February 28th, 2021

     I appreciate the opportunity to introduce myself as an advisor of the Cultural Awareness and Social Inclusion (“CASI”) Committee through this blog.  My name is G. Muir Davis, please call me Muir.  I am sixty years old, I am an applied mathematician, I am a city councilmember, and I have lived in La Verne most of my life.  La Verne is my hometown.  La Verne has been home to my parents and their parents too.  For my CASI introductory blog I will first draw your attention to the fact that I am a redhead. I was born in Elgin, Illinois, the first redhead in the line for my dad’s dad, my grandfather C. Ernest Davis; I was told that I got his red hair.  My grandfather had 5 children and 10 grandchildren before I showed up as a redhead.  The nurses told my mom that I was a redhead when I was first born. My mom’s family had little history with red hair, and I was bald, so she asked the nurse how she could tell.  The nurse told her that my hair color was evident in the color and nature of my skin.  Apparently, it was obvious, yet photos of my early years do not reveal my red hair.

  So much for black and white photography.  My grandparents had to wait six months to celebrate their first redheaded offspring, and they let my mom know that they wished that they could have celebrated earlier.   A little less than two years later, my brother brought another red head to the family.  My November birth month and my brother’s July birth month meant that we were one grade apart at school.  I began kindergarten with 3 cousins, we were each born one month after each other, and no other red head.  I was the only red head in my grade.  Have I mentioned that in a world of color, red heads have trouble hiding?  I was readily identified in my classroom, at school assemblies, in the play yard, almost everywhere. “You, the red head!” meant me every time!  That is, until I was joined in fifth grade by a new student who moved to La Verne who, you guessed it, she had red hair!  I had someone with whom to share my experience!  I was eleven so the sharing was more experiential than intellectual.   Being a redhead has not always meant one thing.  In some cases, I was cherished as a ginger.  I have heard that red heads may disappear from civilization because of the recessive gene that carries red hair may be overcome by other dominant hair colors. 

     I have also been bullied or picked upon because of my hair color.  How I have been treated, either cherished or picked upon, has not always been my choice, but my response has always been a choice that I can make.  I will not say that I have always made wise choices, but after many opportunities I believe that my choices have improved.  I have learned to love my hair color, and I pray that other red heads learn to love their hair color.  I hope that everyone learns to love their hair color and other aspects of identity that they have and own.

- G. Muir Davis