DPI Professor Bayeté Ross Smith's project #HereIsMyAmerica, part of the New York Times' Race/Related newsletter, recently featured photos and stories that complicate simplistic identity narratives. Such narratives, Ross Smith said, are especially prevalent after the 2016 Presidential election:
"While elections often reveal important truths about our country’s strengths and challenges, they also tend to produce oversimplified examinations of actual people. Seeking clarity, we turn to categories: the African-American vote, the Latino vote, and this year in particular, the vote of the white working class.
At the moment, no other group is drawing as much attention and scrutiny as the so-called WWC. However, oversimplified narratives about identity are an ongoing challenge for all Americans, especially communities of color, historically."
Bayeté Ross Smith is a photographer, multi-media artist, filmmaker, and educator living in New York City.