The anger, at least from my perspective is because they have an idea about who and what you're supposed to be and when the confident, smart, educated PhD comes out, it rattles that cognitive dissonance.

With my specific situation, I am not clearly anything. If you look at me, I look white. I look whiter than actual white people to those who don't know. But I'm not and I won't pretend to be. I'm incredibly proud of my heritage and the strong, resilient, smart ancestors I came from.

I watched them at my husband's art show accept me. And then, a woman said something that hit me the wrong way. It started with, "I'm not racist, but..." So you know what came next. So I dropped my Black daddy on her. And I did it intentionally. I do it all the time hoping people will get it, that they'll get that race and colour don't denote value. But they can't see what they won't see.

They know what and who I am now. They're trying to be "polite." The don't want me or my "book about Black people." It doesn't fit their world view. This is rural western Canada, white as snow. I'm a dirty interloper from the east coast with my Black Loyalist ways. Whatever....I'll keep speaking my truth and calling them all out.

As an aside, you mentioned the anger in their aura...my cousin, a brilliant, wonderful, kind, Black activist with a PhD has experienced more than once. I won't get into the blatant racism at the airport here in Canada, but I will mention how bank employees recoiled and were shocked when she presented herself to renew her mortgage at the bank. She "didn't sound like...." Well, I don't "look like..."