Meet Memphis Facing History Alumna Sydney Taylor

Sydney Taylor, a 2004 graduate of White Station and an alumna of the Facing History student group, lived and worked in Madrid, Spain, as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, and she recently shared some of her experiences.

A 2008 graduate of Spelman College, Sydney taught at a secondary school in a suburb of Madrid called Getafe. In addition to teaching, she “did research and led sessions with Spanish youth to discuss media stereotypes of people of color in Spain.” She recalls how many times people could not believe that she was American because, as she says, “I did not fit their mold of what an ‘American’ was.” One way in which she experienced this stereotyping most markedly was on the trains and subways of Madrid. She shares one encounter:

In Spain, many times I was prejudged because of my skin color. Most times I was mistaken for being from Brazil or the Dominican Republic. Due to an increase in immigrant population in Spain, they are currently engaging in a police crackdown to rid the country of immigrants who are illegal or “sin papeles”. Many times I was approached by police who demanded for me to produce my “papers” or risk being taken in to the police station. Sometimes they would even question me because it was hard for them to believe that my residency card said that I was an American student. In one such instance I was in the metro station headed towards my train. I was approached by two plain clothed officers who demanded gruffly to see my card. Once he read it, his serious demeanor softened as he became very interested in how I was American . . . in reality he was asking me where did my family come from because I could not be a generational American. Once I went through my genealogical tree with him to explain that I and my family were all born in the US, he became much nicer and interested in what I was studying. I on the other hand became even more disturbed. To him before he received my card, I was just another illegal resident trying to leech off of Spanish resources until I proved him wrong. As I took my card back and walked towards my train, I realized how far we in the world have to go to really achieve true understanding of different culture and ethnicities.

Despite difficulty helping those around her erase their stereotypes of Americans, Sydney says she has “become entranced with Spanish culture and life.” Living in Ciudad Lineal, an East Madrid neighborhood with a large immigrant population, she was able to work with African immigrants at the Afro Hispano Center. There, she explains, she heard immigrants’ many stories about living in Spain. “To be in an environment entrenched in history, beautiful buildings and music, and spend that time with people from all countries and different walks of life was one of the most valuable experiences I will take away,” she summarizes.

Of course, Sydney did not forget her experiences with Facing History and how they affected her ability to respond to this cultural diversity and the prejudice she experienced in Spain. Because of the opportunity Facing History gave her “to just sit and converse with people from different backgrounds, with no pretext,” she was prepared for her experiences in other countries, “especially when I was doing so in a foreign language.” Sydney relates her belief that “the best way to begin talks of change is through talking with youth and young people, just as I did with Facing History and Ourselves.”