People's reaction to my name wasn't just about my gender. It was also about my brown skin. My legs stilled. That's why the librarian hadn't believed me. She didn't know a name like Austin could be stretched wide enough to cloak a little Black girl.
-- Austin Channing Brown (chapter 1 paragraph 2)

Importance: The author recalls being questioned by a librarian about her card as a child because the librarian was surprised that her name was Austin. Brown asked her mother about the decision to give her this name and her mother told her that her parents believed this would be beneficial to her when she was an adult and she applied for jobs. This is because of systemic racism—if the people hiring for the job believed Brown to be a white man, they would be more likely to grant her an interview.

I learned about whiteness up close. In its classrooms and hallways, in its offices...
-- Austin Channing Brown (chapter 1 paragraph 1)