Interview with Sara Barnett, History 150 Spring 2020, Conducted by Jackson Barnett, April 23, 2020.

Biography:

Sara Barnett is my mother and grew up  surrounded by the navy and military life. Her father was a three-star navy admiral (a high ranking navy official) which caused her to have to move around a lot throughout her childhood. This forced her to live in many different places and allowed her to experience a variety of cultures and viewpoints. As a younger child she lived in Yokosuka, Japan on a naval base where she was exposed to many new and cultural thoughts and ideals. Later in her childhood, she moved to Washington D.C. this was about the time that whites began to become a minority, especially in the area she lived. Again, this was able to expose her to new experiences and shape some of her views. Growing up in the navy not only gave her a unique perspective from the aspects of military life, but also allowed her to observe and be affected by social change in the areas around her. This interview will attempt to address these different aspects of her life in order to better understand the experiences of someone in her specific situations and settings.

Research:

The sources below show and discuss the demographics of Washington D.C. and/or define some of the effects of demographic change in America in the late 20th century, around when my mother would have lived there. Primarily, the facts and figures of the Washington D.C. area show a large increase in lower socio-economic populations as well as black populations across the city limits. This change contrasted the prior norms of highly populated areas similar to D.C. across the United States and was able to bring new levels of diversity to the city (District of Columbia Population History, 2018). This initial diversity increase, however, quickly turned into the opposite and eventually came to exemplify the opposite in many inner city D.C. neighborhoods. The increase in certain populations in these areas exemplified a time of exponential change within the area and defined the era as a time of racial dilemma and emerging societies (Wilson, et al. 2001). This made the white population of the surrounding areas a minority at the time especially in the area of D.C. that my mom lived (Tatian, 2015). Areas such as D.C. saw extreme changes in demographics and, in turn, changes in prominent cultures and social aspects. Sources are cited in MLA below.

Wilson, William Julius, et al. “America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences” Volume 1. United States, National Academies Press, 2001.

“District of Columbia Population History.” Washington DC History Resources, 24 Dec. 2018, matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/district-of-columbia-population-history/.

Tatian, Peter A. “Demographic Change in Washington, D.C.: Taking the Long View.” Urban Institute, 13 May 2015, www.urban.org/urban-wire/demographic-change-washington-dc-taking-long-view.

Transcription: 

JB: All right, so could you introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about your life growing up?

SB: Sure. My name is Sara Barnett. I am 52 years old, and the youngest of five children married have two kids my own and as far as my childhood goes, I was born into a Navy family. My dad was in the Navy. And when I was born, it was during Vietnam. And we lived all over we lived to California and Hawaii, Virginia, Washington State, Japan, twice, Virginia again, and Washington DC. Amongst all of that, we also did a lot of traveling, we traveled across the country two times. And we did little trips in the areas that we lived as well. I lived on a lot of Navy bases growing up. I felt sometimes like I was raised by a single mom because my dad was deployed a lot. My older siblings were often my babysitter’s out of all of us five kids, I probably got the most time with my dad. Because as he ascended in rank, he wasn’t deployed as much and he can be home more doing his jobs. And honestly, I was able to live a little more privileged lifestyle and my siblings. As far as my parents go, they were loving. They were a little firm at times in our life centered totally around the Navy. I lived overseas and I went to school on Navy bases. I was raised Catholic and my family valued things like integrity and character. I went to several private schools and went to public schools and Department of Defense run schools. And that’s kind of me in a nutshell.

JB: Perfect. So you mentioned moving around a lot. What was your perspective on moving around to vastly different areas throughout your childhood?

SB: While we moved, probably every two to three years, it was really hard. I was a really shy child. And when you’re in the military kind of had to learn to make friends pretty fast. So I gained in my ability to do that as I grew. In a Navy community, all the kids were kind of in the same boat, you were instantly accepted. And you were encouraged to be part of whatever was going on, whether it was sports, you could be on a team and clubs and you can join everything. But it was kind of a double edged sword. Because I loved getting to have those new experiences and seeing new cultures and people, but it was also hard because you would become attached, and then you’d have to move again. Especially as I grew older and became a teenager, you kind of have those stronger attachments and it was hard to move away from my friends. Our biggest move was probably the last time we lived in Japan. And then we moved to Washington, DC and I was halfway through freshman year in high school.

We moved to a really rough part of DC we were on a Navy Yard but outside the gates. It was a really rough area of DC and there were no children on our base at all. None. They were all high ranking Navy officials that they hired, that the Navy hired, actually hired a driver to take me to school because it was deemed unsafe for me to take public transportation at the time. Thankfully, my parents pushed me to new experiences and the next semester I started taking the inner city bus back and forth. I was fortunate to live in Japan two times. And somewhat because of my dad’s position as the admiral I got to see so much of the culture and attend really cool special events. I got to go to Sumo matches and Kabuki plays and rice panning ceremonies and a traditional Japanese wedding. So that was really cool. And everywhere we lived, my mom really tried to expose us to the areas we were and the different people and lifestyles that were there. Life on a military base was really not the same as life outside the gates. And I think my parents wanted some way to make up for that. That’s why they exposed us to lots of things. In some places, life outside the gates could even be dangerous. In Japan, there could be riots against Americans, and that would just, you know, pop up a lot of things because of World War Two. And then when we lived in Washington, DC, I think I told you we live in, you know, in a bad bad neighborhood. When when I walked to school, there was lots of homelessness and different poverty. So it gave me a pretty good perspective on the world in general.

JB: All right. So how do you think that living in different cultures affected your social identity personally?

SB: Hmm, that’s an interesting question. Because I see being a military brat as my main culture and my biggest influence. It was really more than a lifestyle, but definitely had its it because it has its own values and it has its own norms. And I think it gave me an appreciation of the world around me. And certainly as you know, as my child gave me the desire to travel even more. Seeing my mom have to handle everything while my dad was at sea for six months out of the time made me want to be a traveling mom too, just like her. I think it also been in the Navy brat also instilled in me a respect for our country and our military. All those experiences combined, I think made me more resilient, and more independent, and no longer that really really shy little girl that I once was. It also made me more comfortable in new situations, and with all different types of people. And I think it may be a live in the moment kind of person because you had to live in the moment because you didn’t know what’s going to happen in the future. I think it also made me very idealistic. You do things because it’s the right way, it’s the right thing to do. Because of your strong moral principles. You know, when your dad’s willing to put his life on the line for his country, for his whole career, it makes you kind of think in different terms.

JB: Yeah. Did you ever feel discriminated against at any time because of your race? Or in any of the areas that you lived in? If so, how did that differ from location to location?

SB: Um, overall, military communities become quickly close knit, regardless of race and racial differences. You kind of learn to relate to anyone regardless of differences with with race or with ethnicity or religion or nationality. So really, within our community race didn’t matter at all. I honestly did not know what racism was. I can remember when we lived in Japan, there were protests against military presence. There were drills that we had to do in the house and in school and things for if there was a terrorist attack. So I’m sure there was some animosity towards Americans but it really you only saw this in small glimpses. I went to school with other military kids who were Japanese, Filipino Korean. And that was never a dividing line really at all. When we lived in Washington, DC, I did not understand when we first moved there, people’s reactions towards me. Because eventually I didn’t have the driver and I took the city bus to school, and it would be packed with people in the morning. And no one would sit next to me, the little only white person on the bus but the little white girl on the bus. I had to go to what I call American school. But I couldn’t go to public school where I lived because I would be the only white person and they were worried for my personal safety with that. So I went to a private girls school. There I saw divides along racial lines, and I really didn’t understand it at all because I hadn’t seen it before. There was a strong white black divide in Washington DC. And I didn’t adopt it. You know, I was the only white girl at my local YMCA taken my lifeguarding class. And I ran track on an almost all black track team. My first boyfriend was black. I got my hair cut at the black salon down the street, and my best friends were black and Hispanic. So did I feel racism against racism against me? Yes. But did I espouse that? No.

JB: Interesting, yeah. So you mentioned that a big part of your social identity was obviously being a military brat, as you say. How did having a high ranking military father affect your identity and or your treatment from others, others a child.

SB: When I was born, I think I told you my dad was an aviator and he was flying missions in Vietnam. And when he became captain of the USS Midway, it was it was really a big deal. We lived in nicer military housing, and we got to do some special activities and had special perks. Even just on the Navy base that we lived on, we got to go to the officer’s club pool and special dining areas and got to go to special military events or get front row seats to different things with that. Sometimes, I was actually really embarrassed by this special treatment. Because like when we walk onto my dad’s ship ship, everyone would stop him a whistle would go [whistle noise] and everybody would salute. Like he was really, you know, a big celebrity. When he became Admiral, we lived in a huge house on the base way away from all my classmates. In all my friends, and there was a big, you know, kind of a stigma as my dad was everyone else’s dad’s boss. I was often embarrassed. I can remember my first day of school there. The driver took me to school and there were these little flags with no fright and I was like, oh no park over here way be you know, away from the school and I didn’t really want to seem different. So sometimes I rebelled against what I thought was expected of me, just in order to fit in. In middle school, I started smoking and drinking and really hanging out with the wrong crowd. So I’d be accepted. But away from my peers. I got to go to really cool events in Japan and my dad had political dealings with lots of distinguished Japanese who came, would come to our house. We got to go watch pearl divers and we went to ice festivals. We were in a parade and we were distinguished guests at a lot of events. So, my dad also, he had his own driver who would take him places and we had a live-in person who helped with all the events at home with my dad and my mom making him lunch and ironing his clothes, and helping with the dinner parties. So my dad was kind of a big shot, and I was his daughter. So there was certainly stigma with that. When we moved, I was no longer in a department of defense school. So all of that special treatment from my dad, and his ranking in the real world meant nothing anymore. So that was kind of interesting. We were only big shots in military circles and in the civilian world were just normal people. That was somewhat a downer, but it was also kind of freeing in a way that if no one knows who you are, no one has any expectations of your behavior. So

JB: So what sort of aspects of the military, if any, effect of your everyday life aside from growing up and living on a base in some of the areas.

SB: Even now, I’m 52 years old, if someone were to ask me to describe myself, I would still identify myself as a military brat. My dad retired from the military when I was in college. So my whole upbringing is within a military culture. Of course, there were times when we didn’t live on a military base in my think my life in those places was a little more normal. But being a Navy brat meant that we would move all of a sudden In the middle of a school year, and as a kid, I had no say in where or when it was not a democracy kind of atmosphere. You were expected to be ready. And dad’s career and authority superseded all of our desires. When we lived on base, we were held to a higher standard and told that our actions directly reflected our father. So I think the military experience made me worldly and adaptable, yet, maybe not as mature in some social skill areas. When we moved, we started fresh and we put any issues with friends away. And I think that has where I’ve struggled. Over the years with long term friendships. I’ve had lots of friends and I have lots of friends, but I really don’t keep in touch with them. I think it’s just cause of that mentality that I grew up with.

JB: So living in some areas where racial discrimination was pretty common. I know you kind of touched on this already, but just how aware were you of any of it going on, even if it wasn’t directed towards you?

SB: Kind of like I said before until high school, when we move to Southeast Washington, DC, I really had no concept of racism. At that time, in general, white people kind of lived in the suburbs, and just worked in the city. And here we were living in the city and it was really eye opening to me. There were a lot of tensions in the media. between blacks and whites, there was Rodney King beatings were going on in the news [in Los Angeles on March 3, 1991, video of Rodney King an African American man being beaten by four police officers, three of them white, occurred. The acquittal of officers in his beating on April 29, 1992, led to the LA riots/rebellions]. We had the mayor of DC was Marion Barry and he was really outspoken on the oppression of blacks in the city, as well as Jesse Jackson. So I saw a lot of that and heard a lot of that probably more aware of that because I was a little bit older too.

I saw the rise of black people in mainstream entertainment that hadn’t been there before. You know, The Cosby Show, we never missed The Cosby Show on Thursday nights. You know, Will Smith it was Oprah Winfrey Prince and the Revolution. You know, that was that was the thing. And when I hung out with my black friends, it all seemed okay. But, you know, in hindsight, maybe I was a little bit naive to some of that. Once I had a black boyfriend, and people around me certainly showed their objections to both of us, being an interracial couple was frowned upon by both black community and the white community. And that’s probably why we started stopped dating. It’s funny because in middle school, my best friends were Asian, and in high school in college, my best friends were black and Hispanic. And now kind of by happenstance, I live in white bread America. I honestly I feel like I’ve done you, my son, a disservice by not living in a more diverse area. I guess that’s one of the reasons we like to travel and go see different cultures and different places. I think I’ve learned as an adult that racism is a real thing. But I really didn’t know that growing up. I still don’t understand it when I hear racist comments. When I hear someone that called my other son a racist at his job, basically because he was white and they were black and they didn’t like the rules. It really makes me frustrated. I don’t think in those kinds of terms at all. We have traveled to places like the well I traveled to the Philippines but we’ve been to as a family to Uganda and Jamaica and Peru and they think because of our skin color, we were all automatically looked at as rich and basically because we’re white. Yeah, compared to them we are. And I think we have more opportunity and privilege because of our skin color in a lot of countries. And it’s hard to sit with that sometimes. I like to think in America, we have moved beyond that. But I’m not so sure we really have.

JB: Well, thank you so much. That’s all the questions I have for you. It’s been very enlightening.

SB: It’s been a delight.

JB: Thank you.