Photo via Word on the Stainbrooks Street
It’s ten in the morning and still feels too early for any class, let alone a math class, when my stats teacher explains the difference between treatments and conditions (I think), using race as an example, she gets me thinking about something completely unrelated to statistics.
She herself is Asian and explained that race is not something you use as a treatment, declaring, you can’t say to a subject in an experiment “Okay, today you’re gonna be Asian.” I laughed, because it was funny and she is the most humorous professor I’ve had so far this year, but it occurs to me that this notion has serious implications in a metaphorical sense (read: in Moriah’s odd-wired mind).
The notion of turning race on and off is something that hits home for me, as an African American frequently accused of “acting white”. Although every girl has a circle of friends, I have no cliques (particularly not racial or cultural cliques) that I identify with. The people I consider friends come from a number of cultures and ethnicities. I would in fact say that I have several circles of friends and although we are all pretty likeminded, those circles do not often overlap, because racial and cultural differences in addition to varied interests and personalities make it difficult for connection to occur.
This is understandable, but also an issue that I hope for my friends to overcome. For me personally, it’s hardly an issue. At first I wondered if I were being inconsistent, changing my behavior based on which group I am with, but after careful thought and consideration I decided against that theory. I don’t change my colors”, rather I am clear. Not black, not white, simply transparent. I am the same no matter who I am with. Naturally clear “goes with everything”.
Call it a paradox, an oxymoron, or just plain confusing, but I would love to live in a world both “clear” and colorful all at once.
P.S. If you liked the song, check out this artist: