Lately in my reading, I have been taken by the role that setting plays in a book or movie. There are stories where the "place" becomes so important that it becomes another of the supporting characters. Little Fires Everywhere is one of those stories. Shaker Heights, Ohio was a "perfect" place. Race didn't matter. The rules were the rules. As long as you and everyone else followed them, everything would be fine. But when the rules were broken, everything became shaky and unpredictable.
It brought me to think about my own life and the different places I have lived especially where I was raised. I have lived for a significant amount of time in three very different places; Iowa, Florida, and California. Who I was leaving Iowa and Florida formed who I would become and how I viewed the world in California. Iowa is exactly what you think it might be. It is white, it is farmland. It is a place where as a child, you quickly learn to do the right thing because it's the right thing. You didn't need another reason. The world in Iowa in the 60's was simple. Everything was black and white, right and wrong. Your word was your bond. Republicans and Democrats were more closely aligned than they are today. So you could live alongside of and communicate with those of the other party and not necessarily see the world very differently. In a word, it was homogenous. Farmers were conservative but with national subsidies for planting and harvesting in the mix, they could move to the democratic side with very little residue or pushback from their friends or neighbors. You were still doing the right thing, which was providing for your family. Success was viewed as feeding and clothing your family. There were no big houses, no one went out to eat very often - that was considered wasteful. So this view of the world was what raised me. Live simply. Don't waste your money; you might need it next year. Help your neighbor. There was also a general feeling of sameness. Life didn't change much from year to year. We all expected things to be the same. It helped to define who we were and who we would always be. I was an Allen, an Iowan, I was raised and lived most of my childhood in one town. While we lived in several houses. they were all in a very close radius to each other and to my other family members - grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Church was church and school was school. There wasn't much else to life. The world was very small.
This very small view of the world opened up immensely with a move to Florida. But Florida in 1972 was very different from Florida today. I lived in central and northern Florida which was still very "country." My view of the world didn't change much. It was still about doing the right thing and being sure that what you said was what you did. The expansion was definitely in the department of race. Iowa was white and Florida was black. I was not raced to be colorblind so this was definitely a new world for me. All the adages of Iowa that I had heard for 18 years no longer held any weight. They were not lazy or living in government housing. There were not good ones and bad ones. They were working two jobs to get ahead, they were in school to get ahead. They were first generation college students just like I was and I struggled to see any difference between them and me.
Now you take this new version of Tere and take her to California in 1976. I will say again, this was not the California of today. I was able to find my place in this new world because I was married to a conservative version of California. He also defined success by providing for his family. But we went out to dinner - all four of us - often. This new sense of place slowly chipped away at the edges of the Iowa girl. Helping my neighbors and family became helping those in need. I was always a democrat but this was a bigger version of being a democrat. I became Catholic and once again the world opened wider to encompass and redefine those in need. I never found it difficult to call myself a Californian even though my extended family members challenged me about many things - earthquakes, the homeless, and democratic governors.
Today, at my core, I still believe that success is being able to provide for yourself and your family. I still believe there is a difference between right and wrong and that my word is my bond. I value all that Iowa game me for those first 18 years. But around the edges of that Iowa girl is the influence of 40 years in California. My view is wider. I see those in need. I see the burden that racism has placed on so many Americans. I can put myself in the shoes. of those who walk a very different path.
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