This summer, I will travel to the British Isles and mainland Europe to explore my family lineage.

What happened to disconnect my ancestors from the lands where they had lived for millennia, eventually causing them to leave Europe, and travel to the United States, where over time they became white Americans?

This journey is in service to my book project, tentatively titled Rites & Responsibilities: Growing up White, which weaves rites of passage and social justice in a digestible, engaging narrative. This manuscript, which I’ve been working on for about four years, is written specifically for white-skinned young people (ages 16–28), though it’s intended to be accessible and relevant to a much wider audience...