed. This made for quite a unique sociology experiment, my friend and I thought, as we discussed our observations. In theory, everyone had an equal opportunity to introduce themselves, make first impressions, and forge friendships. The vast majority of students, first-years especially, did not know one another before coming to this program. While the program didn’t have quite the diversity of students that the Duke campus does, it did include a diverse crowd across all areas of identity. The program consisted of 80 first-years and 40 upperclassmen. Incredibles 2 was showing - a movie we had both already seen, which provided a perfect opportunity to chat about our lives, and reflect on our ongoing experience facilitating a pre-orientation program for incoming first-years. A close friend and I sat outside the movie theatre.
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