Episode #105: Race and Ethnicity!
Welcome back to another episode of the Book Friends Forever podcast! Grace and Alvina define race and ethnicity and talk about how race is a social construct, and how both identities have continued to shift over time. As usual, they catch up on each other’s lives, talk about what’s on their minds, and share what they are grateful for.
These beautiful notebooks are going fast! Support our podcast by becoming a Patron! For $1 an episode as a Patreon member you will get:
Access to the "Random Questions Secret Feed" for the Kids Ask Authors podcast
A small blank notebook with an illustrated cover (by Grace) inspired by Alvina's Mom quote "If it is to be, it is up to me." (While supplies last!)
An opportunity to share your own grateful on our podcast! Send us your grateful as patron and we'll read it on an episode!
“How have you been?”
Grace describes this last week as a bit hectic. There was a possible Covid outbreak amongst her daughter’s school pod but luckily that was not the case! Hazel is going back to in-person school full time. This is a big adjustment for the entire family.
Alvina has been busy editing and got her first vaccine shot! She spent Easter with Stephen’s twin brother who has two sets of twins! The book friends discuss twin names and question if they must rhyme or illiterate!
Race and Ethnicity
This topic idea came up for Grace when she was recently registering for a Covid vaccination. On the telephone she was asked first, “what is your race?” and then, “What is your ethnicity?”. She got a little confused in the moment trying to answer the ethnicity question. The book friends decide to look up the true definitions of race and ethnicity. Race is a social construct and different race categories have been added over the years. What makes someone a certain race? What defines your ethnicity? Where does the hyphen come into play? The book friends talk about theses definitions and describe their complexities in terms of skin color, language, geography, upbringing, and sense of identity.
Fortune Cookie Segment: What have we been reading lately?
Alvina is reading/listening to:
Grace is reading/listening to:
Grateful’s:
Grace is grateful that her daughter is able to get back to school and this may leave time for her to finish the book she’s working on!
Alvina is grateful that she could get her first vaccine shot and grateful for community, networking, and being able to sign up some friends for a vaccination shot.
A listener and Patreon member, Alice, is grateful that her parents are both vaccinated!
Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)
You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Facebook and Instagram
*If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Grace Lin and Christina Soontornvat answer this question: Would You Rather Be Able To Breathe Underwater Or Have The Agility Of A Cat? Listen here to listen! If you’re not a Book Friends Forever podcast patron already, join today!
