I thought I could use culture as a gateway to being seen and known: know my culture, know me. I thought leaders could never appreciate those they led, teachers could never fully understand their students, doctors could never know their patients, until they sorted out these boxes of identity. I thought people couldn’t understand me as a person unless they knew my Hispanic culture. Not only will nothing change (or incremental at best), but change will become harder because we’ve solidified these boxes.
It will keep us all in our boxes, fighting amongst ourselves. And I’m worried, because it will be successful in its ultimate goal: to maintain the status quo.
