Diversity and Inclusion Conversations Center White Experiences — It’s Time to Change That
If my White classmate had a deeper understanding of critical race theory, he could’ve saved our childhood friendship
I remember the first time I saw the N-word written; someone I considered my best friend wrote it.
His name was Nick. We lived in the same neighborhood. While we were different in most respects, we both had a love for video games in common. It bonded us in the way small things tend to do for kids, White or Black.
Nick’s parents didn’t usually extend their home to his friends, but they treated me like family. I frequently slept over, playing Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and Nintendo 64 games until the wee hours of the morning.
I moved away from the neighborhood just before eighth grade but came back a couple of years later. During the first week of my junior year, I bumped into Nick in the hallway. Shared childhood memories made it easy to reconnect; it wasn’t long before I was back to sleeping over at his house.
During one of our sleepovers, Nick played Final Fantasy VII (FFVII), a role-playing game. I watched over his shoulder the same way I did all those years before. FFVII features three main…
