In the Fall of 2020, walking onto campus again after isolation during a pandemic, I had a smile on my face. The day was beautiful, sunny but cool, which is rare in South Florida in August. I was happy to be back teaching storytelling in person and back in the classroom.
I walked by a bus stop. The bus driver and I locked eyes for a moment. I smiled politely at him and continued walking without pausing. From behind me, I hear the words, “Hey, where are you from?” With no context other than coming out of a pandemic, this seemed like too intimate a question to come from a complete stranger. There was no good intention that I could feel in this question. In fact, it felt like a subtle threat. I continued walking as if I did not hear.
As he yelled from behind me, one of my former students happened to wave from up ahead. I walked towards the student (and farther from the bus). I continued to ignore the bus driver who was yelling something in the background that I could not decipher. I wanted the bus driver to know that I belong here, so I kept a conversation going with the student. There is safety in numbers.
“Where are you from?”
This is a question that I have been asked a lot. Depending on context and intention behind the words, I sometimes feel like the person just wants to get to know me better. They are genuinely curious. They want to know my story. Sometimes “Where are you from?” is start of how we get to know each other.
But sometimes there is an underlying sentiment hidden in this question that is really saying, “You don’t belong here!” It is a subtle form of racism. Now perhaps I am misinterpreting the situation. What was the driver’s intention? I did not stay around long enough to ask, “What do you really mean by the question?”
How do we determine the intention behind the words that are said?
As an spoken word storyteller, I know that it is not just what we say (the words that we use), but it is also how we say it (the intention behind the words). With vocal nuance and gestures, I can say the same words but convey very different (and sometimes completely opposite) meanings.
The video below has two working titles: “Where Are You From?” and “More Than a Box.” This version of the story was recorded in April 2020 and was written in approximately 2018.
In this story, I explore how the question, “Where are you from?”, impacted me as child in school.
Love this Dr Joel…box breaker!