Page 72 - Spring2022

Identity Struggles of a Black STEM Academic
Tyrone Porter
Sylvester James “Jim” Gates, Jr. was the keynote speaker at the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Acoustics in Focus meeting in May 2021, and he gave a riveting account of his academic and professional life as a Black STEM scholar (see https://bit.ly/3CWGOti). Listening to the keynote speech, I thought about my own experiences as a Black STEM scholar and pondered on the identity struggles that I have faced through the years.
Like most people, I have multiple identities. I am an American, a Detroit native, a husband, a father, an engi- neer, and a sports enthusiast. I am also Black, and there are many people who have been conditioned to associ- ate that identity with criminality or a lack of intelligence.
These prejudices have established a racial hierarchy that exists throughout America and has contributed to the underrepresentation of Blacks and other ethnic minorities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Based on these biases, bigots have questioned whether I deserved various opportunities academically or professionally. I became an activist to combat prejudice and systemic racism in society gener- ally and in STEM specifically. While I have persevered through the years, there were pivotal moments in my past that caused me to question my academic and scientific identities and whether America was capable of change. In this essay, I share on these pivotal moments and how they have shaped my identities and my commitment to the fight for racial equity and inclusivity in STEM and in acoustics.
After completing my undergraduate degree in electri- cal engineering at Prairie View A&M University (see https://www.pvamu.edu/), a Historically Black College/ University (HBCU) in Prairie View, Texas, I started my doctoral studies in bioengineering at the University of Washington (UW; Seattle). My doctoral adviser was Larry Crum, a former ASA president and a recipient of an ASA Gold Medal. This was my first extended experience at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) and I was uncomfortable immediately.
One of the greatest attributes of an HBCU is the efforts made by virtually all staff, students, and faculty to con- nect with each other and create a supportive community. I didn’t see the same level of effort toward community building at the UW and found it difficult to connect with others.
Indeed, my time in graduate school coincided with the anti-affirmative action movement (for background, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action), which had gained momentum after the passing of Proposition 209 (Prop 209) in California as an amendment to the state constitution. Prop 209 prohibited the use of race, gender, ethnicity, or national origin in hiring, contracting, or admission decisions in state institutions, effectively ending affirmative action initiatives in California uni- versities and colleges.
Inspired by Prop 209, citizens of Washington State were able to get an equally damaging bill on the ballot, known as Initiative 200 (I-200). There were numerous town hall meetings to discuss I-200 and its potential impact, and proponents argued that Black students like myself were admitted into the UW solely based on race. Although proponents never presented any evidence to support their narrative, the claims perpetuated the idea that students of color like myself were inferior academically. Persons of color have been fighting to change this perception for years, whereas those who have benefited from exclusion- ary practices have fought to maintain it.
At the UW, I usually was the only Black student in my classes, and I worried constantly that the other students or the professors believed I was admitted to the UW only because I was Black. This created undue stress that initially negatively affected my academic performance. I began to question whether I deserved to be at the UW and whether I had the capacity to succeed in the graduate program and assume the identity of a bioengineer. In fact, there were only two other Black students in the bioen- gineering graduate program at the time so I had trouble
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72 Acoustics Today • Spring 2022 | Volume 18, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.1121/AT.2022.18.1.72