Reflections on Erica Gabrielle Foldy’s first-person inquiry

Abstract

In support of Erica Foldy’s premise that we cannot learn about race until we make it a ‘discussable’, we join her in reflecting on the relationship between her white identity and her dissertation research. We describe experiences of our own that are very like Erica’s – seeking absolution and approval from people of color, hoping that we can develop relationships with people of color that will somehow transcend race, taking responsibility for our limited consciousness about white hegemony so that people of color won’t have to spend so much effort educating us. We also explore what we think are unanswered questions in Erica’s first-person inquiry and conclude by describing an important state of inquiring mind that we call critical humility.