Who’s on First?

Ms. Bobe writes: The questions started as soon as I showed people the book cover.

Why is your name listed second?

Alphabetically it should come first.

Is it because she’s White?

Why do our names always get pushed to the end?

If you’re a BIPOC person in the United States, you know this feeling. You learn to ask the question even when you already know the answer. And you learn that when you do ask, people will insist it’s not about race. But the thought never goes away. That’s part of the cost of the racial system — the constant secondguessing, questioning, the erosion of trust, the quiet tally of moments that don’t sit right.

So, I let Sue know the questions and statements that were coming my way. We had to talk about it. She had a slight reaction at first, but she reflected on her experience and understood immediately. Early in her career, she coauthored several important works, yet her name always appeared last — after the White men. She’s especially proud of the Kinsey Institute report she helped write, Sexual Preference: Its Development in Men and Women. But the authors of that book will always be known as Bell, et al. Her contribution, like so many others, was tucked behind the scenes.

People asked me whether we could change our names to alphabetical order: Epps and Hammersmith. My family and friends knew how much of myself I poured into this book over six years. And Sue knows it too — neither of us could have written this book alone. But in the U.S., intellectual property becomes a product, a brand. And brands don’t rearrange themselves. It’s always Peter, Paul, and Mary — never Mary and the Fellas.

But let’s look at the facts. The truth is, Sue and I both poured our souls into this book, but we did so from very different positions. Like so many White women, Sue really benefited from affirmative action. For her, Title 9 opened the opportunity for graduate school, fully funded. She finished her PhD without debt, then was among the first wave of White women to become university professors and administrators. Sue worked hard, but she rode that wave of opportunity and was able to benefit from her labor. Sue and her husband both had careers in higher education and are now very comfortably retired. In retirement, Sue had the time to take a dive deep into research, writing, volunteering, and doing antiracism work.

Like so many other African American women, I didn’t have that same free time or economic security. Due to Title 9, I was able to attend a state university, but I did so as a single mom paying my own way. I graduated college with huge student debt, and I often struggled to support my children while paying $500 a month for student loans. I finally paid off my college loans in my 50s, and I still work full time during the day. When we wrote this book, I had to do my part on weekends and evenings, following a full week of work.

Sue and I were both essential to the birth of this book. Neither of us could have done it alone. And we both had other commitments. I work full time and actively engage with a large extended family. Sue is retired but supports her ailing husband fulltime. We each have responsibilities we hold dear, and we share much in common. But our different situations and experiences reflect America’s system of racial inequity in so many ways.

This whole conversation is just another window into dominant White culture and how deeply it shapes our expectations. First is best. Front-and-center is valued more than behind-the-scenes. Visibility is rewarded; quiet, sustaining labor is overlooked.

So, we made a choice.

On our website, we reversed the sequence. We go by Epps and Hammersmith.

When we present, I lead off.

We walk together, stand together, and tell the truth together — as allies, accomplices, and coconspirators.

Thanks for raising the question.

Keep questioning.