Summary

In Chapter 3, “The Other Side of Harmony” (40), Brown explains that she attended a predominantly white Catholic high school with a small community of students of color. One day, a popular teacher named Ms. Phillips told the class that she would no longer be giving her students assigned seats; instead, they could sit wherever they liked. She went on to explain that she realized she had been assigning seats based on preconceived notions about race, keeping Black students separate from one another because she assumed they would be disruptive if seated together. Brown appreciated her honesty and attempt to rectify the situation, but also felt unsettled by Ms. Phillips' admission. She recalls another teacher, Mr. Slivinski, teaching a poem by Black poet Paul Laurence Dunbar about the ways in which Black people often disguise their true selves in predominantly white settings. Brown also remembers...