<p>The Invisible Things</p> <p>What lies beneath the soil is generally invisible unless we stick our hands into it. It doesn’t take much sifting of American soil before you run into one invisible thing: Race.</p> <p>Unsurprisingly, I learned about race from a very distant, middle-class, white perspective. Growing up in the upwardly-mobile suburbs of St. Louis, the son of a pharmacist and a lawyer, I had many privileges only now I can fully appreciate. There was always food in the fridge. Always a parent at home when I was home. And so, so many more.</p> <p>None of the buildings in my hometown were even old enough to have witnessed the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. There are no visible reminders of acrimonious race relations. But, as I&#39;ve come to see, the reminders of the past are all around us.</p>

Let Them Eat Grass

Austin Williams

Episode 41: Two Missouri Counties & the Antipodes

JUN 23, 202318 MIN
Let Them Eat Grass

Episode 41: Two Missouri Counties & the Antipodes

JUN 23, 202318 MIN

Description

The Invisible Things

What lies beneath the soil is generally invisible unless we stick our hands into it. It doesn’t take much sifting of American soil before you run into one invisible thing: Race.

Unsurprisingly, I learned about race from a very distant, middle-class, white perspective. Growing up in the upwardly-mobile suburbs of St. Louis, the son of a pharmacist and a lawyer, I had many privileges only now I can fully appreciate. There was always food in the fridge. Always a parent at home when I was home. And so, so many more.

None of the buildings in my hometown were even old enough to have witnessed the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. There are no visible reminders of acrimonious race relations. But, as I've come to see, the reminders of the past are all around us.