2024-12-21T23:21:08-05:00 https://archinect.com/features/article/150287693/architecture-gave-me-a-black-eye-a-note-to-architectural-educators Kendall A. Nicholson 2021-11-19T08:32:00-05:00 >2021-12-04T19:54:33-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/34/3403a2c6a3cf0a9a2dda83aa0acffcb2.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>I was eight years old when I entered my first slave quarter&mdash;that was the first time architecture hit me. It was the first time that I can recall thinking about spaces that dictated where my race belonged. But, more than anything, the hit was mostly a surprise, and I questioned if something so much older and so much larger than me was allowed to hit me. Was I, in turn, supposed to fight back?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>While I do not blame the building, I do, in fact, blame the education responsible for curating that experience. I can only imagine the difference felt if this field trip was anchored by discussions about inequality and self-worth, rations and resourcefulness, or degradation and fortitude. Instead, I spent my time on the plantation that day trying to figure out if I would have been a field slave or a house slave. In that moment, what everyone failed to realize was that whether they recognized it or not, the slave quarters were also telling my white classmates where they belonged. And just like ...</p>