Community Voices - Nov, 2022

COMMUNITY VOICES

Learn the complete story of Thanksgiving Day; Take a walk through history with a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians to be a better ally.

Land Acknoledgement:

Written by,

Adrianna Guram & Debi Thibault

ETSU is a community of educators and learners residing on the ancestral homeland of the Cherokee, also known as the Tsalagi people.

The Cherokee constituted one of the largest politically integrated tribes at the time of European colonization of the Americas.

At the time of their forced removal, the Cherokee numbered some 50,000 individuals who controlled 40,000 square miles of the Appalachian Mountains, in parts of presentday Georgia, east Tennessee, western North and South Carolina, and northeast Alabama.

Over the years, the tribe lost many of its people to wars and to diseases brought by the settlers. Many of the Cherokee people walked the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. And those who stayed here, now reside in western North Carolina, and are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee.

Our hope is that this acknowledgment serves as a reminder to all of us to recognize how we came to be here today, and to honor those who were here before us.

And it is a call to action for us to care for the land on which our campus resides.

Consistent with our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, understanding the historical and current experiences of people who are Indigenous to this land, which many call Turtle Island, will help inform the work we do.

This publication is dedicated to everyone whose story has been silenced or stolen from them. We hope to lift up your voice. We see you and we welcome you to this space where your voice and your many, many attributes will be heard, protected and cherished.

A note from the Editor:

Hello, Welcome to our third issue!

And again it has been an action packed, and powerful three months since we were last together.

This issue does include some tough topics, but it also includes a true valentine to women in sports at ETSU where this year we celebrate 50 years of honoring Title IX with love, laughter and more than a few laps on the court or field.

I hope you will sit with us on some less comfortable ground as we discuss the true role of colonization on Thanksgiving Day and as we examine the past and current weaponizing of Christianity in White Supremacy Culture.

We publish these tougher stories in hopes that reading them will help you approach the upcoming holiday season with a deeper understanding of history, empathy and the role love can play in our lives.

In the words of the late author, Terry Pratchett, “You can’t know where you are going unless you know where you have been.”

And we need your voice! Please contact me with any concerns, contributions or questions at cloyde@etsu.edu

Thank you for reading!

Sincerely yours, Elizabeth

Strong Cloyd Managing

Editor

Contributing Authors:

Audrey Besch is a clinical instructor in the Department of Counseling and Human Services at East Tennessee State University. Besch has served in various academic administrative and faculty roles at ETSU in areas of student retention, recruitment, advisement, and teaching in the human services discipline at the undergraduate level.

Besch currently serves as the coordinator for the Human Services Program and academic advisor for the Trauma and Resilience Minor. She is presently pursuing her Doctor of Education in Higher Education and Policy Analysis at ETSU where she hopes to make a difference in the lives of students. Her interests in neurodiversity stem from her lifelong experiences with Dyslexia and her work with trauma and resilience.

Dr. Mickey White, NCC, LPC-MHSP (temp), BC-TMH (he/him), is an Assistant Professor of Counseling at ETSU. His research agenda includes intersectionality and gender identity among trans individuals; the process of identity disclosure for LGBTGEQIAP+ professionals; liberatory pedagogical approaches in counselor education; antiracist identity development; and multiculturalism and social justice in counseling.

He is a past emerging leader for both the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES) and the Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE.) He currently serves as the Secretary for SAIGE and received the SACES 2022 President’s Award for service to the organization. His personal and professional commitments to equity and inclusion stem from his own intersectional identities and on behalf of his past, present, and future clients, students, and supervisees.

Dr. Daryl A Carter is Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion in the College of Arts & Sciences, Director of the Black American Studies program, and a tenured, Full Professor of History at East Tennessee State University. He has been at ETSU since 2008. Dr. Carter is a political historian. He examines the intersection of politics, race, gender, and class. Dr. Carter’s first book is Brother Bill: President Clinton and The Politics of Race and Class, published by the University of Arkansas Press in 2016. Dr. Carter holds a B.S. in Political Science and M.A. in History from East Tennessee State University. He earned his Ph.D. in American history at The University of Memphis.

Production and Support Staff:

Project Manager, Briar Worley, Communications Specialist ETSU, University Marketing & Communication (UMC)

Dr. Keith Johnson, Vice President, ETSU Office of Equity and Inclusion

Dr. Chassidy Cooper, Coordinator, ETSU Office of Equity and Inclusion

Kim Maturo, Office Coordinator, ETSU Office of Equity and Inclusion

Photographer, Ron Campbell, ETSU graduate and ETSU, UMC photographer

Graphic

Designer

, Maheen Pulak, Graduate assistant, ETSU Office of Equity and Inclusion

Managing

Editor

, Elizabeth Cloyd, Writer, editor, adjunct instructor, and Office of Equity & Inclusion Volunteer

Web Coordinator, Sherry Martinez, Web Technology Services, ETSU

Written by,

Elizabeth Strong Cloyd

Written by,

Elizabeth Strong Cloyd

Written by,

Audrey Wilson Besch

ON VISIBILITY: WORDS FROM A TRANSGENDER PROFESSOR

Written by,

Dr. Mickey White

GETTING REAL ON THANKSGIVING DAY

Written by,

Elizabeth Strong Cloyd

Table of Contents

24

WHITE SUPREMACY IN CHRISTIANITY BOTH YESTERDAY AND TODAY

Written by,

Dr. Daryl A. Carter

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Just making some history

Dr. Janice Shelton is happily retired after dedicating most of her adult life to promoting women in team sports at ETSU and beyond for over 50 years.

And her inner light burned brightly while she recently recalled a few major turning points and challenges of coaching young women and leading them here as our first female athletic director,

“I have always had the highest respect for men and women in sports and related well to them,” she explained.

Shelton’s father was a minster and an athlete. And both he and her brother gave her the opportunities to learn to play ball and to learn how to take a hit… and get back up, “When I finally learned and caught the football (correctly) and tucked it in; I don’t remember anything else because I saw stars,” she said laughing. “My brother was an all state tackle.”

After finishing college and a master’s degree in Kentucky in1968, Shelton was hired at ETSU to coach women’s basketball at the tender age of 24.

But it was really four jobs rolled into one, “I was hired to coach basketball, and to teach major classes in physical education, to run the intramural program and I supervised student teachers at University School,” she said.

Women’s sports did not have a league or true space of their own until much later in Shelton’s tenure, “When I came here women’s sports were not even in athletics; they were an outgrowth of intramurals,” she said. “And we didn’t recruit back then either, my team came straight from these halls.”

With limited resources and a shoestring budget Shelton got in the mix wherever she could to help, “We had to train our own officials in the beginning. I officiated sometimes. I drove, I wrapped ankles, and I coached. I did whatever they needed back then,” she said.

But later she functioned as associate Athletic Director (AD) more than once in what was clearly very much a man’s world. “So we had always had athletic directors that had been a basketball or a football coach, so they always had to have administrators behind them,” she recalled.

Shelton described the competitive edge that suddenly entered her established friendships once she entered the room as an equal to her male peers, “I was friends with the majority of them. And yet when I sat down to do business with them things changed,” she said.

But she faced the tension with good humor, “I understand competition. I may love you all day long, but if we go to play tennis or something, then I’m going to play to win,” she said.

And in the beginning she noticed a new gallantry at meetings where the language could be a bit salty or the tone a tad gruff, “Two of them in particular would sit right beside me, and I finally realized in their minds they were protecting me from some of the language and the teasing,” Shelton said.

Dr. Janice Shelton; Photo Credit: Larry Smith

Shelton was no shrinking violet, but being heard and directly credited for her ideas often took a winding road in early days of her leadership role,

“So I finally got into the conversation and said a few things, and they would reply, ‘That’s a good idea, Janice.’ But they wouldn’t discuss it,” she explained.

Her ideas eventually made their way into the discussion after the men processed them and often brought them up as new information. But Shelton kept her cool and continued bringing her ideas to the table year after year.

And it got easier.

Shelton said she always believed that making room for women’s athletics in college could be achieved without tearing down men’s sports in any way. She believes it is a process, not a battle.

Shelton recalls constantly receiving enormous support during her entire career. She discussed at length how ETSU repeatedly gave her great trust and wonderful mentors and friends while she played a major role in so much of the progress and change in women’s sports and academia over the last half century.

Shelton really got her start in 1973 when ETSU officially asked her to, “Take women’s sport into intercollegiate athletics,” she said. This unexpected win helped Shelton clear a path for women athletes to reach their full potential at college or university.

Three years later things were looking up, “We gave the first women’s (sports) scholarships in 1976 and it was just tuition and books,” Shelton said. “I still have letters where I wrote and asked for female athlete students to be given at least one meal a day.”

Shelton continued, “We were set up by regions, so that is when we started having regional championships, and I think in my career I ran about 25 regional and state and national championships.”

And at least one double standard held fast for some time when it came to the opinions some of her peers had about her coaching style. She did her job well, but it was not always praised. She took her girls through a winning season where they lost their last game by a sliver and played their very best,

Dr. Janice Shelton; Photo Credit: Ron Campbell

“And I heard that coach come off the court and say, “I have never seen such an aggressive defense in my life.’ And when I heard that I was insulted, and if I had been a male coach I would have heard, ‘Great aggressive defense.’”

And according to Shelton defense actually does the heavy lifting towards a win, “For my teams defense wins the ballgame,” she explained. “Offense draws a crowd, but defense wins the ballgame.”

The great eighties

Shelton was promoted to Associate Athletic Director at ETSU in 1980 and she began attending conference meetings with all male athletic directors present.

And the nineteen eighties saw an enormous increase in the focus on women’s sports, “In 1981 the NCAA saw the huge financial gain available in televising women’s sports,” Shelton said. “So then they wanted us in their conferences and I became senior woman administrator in the conference.”

And she was approached and asked to contribute more of her increasing expertise in supporting the technical and ethical side of sports for women, “It was called the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, AIAW; so that’s what started it. So the whole wide world was suddenly open for anyone to start a sports program for women,” Shelton said.

Just recounting a single day in Shelton’s life would make a valuable story.

Her highly effective leadership was vigorously supported and underpinned during the next decade to see her finally made Athletic Director,

“At ETSU in 1980 they asked me to be the associate AD when they were hiring someone; I had twice been acting AD while they were hiring someone. And the last time it was 1990 and they ended up hiring me,” she said.

Shelton stayed in positive motion by learning exactly how to get your head in the game. She earned her doctorate in sports psychology after thirty years of experience with her players. And she believes it is a valuable, even critical set of information for calmer, more informed and successful coaching, “I have done so many studies on the personalities of coaches, etc. and their lack of understanding of psychological concerns and issues; in fact I did my dissertation on aggression; aggression is intent to do harm,” she explained.

And Shelton further iterated what healthy personal agency looks like on the court, “Assertive behavior is saying what you think or taking a position,” she said. “I have the right to take a position and (effectively) guard you. I don’t have the right to smack you in the face or give you my elbow. But I have the right to guard you.”

Shelton has succeeded on so many levels as a leader during cultural change. And she claims her constant accent on the positive things her world offered helped her pave the way forward with a lot of love and laughter, “I look at it like this, if you have a nasty attitude you’re not going to have any friends; much less one that is going to help you win a ballgame,” she explained. “And I didn’t behave like that because it wasn’t in my character; my father would not have allowed it.”

Advice for athletes and educators

Shelton believes that women’s sports are slowly gaining respect. She also noted that the huge amount of money involved in professional and even college sports today can cloud or even remove all the good a team can achieve, “Money has tainted sports,” she said. “And I always said we are not playing amateur here; we are playing pretty close to professional. It’s not the kids; it’s the people outside with the money that have changed things.”

Shelton also thinks there are many ways to be of service in sports now, “Go into sports psychology because what a difference that has made in sports,” she said. “And (pursue) sports information on social media.”

Shelton’s parting words about the value of team sports says it all, “Beyond learning the basic teamwork, if you are in a team sport it teaches you cooperation as well as competition and how to balance that. I’m over here chewing on you a little bit but I am also trying to do it with a sense of humor.”

Dr. Janice Shelton Throughout The Years;

Photo Credit: Larry Smith

MEET TITLE IX IN MOTION TODAY

Written by,

Elizabeth Strong Cloyd

Meet Taylor Limprevil from Spring Hill, Tennessee. She is a senior at ETSU majoring in psychology with a health concentration, pre-medical track, “I want to be an interventional cardiologist, but I’m super open to anything (in medicine) because they say like 50 percent of people switch (specialties) when they get to med school, but I’m interested in the heart,” she explained.

Limprevil was drawn to team sports her entire life, “I’ve been really into sports my whole life and I played probably every sport in high school. And soccer was just the one that was easiest to get recruited as,” she explained. “So, I’ve just stuck with it and it’s fun.”

Limprevil plays soccer on a scholarship for the ETSU Women’s team and she has enjoyed it, “They offered me a scholarship and it’s in state, so it made it easy and super cheap,” she said.

And being part of a team really anchors Limprevil, “I love team sports and I do well with structure; so like working out with a team and being part of a sport is really good,” she said.

Limprevil said she doesn’t really see too many troubling disparities or huge differences between men’s and women’s sports at ETSU or even in the world at large, “I feel like men’s and women’s soccer are close to the same thing,” she explained.

And Limprevil noted more than once the hard work her coaches put into supporting the team, “I would say we have one of the nicest locker rooms compared to other teams here,” she explained. “They put a lot of effort into that and fundraising and it’s really good, and I appreciate it.”

Limprevil first came here in 2019, and after only one semester, COVID came to abruptly change life as we knew it, “So all I had was the fall before the lockdown,” she explained. “My team was quarantined together and we got to play on an empty campus. And I got an extra year of eligibility out of it, so that was good.”

Limprevil plans to take that extra year as far as she can, “I’m taking a gap year, so I will be here for one more year,” she explained. “I’m looking into an accelerated Master’s and I plan to do shadowing and research and bump up applications for medical school; and then play soccer because it gives me something to do.”

She is open to attending medical school here, but she is also a free spirit, “I would like to go to med school here because it’s in state and my roots are pretty much planted here, but I’m super open to anywhere. I’m very much a wherever the wind takes me kind of person,” Limprevil explained.

Limprevil spoke repeatedly about the strong support she gains from her team and her coaches here, “I’m a very private person with my problems but if I ever needed to I would feel comfortable talking to them (coaches) or talking to my teammates because we have a very good team vibe,” she said.

And she recalled how much support has surrounded her here in every possible way, “I would say my best friends are probably on the soccer team because we are around each other so much,” Limprevil explained.

And fortunately isolation is impossible on a team sport scholarship, “It gives you a built in family while you’re away from your family,” Limprevil said.

Taylor Limprevil; Photo Credit: Ron Campbell

And she values her coaches, who always go the extra mile, “The coaches are always there and doing their best for us, so if I was ever in a place where I needed to talk about something with school or athletics, then I would go to them and feel comfortable with it,” Limprevil said.

And Limprevil said she believes equality and equity in sports are increasing organically, “I feel like it is growing on its own and you can’t force things. But if you see how women’s soccer in professional leagues is growing then you see how it helps on the lower ground as well,” she explained.

Limprevil expanded on the benefits she has enjoyed while being on a team, “It’s helped with time management and scheduling. I know what time gaps I have and when to do homework,” she said. “It helps knowing how much I can handle to prepare me to handle a bigger load at med school; more stress!”

Limprevil said she cannot imagine a world where she wasn’t free to attend college and play sports here. And she also thinks her experience here adds to her vast array of strengths, “Playing sports in college has given me an understanding of what it’s like to have a job and being prepared for disappointment. Sometimes things don’t work out, even when you worked as hard as you can; and it prepares you for the real world.”

When asked if she believes male and female sports still differ significantly Limprevil said, “I feel like both male and female sports each have their own stress, but here I don’t really feel like it’s that different. I think either way, male or female, it would be the same stress.”

And she believes that sports opportunities for women in college and beyond are exploding, “It’s growing, so I feel like it’s only going to get better from here,” Limprevil said. And her parting advice for future female college athletes was:

“Try not to stress too much about the little things because you will slowly build into it. Try to do what is best for you and don’t feel like there is just only one process,” Limprevil said.

“Trust in what you did to get here because you were talented enough to get here; so just trust and build on that with your coaches and your team.”

Limprevil concluded by stressing to future student athletes, “It’s important to remember the reason you are here,” she said. “The point is to (play to) win, have fun and get an education. But don’t let soccer take over everything; soccer is not forever and you need to be prepared for life.”

ETSU Women's Soccer Team; Photo Credit: Ron Campbell

NEURODIVERSITY, AN OVERVIEW AND A CALL TO ACTION

Audrey Wilson Besch

The term neurodiversity was first coined by Judy Singer in her published thesis in 1998 which addressed the neurological diversity in human brains. Although the term was first used specifically for autistic people, the term has expanded to reflect the full range of diversity that exists within the human mind.

Singer defined neurodivergence as an infinite neuro-cognitive variability that points to the fact that every human has a unique nervous system with a unique combination of abilities and needs. In other words, neurodiversity is simply the spectrum of differences in our brains. Being neurodivergent means ‘differing in mental or neurological function from what is considered normal’ in our society.

A growing body of literature and researchers are finding that neurodivergence is a natural part of human evolution. To ‘diverge’ is to propel humans forward through the creation of new inventions, excellent problem-solving skills, and entrepreneurial work.

When we hear the term neurodiversity we often associate it with autism or ADHD, but it does not mean those types of differences alone. In fact, neurological differences can include learning disabilities, Tourette’s syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and many more.

One form of diversity that may not immediately come to mind when you think of diversity and inclusion is autism, and yet it is shared by so many people. According to the CDC, about one in six children aged three–17 years were diagnosed with a developmental disability-including autism- during a study period of 2009-2017.

Since the year 2002 the number of individuals diagnosed with autism alone has tripled from one in 150 to one in 44 people: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html

Autism is still a relatively new diagnosis, and we can expect the prevalence to theoretically increase in the next ten years. Autistic people are also four times more likely to experience depression compared to the general population.

There is a great deal of debate around the idea of self-advocacy and self-diagnosis when it comes to neurodiversity. These debates have helped to create shifts in research, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Autism is four times more common among boys than among girls, and it was not until 2016 that we discovered that people who were assigned female at birth present differently than their male counterparts with autism.

That was all only six years ago, and our diagnostic tools have not caught up to the most up-to-date research. It can also be exceedingly difficult and expensive to seek out a proper diagnosis. And without a formal diagnosis it is almost impossible to receive appropriate support.

So, being able to self-identify can make an enormous difference for many neurodivergent people; and just knowing they are not alone can help to build identity and grant a sense of belonging.

How to Talk to Us

Language is constantly evolving and changing as we learn and grow. Many autistic and other neurodivergent people prefer to be referred to with identity-first language. This means they prefer to be called an autistic person instead of a person with

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autism. This is in direct contrast to what we have been taught, especially in academia.

The idea of using identity-first language for many neurodivergent people is that it honors a diagnosis or a disability as a valuable part of their identity that cannot be removed, cured, or taken away.

Just like ethnicity, gender, or culture, neurodiversity is a type of difference that cannot be separated from a person. And it is an essential basis for self-identity. Identity-first language places that person’s diagnosis as core to their identity and recognizes how neurodiversity impacts an individual’s day-to-day life, and how it shapes that person’s experiences of the world.

So, what mode of address is correct? Listen to your friends. Addressing a person the way they describe themselves is more important than using language that was taught as being more respectful or appropriate. Neurodiversity advocates encourage inclusive, nonjudgmental language and it is always best to ask the person directly and politely about themselves since there are many different perspectives within every community.

It is also perfectly okay to use language interchangeably! If you are ever unsure, then seek out resources that are made by and for the neurodiversity community to learn the most appropriate and up-to-date terminology.

https://www.neurodiversitynetwork/articles-websites

We Are Not Broken

Being neurodivergent is a distinct competitive advantage when individuals are in the right environment and are able to make use of their strengths instead of constantly trying to overcome unnecessary challenges. For example, many neurodivergent people ‘mask’ their differences in order to fit in with societal norms.

Masking is a social phenomenon that helps neurodivergent people avoids negative social consequences. Masking may look like minimizing or hiding personal interests to appear more neurotypical. Neurodivergent people mask for a wide range of reasons including success at work or school.

But masking can be extremely taxing; making it increasingly important to create spaces of acceptance and support for neurodivergent students where masking or shrinking is not required.

Effective learning support may look like:

• Requesting to sit in the front or back of the classroom

• Being allowed to fidget with toys in class

• Employing time out cards during class

• Being free to leave class when overwhelmed

• Using a laptop to take notes

• Leaving class early to avoid crowds

• Taking rest breaks during exams

• Having extended time on exams

Successful support for neurodivergent people can occur in many forms. But there is no right answer or one-size-fits all approach to supporting us. Our understanding is changing so rapidly that looking for the right answer may lead to a solution that does harm. We need to slow down and observe more.

Remaining open and curious about the experiences of neurodivergent people is the best way you can support us. Listen to us and be a responsible consumer of information about us.

It is important to make sure the information and advocacy tools you use include neurodivergent voices to properly and correctly inform your work.

A good neurodiversity advocate celebrates all neurocognitive diversity in pursuit of social inclusion, especially where and when important decisions are being made.

“If we believe ourselves to be feminists or advocates, and neurodiversity and disabilities are being left out of our conversations, because they make us feel uncomfortable: We are no feminists or advocates. Neurodiversity and disabilities affect every single community, and belong in every conversation concerning our advocacy” -Victoria N. McGovern

“Listen to your friends. Addressing a person the way they describe themselves is more important than using language that was taught as being more respectful or appropriate."

“

ON VISIBILITY: WORDS FROM A TRANSGENDER PROFESSOR

Written by,

Dr. Mickey White

When I was initially asked to write this article, I felt a few conflicting emotions: excitement (wow, I’m being asked to write an article!) uncertainty (who would want to read this article?) and resistance (another thing added to the never-ending to-do list.) Mostly, however, I felt a nagging sense of anxiety. “What am I risking by writing this and outing myself to the readers of this magazine?” I asked.

I am generally authentic and open with my identities to those around me, but on this scale it’s terrifying! Then, I received an email from a student who shared with me that my simply being here and being open about my identity makes them feel safer. So here I am, writing this article with the hope to provide some perspective for all readers, but also to send a clear and direct message to trans, non-binary, and gender expansive readers: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

I have identified as queer for over half my life, and I rediscovered and reintroduced myself as a transgender man in 2015. For those new to this language, transgender is an umbrella term referring to people whose gender identity is not congruent with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Depending on the year and the source, transgender people in the United States make up 0.3% to 5% of the population. Personally, I think this number is still a bit conservative, as more and more scientific evidence mounts that sex and gender are not binary but are instead bimodal and variant. There is a beautiful history of gender expansiveness among diverse cultures across the globe, and the visibility of trans identities is rising at an unprecedented rate.

Visibility matters. Visibility is how I found myself. Contrary to popular belief, exposure to trans people did not cause experimentation or confusion. Instead, healthy transmasculine representation finally let me see myself as I knew myself to be. This is a familiar narrative, and it highlights the necessity of diversity in our books, movies, and television.

While I spent much of my childhood being told I was a girl, I had numerous experiences that told me differently. I always wanted to play the role of the dad when playing house, I couldn’t stand to wear anything other little girls found appealing. And most striking was, after coming out as trans to my mother, she shared with me a story I had forgotten.

By all accounts, I was pretty easygoing as a small child. Though I could be a bit anxious at times, not a lot of things upset me. One day, my mother was quite surprised to find me inconsolably upset and, more shockingly, angry with her. She thought through the day up to that point, unsure of where she had committed such an egregious crime to my three-year-old self’s perception.

To her surprise, I confronted her with the question: “Why did you bring me home, instead of a boy?” Unsure of how to answer such a strange question from her child, she simply replied that I was who I was, and closed the conversation with a hug. I filed her answer away as truth until many, many years later.

We need to be seen, to be witnessed as we are. There is a divine power in viewing oneself through the lens of another. My mother is not at fault for her answer because she lacked the knowledge and information that took me another 22 years to gain. I sometimes wonder how much of the struggle with my identity and sense of self could have been eased had we both known then what we do now.

While my narrative fits the oft-told story of recognizing difference and embracing masculinity from a young age, this

is not the case for many other trans and non-binary people. Many trans individuals never feel out of place in their gender expression while embodying a different gender identity than the one they were prescribed.

Many others do not experience an awakening of discontent with their ascribed gender until later in life. Still more explore and play with gender in a way that I find myself envious of. But a tidy timeline does not impact the validity of any story.

I have a unique experience of the world perceiving me as both a woman and a man. I use that phrasing intentionally; there was a distinct point in time where I identified as male, but the world didn’t recognize me yet and still assigned my gender as female. It’s no secret that the world treats men and women differently. Experiencing the differences is quite the trip.

Men began to treat me more as their equal (no more “honey” or “sweetheart” dropped condescendingly into sentences.) I lost the unspoken camaraderie of womanhood I had become accustomed to. I felt simultaneously safer as a man in most public spaces and more vulnerable with the constant fear of being outed and harmed. Living in the liminal “in-between” space of transness is both liberating and exhausting.

Community connection has been my saving grace. Connecting with other trans-identified people remains a cornerstone of my wellbeing. It goes back to witnessing, and the sometimes visceral understanding to be shared between those with similar lived experiences. The world has never been outwardly kind to trans communities, and today’s sociopolitical context and instant virtual connectivity to every thought, anywhere, makes visibility as a trans person intimidating. Particularly for those with other marginalized identities (e.g., Black, Indigenous, and people of color; disabled people; those with non-conforming gender expressions), being visibly trans may be exceptionally dangerous.

Prior to the national legalization of same-gender marriage in 2015, trans people were not as politically targeted as other members of the LGBTQ+ community. This has shifted since Obergefell v. Hodges. Now trans people, particularly trans children, are the proverbial sacrificial lambs for political agendas. From attempts to legislate trans bodies out of sports to misconstruing trans healthcare as “mutilation,” it is not easy to be visibly (or not visibly) trans. Trans children, their parents, and trans adults are being openly vilified, and standing idly by is not the answer. For more on combating anti-trans violence, you can read my interview for the August 2022 issues of Community Voices.

However, hate has an ironic side effect of bringing community together in resistance and liberation. When a conservative political group on campus recently screened a transphobic film here, ETSU students, staff, and faculty showed up in support of trans students, staff, and faculty on campus. There were several people engaged in peaceful protest and both visible and behind the scenes groups supported affected members of our community. As an educator and activist, the pushback to this visible lack of understanding and empathy for trans lives was inspiring. As a trans person, seeing dozens of trans students laughing, singing, dancing, and uplifting one another healed and nourished a part of my soul.

I struggled with whether to be visible as a queer and trans person at ETSU when I first arrived here. I have the privilege of passing as both a cisgender man and as heterosexual, which has served me and protected me at various points. I can’t and won’t deny that reality. There’s some safety in relative anonymity, especially in conservative areas such as this one. When I’m not visible, however, I feel as if a piece of me is missing. As if I am not being wholly authentic. Being trans is a part of my story, and it greatly influences many facets of my personal and professional life.

There is a strong undercurrent of trans resiliency here, and Appalachia itself has a rich history of resistance movements. In fact, in the 1980’s Johnson City was home to some of the only compassionate care for AIDS patients in the region. I have had the privilege of meeting several trans-identified people in the Tri-Cities, both those who choose to be visible and those who don’t or can’t. It has been a beautiful experience and allowed me the opportunity to be visible, even when it feels scary. It has been transformative to know that I am not alone here, from connecting with other trans people to all of the support I’ve experienced from allies.

So for those who need to hear it:

These photos were shared with us as part of an exhibition called "The Skin I'm in" at ETSU's Tipton Gallery. See the bottom of each photo for the artist's name.

Starr Sariego Michael Bumgarner

Starr Yvonne

Starr Sariego

Rony Sejaan

Rony Sejaan

Written by,

Elizabeth Strong Cloyd

Sit with facts

This story is written for everyone. But I hope it speaks directly to white readers and community members.

Thanksgiving is here. And as we gather together on this holiday it is essential to possess and begin to process an accurate and neutral history of the day.

As whites work to undo our ancestor’s mistakes and harmful legacies, it is vital to grasp what actually occurred in the early stages of the painful and predatory relationship between white colonizers and this country’s many Indigenous people.

“I remember celebrating Thanksgiving growing up as a kid and it was pretty traditional,” said Yona Frenchhawk, Community Spiritual Leader and Minister and member of The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “I knew it had something to do with pilgrims and Indians, and we were out of school, so I liked that; and I learned that it was a celebration.”

Frenchhawk, like many children his age in the late 1960s and early 1970s, received his school’s heavily whitewashed version of Thanksgiving Day. No textbooks at the time spoke of the cultural watershed that day of hollow fellowship proved to be:

“I really bought into that stereotypical tale about us all coming to together in love because I’m just a generation past my parents being forced into boarding school and being punished for being Indian,” Frenchhawk recalled. “And I look back on it and I can see how much in opposition my family still was to being modernized.”

Frenchhawk was an adult when he became fully aware of the more accurate and complete accounts of Thanksgiving, and how they concerned him as an Indigenous person. “I remember hearing my relatives saying things like ‘You’re celebrating the white man’s holiday; and that we had nothing to be grateful for,’” he said. “But I really didn’t know what they were talking about.”

But the purpose behind the plot holes in our history books became clearer to him, “I realized there was a reason for every assumption about pilgrims and Indians,” Frenchhawk said. “And of course in our history books we were only being told the glorification of the settlers and the Native Americans. But they weren’t telling us the story of what was really going on: the Indian people were being exterminated.”

Frenchhawk illustrated the ironies and agonies inside the real life Thanksgiving narrative, “The year the government acknowledged Thanksgiving as a national day-that same day in South Dakota- the Indians were being attacked and massacred. And everybody is talking about the Indians and settlers coming together to make peace,” he recalled.

Frenchhawk continued, “So to the victor go the spoils and the right to tell the story. But you can look at newspapers in the west that reported the first Thanksgiving Day and on that same day Indian villages were being raided. So they were either trying to kill the Indians or at least put them on a reservation.”

Redirect your thanks

The first Thanksgiving feast mixed white settlers with original occupants of this country during a shared meal. But despite the settler’s heavy framing of fellowship and gratitude as the intentions of this event; the ultimate plan that day and every day thereafter for white Christian settlers was to take the land and its many resources away from Indigenous people.

During his years of careful research Frenchhawk discovered a dark and blood soaked history to understand and grieve for the settlers’ huge part in spreading disease, starving, displacing and murdering indigenous people-especially young women and children.

We need to proudly remember here in our region that the Cherokee nation was a highly developed and extremely sophisticated society in 1621. “They call us civilized Indians,” Frenchhawk explained, “We were civilized before anybody ever showed up. We had structure and a government; we weren’t just savages wandering around in the woods. We were having rich, productive lives.”

A more exhaustive history of the early settlement of this country shows that Indigenous people were the original, extremely competent caretakers of this land. And both yesterday and today they are enormously worthy of our respect and gratitude for their bond with the land we have exploited.

Without their help and insight we would not have survived, “That’s what we like to remember in the Cherokee stories; we talk about how we helped the settlers;” Frenchhawk explained. “Other tribes in the coastal Carolinas would talk about how they felt sorry for the settlers and took them in.”

And remember what our founding fathers did and failed to do, or even consider for anyone who was not a white male, “Go back and read the constitution: Yeah, we are all created equal as long as the white man is in charge,” Frenchhawk clarified. “So, remember these were the people that came over here and tried to create a new world with people that really ego was not part of who we were.”

Think another way

And today, many generations past that fateful day in 1621, Native people still struggle to be seen, heard, celebrated and protected in our society. Their basic needs are not being met. So, it’s time to think of our neighbors and ourselves differently.

Frenchhawk explained, “One thing I share in the sweat lodge and our church community: I say if you have a heartbeat then you are one of me and I am one of you. And we are one Indigenous tribe of this earth.”

And he continued, “We are one people of this earth regardless of what color we are or what names we give to our gods and entities or spirits. We have a heartbeat and that is our common bond on this earth.”

Frenchhawk emphasized that in order to help the earth thrive and move into the vision our ancestors prayed for us; a life of abundance and love and prosperity and compassion and honor and integrity we need to, “Not live our life in scarcity, but to live it fully so we can truly give back to Mother Earth for giving us such a beautiful home to live on,” he said.

Do your own research

Frenchhawk recommends doing your homework on Indigenous people and avoiding dubious sources, stereotypes, and racist tropes; especially on social media, “There’s a lot of contradictory understanding of who we are as Native people,” he said.

You can begin by learning to know and respect the Eastern band of the Cherokee living near you today. Dig into their rich history that is filled with examples of their dignity and determination, “I was born and raised in Cherokee, North Carolina; which is NOT a reservation,” Frenchhawk said. “A reservation is land set aside for the Indian by the government. And that land over there was taken from us; and we bought it back acre by acre.”

“We were civilized before anybody ever showed up. We had structure and a government; we weren’t just savages wandering around in the woods. We were having rich, productive lives."

Frenchhawk explained how his great, great, great grandfather was a chief of the Cherokee at the time of the Trail of Tears. And the chief’s oldest son was killed, so he adopted a white boy orphaned by war, Will Thomas.

Thomas was raised a true son of the Cherokee and grew up to help the first nation successfully navigate colonizer laws against Indigenous people buying back their own stolen land.

“He bought back the land on behalf of the Cherokee. The Cherokee would make money and they would give it him, and he would go buy the land,” Frenchhawk said. “And we slowly, surely bought our land back. And a lot of it was given out to our people in Oklahoma so they could move back here.”

It is enormously informative to look at how our federal government sees and interacts with Native Americans today, “That (land purchase is) why we are our own so-called sovereign nation. We are still federally supervised by the department of Indian Affairs. And we fall under the department of the interior,” Frenchhawk said. “We’re the only race of people whose caretaking falls under the US government. Even though we are deemed a sovereign nation they still have power of attorney over us.”

Frenchhawk asks us to consider how true and sincere gratitude and fellowship work to make us all stronger, “Thanksgiving, that’s the gratitude that’s the integrity of (saying) we have land for you. We have a place for you, and we didn’t buy this land just for us, we got it for all of us. So yes, come back, come home, we have a place for you,” he said.

And it may be helpful to consider your personal definition of freedom this holiday. And perhaps think about how that word differs dramatically in meaning for Indigenous and other non white people,

“You can be free as long as you live your life the way we tell you to,” Frenchhawk said. “A lot of the Indian people will look at the white structure and we just shrug and shake our heads. It’s about ego and what have you done for me lately?”

So it could be useful to pronounce every day Indigenous Peoples’ day and use each day to be deliberately grateful for their more balanced view of our shared world, and their continued presence here,

“Maybe just remove the date itself from the calendar and just live every day in gratitude. Every day is Thanksgiving Day again,” Frenchhawk said.

The END Want to learn more? Start here: https://www.ncpedia.org/cherokee/trailoftears https://www.wernative.org/articles/what-is-the-mmiw-movement

WHITE SUPREMACY IN CHRISTIANITY

There has been much discussion in recent years about white Christian nationalists. These discussions have centered on issues such as race, racism, sex, sexism, LBGTQ, the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, conservatism, and liberalism. Concerns have been raised by many Americans alarmed by the way certain individuals, groups, associations, churches, and elements of the Republican Party have behaved in recent years.

At the heart of white Christian nationalism is the belief the United States is a Christian nation, founded as a Christian nation, and destined to always be a Christian nation. Whiteness is central to this viewpoint. The mythmaking and popular narrative have historically been centered on the idea(s) that Europeans explored and conquered North America. Therefore, those of European descent are the rightful rulers and owners of America.

Yes, slaves from Africa were brought into colonial America and then later the United States. But African Americans, as they would have you believe, are nothing more than minor footnotes.The real history as they see it is of America as one of white Europeans and their descendants, not the countless Native Americans, Africans, African Americans, Asians, and others who have called America home.

The New World was markedly different, allegedly, from the Old World of Europe in several ways. First, class was not an issue. Second, titles and hereditary positions would not exist in the North America. And third, in part because of revisionist interpretations, along with nationalistic ideas about the importance of America, the United States was destined to be a shining city on a hill, an elect place favored by God. Naturally, it would be the providence of Americans (read: white Americans) to spread the good gospel of freedom of religion, civilization, capitalism, and limited government.

These views are at odds with the reality of the American experience. While some came to America to escape the social caste systems in England and Europe, others came to gain land, money, and power. One of the key ways to gain power was slavery. In addition the desire for money and power was intertwined with what was often missionary zeal to bring Christianity to Godless people.

During the seventeenth century many Europeans claimed Africans as heathens. It was believed incumbent upon these people to Christianize Africans and African Americans. Further, the decline of indentured servitude between 1650 and 1750 coincided with the reliance of white planters, and colonial America as a whole, on slave labor.

Whiteness was becoming a commodity, one which took on greater importance and significance as the American Revolution broke the political bonds between colonists and the British crown. Blackness would become synonymous with slavery; whiteness with freedom and privilege. By the middle 1800s race, power, and slavery became more deeply entrenched with religious fervor. As scholar Anthea Butler has expertly noted, “Slavery is the foundation of racism and

Written by,

Dr. Daryl A. Carter

power in American evangelicalism."1 Scripture was being used to justify the Peculiar Institution.

The extent to which religion was used to justify slavery, segregation, repression and oppression was extraordinary. Further, scripture continued to be used all the way into the present to justify inequity and inequality. This is seen in education today. And to explain the vast inequities of the Gilded Age era, Social Darwinism was employed. Donald Yacovone, a highly regarded scholar at the Hutchins Center for African American Research at Harvard University, recently pointed out that “slavery alone cannot account for the enduring nature of prejudice against African Americans and others."2

Our national identity has historically been infused with notions of racial superiority. Consequently modern and contemporary developments around race, ethnicity, demographic change and upheaval regarding traditional understandings of the former as well as gender and sexuality, heightens alarms among white Christian nationalists. To them the country in spiraling out of control because of perceived enemies and deep, visceral feelings of abandonment, grievance, and fear.

Equally important in the modern and contemporary era the Cold War, immigration, Civil Rights successes, women’s right victories, LGBTQ progress, and secularism have provoked some Americans to call for a return to traditional American values. In this narrative the centerpieces are whiteness and power.

These Americans, unsettled, angered and threatened by progress and certain aspects of modernity have retreated into a defensive crouch. In essence, many assert they are defenders of their God and country. They truly believe they are the only real Americans. Others are simply illegitimate. This development has been especially notable over the past fifteen years.

The election of President Barack Obama removed any doubt about true progress, demographic change, and seeing the United States as a truly multiracial, multiethnic nation. As a result millions of Americans rallied around groups and organizations which espouse rhetoric thoughts and ideologies which can be broadly referred to as white Christian nationalism.

The Tea Party, America First, Vanduardists, American Renaissance, The Three Percenters, The Oath Keepers, and their many allies in statehouses across the country and Congress have advocated ideas which profess a desire to “take back” the United States. The key concept in their beliefs is a growing acceptance of violence to achieve political ends, overturning Roe v. WAde and abortion rights, extreme positions on gun rights which reject virtually any regulation of firearms, open promotion of Christianity in schools and government, commitment to a Republic, not a democracy, and theological interpretations of scripture which are often at odds with mainstream theological and philosophical interpretations. Essentially, evangelical Christians use the church to achieve political ends. The Obama and Trump era saw many of these groups, as well as their ideas of government and society, become mainstream in recent years.

Many Americans could not explain what white Christian nationalists were fifteen years ago. Today it is a huge concern. The presidency of Donald Trump, the violent insurrection and attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results at the U.S. Capitol, and seditious and violent language used by these groups in recent years has raised alarm many bells.

Earlier this year Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray noted in testimony by the Senate Judiciary Committee that “the top domestic terrorism threat we face continues to be from DVEs, Domestic Violent Extremists and Homegrown Violent Extremists (“HVEs”.)"3

Many white Christian nationalists have a very strong libertarian streak. Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry said in their highly regarded book, The Flag + The Cross: White Christian Nationalism and The Threat To American Democracy, so much that to point out libertarianism, along with beliefs of the biblical “End Times” greatly informs their thinking about government, society, and people different from them.4

White Christian nationalists will remain a challenge to this country for the foreseeable future. It is important that we engage our fellow Americans with dignity and respect. It is too easy to dismiss people we disagree with or dislike. When we do this we isolate people and confine them to the very confirmation bias rhetoric which is so problematic and damaging to the country.

We need to recognize we have a responsibility to engage our fellow Americans and find common ground. This can only be done with love, respect, and dialogue.

1 Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2021), 15.

2 Donald Yacovone, Teaching White Supremacy: America’s Democratic Ordeal and The Forging of Our National Identity (New York: Pantheon Books, 2022), 4.

3 Statement of Christopher A. Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation before the Committee on the Judiciary, United State Senate, August 4, 2022. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony%20-%20Wray%20-%202022-08-04.pdf

4 Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag + The Cross: White Christian Nationalism and The Threat To American Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2022).

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For questions and contributions contact: Elizabeth Cloyd: cloyde@etsu.edu