Author: Kim Girard

In honor of Black History Month, we’re running a series of profiles and Q&As with members of the African-American community at Haas. Follow the series throughout February.

Where did you grow up and what was your experience growing up black in your community?

I was born in Chicago. My dad’s job transferred my family to Raleigh, North Carolina, when I was 10. When we lived in the southern suburbs of Chicago, my neighborhood was all black and my school was fairly diverse. We were very close to family, and my parents ensured that I felt a sense of pride in being black. I don’t think I truly became aware of the impacts of race on my life until we moved to North Carolina, where my neighborhood was all white and my school was predominantly white. I never felt that I identified with any group of people in Raleigh. I often heard microaggressions and stereotypes that made me uncomfortable but that I didn’t know how to deal with or counter. It wasn’t until I found a more progressive, diverse group of friends in college that I had a community where my voice was heard and respected as a black person.

Who are a few African American historical figures/leaders/writers who you honor, or who have had an impact on your life?

I, of course, honor the well-known historical figures, but the black people that I most revere are in my family. My grandparents all migrated from the  south as part of the Great Migration, which is a very significant part of U.S. history that has shaped the culture of many major cities in the United States. I feel that embarking on such a huge life transformation takes a lot of courage, tenacity, and resilience. I think the effects of this have trickled down through the generations in my family and have ensured that each generation is afforded more opportunities than the previous. I wouldn’t be at Haas today were it not for their investments in my education and development.

What can be done in the schools or in our country to build more understanding of black history outside of Black History Month?

Conversations need to be more open and honest about the history of black people in the United States and how that has had positive impacts on our society but has also led to violently oppressive systems. I think people need to discuss the true reasons behind current “controversial” topics surrounding the black community today (Black Lives Matter, Colin Kaepernick, etc.) instead of dismissing them as un-American. These events are Black History, and people balked at integration in the same way. I think simply taking the time to engage with what’s happening in the black community today and legitimizing the thoughts and feelings of black people is a way to learn more about black history. Furthermore, it’s important to note that black history did not end with the civil rights era, it continues today and is still evolving.

Black culture and history is everywhere! There are so many books, movies, and articles in popular culture that are now easy to access. Articles such as The Case for Reparations, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the documentary 13th on Netflix, directed by Ava DuVernay, are current pieces that I believe provide insight into how legalized discrimination has impacted the black community. The Smithsonian Museum for African-American History and Culture in DC is a beautiful free museum that thoughtfully examines black culture in the US, and I think everyone should visit.

What do you wish others knew about being black in the U.S.?

I want others to appreciate the diversity within the black community and look beyond stereotypes. A lot of black culture that is widely circulated and exported only shows one side of the black community. There is culture that is emerging (HBO’s Insecure, Black Panther, Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance) that gives a more nuanced glimpse into what it is to be black in the U.S.  As in any culture, black people vary in their political opinions, religious beliefs, gender identities, and sexualities, socio-economic and educational experiences, and family structures. I would hope that these aspects of pop culture will encourage people to appreciate the rich diversity of the black community. Haas has been one of the few places where I feel people are genuinely interested in the black experience, and I wish others would express the same desire to learn and understand more about being black in the US.

I also want people to understand that black pride is not racist. These are movements and ways of thought that are meant to build a sense of community and pride in a world that is constantly telling us that we are less than, we are not qualified, and we are not American.

In honor of Black History Month, we’re running a series of profiles and Q&As with members of the African-American community at Haas. Follow the series throughout February.

In this interview, Matt Hines, MBA 19, discusses the challenges of being black in mostly white Atlanta private schools, how his parents championed Black History Month, and the Haas course that helped him share his feelings about race.

Tell me about what is was like growing up black in your community.

While Atlanta is very diverse, the community I grew up in was not very diverse at all. I went to private school my entire life and grew up in a fairly white community. The first black student I remember having in my class was in fifth grade. For a while I struggled with kids at school assuming I should act a certain way, talk a certain way, or listen to a certain kind of music—kids having expectations for what I should or shouldn’t be. Being comfortable and confident with who I am took a while for me, in relation to race, and it’s definitely something I still work on.

Did you have experience with Black History Month as a child?

Black History Month wasn’t a big thing when we first got to our school in Atlanta, but I remember both my parents petitioning the school and setting up their own events every year when they would bring in speakers. We watched the movies Ruby Bridges (about a six-year-old African-American who helped to integrate the all-white schools of New Orleans) and Little Rock Nine (about The Little Rock Nine group of nine black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock) during Black History Month whenever they came on TV. When we lived in San Antonio (before Atlanta), my sister and I participated in the Mahogany Brain Challenge in our church, an African-American history trivia challenge between kids in various churches across the city. We’d study black history with other black youth and learn facts about black leaders such as George Washington Carver and Harriet Tubman.

Who are some African Americans who inspire you?

When I was a kid it was always Jackie Robinson. I remember having a picture of him in my room growing up and reading autobiographies about Jackie Robinson and admiring everything he stood for, everything he fought for. I have since enjoyed reading Malcolm X, appreciating both the vigor with which he sought to uplift the black community and his commitment to introspection and learning that allowed him to continually shift his rhetoric throughout his life. Today, Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of my favorite authors. He writes a lot about his relationship with his father and then his son. It’s something I think about, how my father handled having a black son, and the conversations that we had and are still fortunate to have today.

What can be done in the schools to build more understanding about black history?

The Dialogues on Race course at Haas has been an exceptional opportunity for me to start to get more comfortable discussing topics about race in my life. (Hines is a course co-facilitator with America Gonzalez). The goal of the class is to force us to think introspectively about our own racial identity and our own biases and the way we interact with society and to really dive into the historical context of racism—the institutional and systemic racism—that exists in the country. For me, it’s been very powerful to get more comfortable hearing my own thoughts about race and to speak them with a group of peers in a safe environment. That’s a model that I think can be used elsewhere.

How do you feel about speaking frankly in front of white people in the classroom?

I feel comfortable talking about this subject with black people and I do it all the time. The goal is to speak about it with people who don’t look like you. If we look at the way this country is run it is still dominated by white people who are making the decisions and have the capacity to make change. In my mind, no significant change can happen without white people on board so we have to have these conversations with them and we have to create allies.

What do you wish others knew about what it means to be black in the U.S.?

For me, growing up black has been mentally taxing more than physically taxing. It’s constantly second-guessing every interaction I have with someone. Are they genuine in the way they look at me and talk to me? Am I the the first black person they’ve talked to this month and has that changed the way they talk to me? There are little microaggressions that get to you, like when I’m in line at the grocery store or the bank there have been multiple times when a white person has just “accidentally” walked in front of me and that person acts as if he or she didn’t see me. It’s not the end of the world, but you’re thinking: Is this person even worth wasting the energy on or do I want to just let it go?

Beverly Tatum (the president of Spelman College and the author of Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?) talks about how we live in a racialized society that is impossible to escape and that we are all complicit. She used the analogy of breathing in the smog in a polluted city and that it’s truly impossible to escape unless we are consistently putting in counter measures to counteract the racism and segregation that exists in our society today. The first piece of that is acceptance and I don’t think that we’re at a point of acceptance. If we do ever get to a point of acceptance we have to teach the truth in our schools and the truth about our history.