Did We Get It Right? Generation X, Racism, and Learning Without a Roadmap

In The Know with Tony Reeves · Sep 30, 2025 · 6m

In this episode, I reflect on what it meant to be a Black Gen Xer navigating college life, cultural misunderstandings, and the loneliness of being “the only one” in spaces where I didn’t always feel welcome. From being told that HBCUs weren’t “the real world,” to living four years as the only Black student on my dorm floor, I share the raw lessons and coping strategies that my generation had to invent on the fly.We didn’t always get it right—but we tried. Gen X carried the burden of learning to survive in a world that claimed to be equal but wasn’t, and we passed those lessons—messy as they…