Performing White and Fine

Abstract

In this article I explore the ways my identity was shaped while I attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Bob Jones University has been praised by some for its fundamentalist stands, its focus on Christian education, and its tireless pursuit of excellence. Unfortunately for me, a young African American man, this was also a place where I experienced hurtful jokes, slurs, institutional racism, and racist microaggressions. I argue that the aftereffects of these events are analogous to the effects experienced by survivors of posttraumatic stress disorder and sexual abuse victims. I call upon my memories of Bob Jones University and how my time at the university prompted myriad feelings that ran the gamut from painful to poignant.