At Dartmouth, where racial tension is not unheard of, Professor of Education Andrew Garrod's new book "Souls Looking Back: Life Stories of Growing Up Black" provides an eye-opening look into the life stories of many members of the black community at the College.
"Souls Looking Back" explores the unique experience of being black in a predominately white educational setting through narratives written by African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and biracial students from Dartmouth, McGill University, and Simmons College with 14 of the 16 essays written by students from the College.
Garrod and his colleagues divided the essays into three sections according to their focus: social class and race; identity issues such as race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation; and resilience and resistance in times of crisis.
Identified only by their first names, the students trace their development from their childhoods though their college years in their essays.
The narratives represent a wide variety of backgrounds. Some students grew up in relative affluence, attending good - albeit predominately white - schools. Others fought to succeed in environments poisoned by drugs or alcohol.
Steve, the son of Trinidadian parents, grew up in a prosperous suburb and associated mainly with white children. His essay concentrates on his sense of belonging to neither the white nor the black cultures.
"My parents, drawing upon their own backgrounds, ignored racial identity questions because to them they simply did not exist. They were black and they knew it. It was different for me. I was caught between two cultures," he writes.
In contrast, Malik lived with an abusive, crack-addicted mother until he was 12 years old. Resolving to be like a cousin who graduated first in his high school class after being placed in a shelter for boys, Malik decided to change his situation by any means necessary.
"By considering my mother as a dead woman, she could no longer hurt me," he writes.
After his older sister attempted suicide, Malik was placed in his father's care. He eventually graduated from high school with honors as valedictorian.
One of the collection's main themes is the persistence of many of the students. Some still bear the scars of their painful pasts, but they learn to move on, to come to terms with themselves, and define who they are.
For many writers, academic achievement was a means of dealing with a bad home environment, emotional problems, and prejudice against the color of their skin. Several students describe being singled out for their academic or athletic gifts, and having a drive to succeed instilled in them by their family.
"In school, her children were expected to be the best in their class; no report card could be brought home unless it was straight A's," Alessandro writes about his mother's standards.
Often accompanying this ambition, however, was a sense of isolation from their peers.
"I was the only black student in the whole school in any advanced classes," writes Prince, for whom his mother sought out elite schools after her husband was jailed for robbery.
In an interview last month with The Dartmouth, Garrod said he believes "Souls Looking Back" can only enhance understanding amongst students.
"My belief is that if you read these stories carefully you will have nothing but respect for the tenacity of these people," he said.
"Souls Looking Back" is the third collection of student narratives compiled by Garrod. He collaborated with three other college professors to collect the 16 essays included in the book.
Previously, Garrod has edited two collections of student narratives, "Adolescent Portraits" and "First Persons, First Peoples" - which focused on Native American experiences at Dartmouth.
