I miss a decent Shawarma, catching a cab at all hours and the intoxicating smell of curry spice in my apartment hallway on the 14th floor. I miss diversity because I traded it in for sunny Sarasota.
As the mother of a mixed-race child in Sarasota’s largely affluent, white landscape, I worry about his lack of exposure to other cultures, other ways of life, and otherness overall.
I’m a middle-class, working, white, mom. And if I never made the effort, I could go a year without seeing more than 10 black people in one space. For someone born and raised here, like my mixed-race son, this worries me.
How will he connect to his history? Where will he see his own image in others? How will he form his cultural identity?
He won’t find these things on the doorstep. Mama has to hunt down diversity for him.
My son Emmanuel Lewis. Photo provided by Kim Doleatto
Here’s what I do.
1. I take the bus where every walk of life converges. It’s a friendly place where I often chat with the passenger across the aisle. Here, my son learns owning a car is a privilege, but it’s also fun to ride the bus and talk to strangers. Public transportation is how most of the world gets around.
2. I’m a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast. My Little embarrasses me at mini-golf, and I know all the words to “Frozen” now. Instantaneously, my son has a Sister he wouldn’t otherwise meet in our neighborhood or at his school. We’re unsure who gets the most out of it.
3. I signed my son up for the Newtown Boys & Girls Club summer camp program. There’s a swim team, wall climbing, tennis courts, basketball program and judo. Their 2013 annual national report reveals 32 percent of the kids are white, 28 percent are black, 23 percent are Latino and 3 percent are Asian. But he doesn’t notice the stats, he’s busy trying to beat the others at tennis.
4. We go to Gillespie or David Cohen Park regularly. There he hears different languages and looks up to the “big boys” shooting hoops on the basketball court. I met a Mexican mom there who showed me how to make steaming, golden tamales. Two hours later, I understand why I buy them frozen. Plus, my son gets to hear me struggle through elementary Spanish — an extra treat.
5. We go to Booker Middle and Booker High School dance performances. Seeing diverse people on a stage dancing ballet is a great way to flip the status quo, and the production is top notch entertainment. And there are no sneers when my son decides to stand instead of sit.
There are other ways to hunt diversity in Sarasota, but whatever the weapon of choice the key is not to fear what is different. Be the minority. Recolor reality. My hunt reveals the only thing keeping us from connecting to diversity is me.