This is Us: Randall Pearson - Black. Adopted. First-gen. (Part One)

The series This is Us was known for its strong play on familial dynamics and for highlighting the beauty and complexity of families, love, and socio-cultural issues that have an influence on modern society. This article will focus on a piece of Randall Pearson’s experience, one of the Big Three or the Pearson Triplets, Kate, Kevin, and Randall. Upon examining the show, it is safe to assume that Randall is #firstgen. He is also #adopted into a white family, which also makes for a transracial story. His biological father was a local musician, and little is known about his biological mother, as she died young after giving birth to Randall. Their father, a Vietnam veteran, Jack Pearson, and Rebecca Pearson, both working-class citizens seeking to ensure their family had a quality of life and love that they did not have.

Big Three Dreams

In order to better understand Randall, I must make mention of him and his siblings and their #collegegoing aspirations. The relationship that they share is essential to unpacking the empowering and complex story of Randall Pearson as a young adult.

Kate the Singer. Kate was an avid singer with aspirations of attending the Berklee School of Music. Kate’s mom, Rebecca, finds out about her ambition and sees that Kate records herself singing with hopes of submitting her songs to get discovered. Kate encourages her daughter to apply and audition for Berklee since that is her dream. Kate experiences #impostersyndrome and tells her mom she does not want to apply as she could not handle the disappointment if rejected. Kate participates in an audition for Berklee with the support of her mom and is denied admission to her college of choice.??

Kevin the Athlete turned Actor. In his adolescence, Kevin is a known proud athlete, as he was a star on his high school football team. Kevin injures his knee and crushes his dreams of playing collegiate football. What was profound about the incident was that his father, Jack, took this moment to be the one to break the unfortunate news that his athletic career was over. At that moment, he offered solace by encouraging him to find a backup plan that suited him and be the best at what he landed on. Ultimately that outlet and occupation became acting as he became the star of primetime TV series.?

Randall, the Peacekeeper, and Perfectionist. Randall is the adopted son of the Pearson family. He has a high level of intellect and curiosity for the world around him and excelled in science and math. Although his exact career aspirations were not articulated, his interest in college were always present and reinforced that Randall should attend college. He graduates and becomes a weather trader forecasting stock trends for a financial firm. Randall eventually leaves that job to run for public office and becomes a councilman for an underserved community.?

Pearson or Persona non grata

Out of the Big Three, Randall often feels like the outcast based on being the adopted son, a point that causes tension between him and his brother, Kevin, as he shows jealousy due to feeling that Randall gets more attention as he is adopted and his family strives to find ways to fill in the cultural gaps. Being Black and adopted is another point of intersectionality that exists and is not as present in the examination in current literature. Garcia (2019) unpacks the college experiences and challenges of Black transracial adoptees in their dissertation research.

Although he had a loving family, he felt disconnected from Black culture. A theme throughout the show finds Randall seeking connection in a culture that he outwardly presents but feels that he lacks cultural capital based on his life experiences.?

Randall’s HBCU Ambitions

As his college aspirations form, he shows an interest in Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Howard University; this was a surprise to his parents, who always thought of him as someone who would go to Harvard or Yale. As articulated in a piece about Randall's ambitions and experience, he continually felt off balance, and sought to connect with Black culture, and appreciated any moment he was afforded the opportunity to do so.

One of his friends, a first-year student named Keith, takes him on an informal tour, and he immediately falls in love with the campus. Informally categorized as one of the Black Ivy League institutions, Howard has a strong lineage of alumni such as Phylicia Rashad, Kamala Harris, Chadwick Boseman, and Toni Morrison. A utopia of Blackness and uplift, this gem of an institution is known among its students and alumni as The Mecca based on its rich history and track record of fostering innovation and #blackexcellence.?

Fast forward to later that year, Randall loses his father, Jack, to a house fire, and this causes emotional and financial challenges for the family. Randall worries about his mom and the state of his family after his adoptive father’s death, so he chooses to turn down the offer from Howard and goes to Carnegie Mellon as it is closer to home. Those who follow the show know that? Randall was pegged as the responsible child and always sought to maintain peace in his family, even when it meant putting his true feelings and aspirations aside.

This swerve in the story made you feel for Randall, but it also made for a telling narrative that is all too familiar among the #firstgenerationcollegestudent student narrative, and that is the pull to meet familial obligations. Seeing his mother in tears as she is coping with his father’s death and the distance of his siblings, who were also grieving, made Randall put his desires aside and, unfortunately, turned down his acceptance to Howard. Randall sacrificed a huge opportunity for him to make the cultural connections that he longed for throughout his childhood and his adolescent years.

The Power of College

College is typically the space where students discover and rediscover themselves that is enhanced or inspired by the space, people, and experiences on a college campus. Having worked at multiple colleges, including an HBCU, I have seen aspiring students who come from a multitude of aspirations and desires to go to an HBCU. Here are some that come to mind:

1. They desire to go to an HBCU based on history and legacy.?
2. They want to maintain their connection and be in a space where Blackness is not a pejorative.?
3. They feel a visceral connection to the institution and people. It feels like home!?
4. Family Legacy! Even if not from the same HBCU, some Black families and their students have a commitment to furthering their education at HBCUs.?

Although not to an HBCU, Randall goes to college and meets the love of his life, Beth, who provides balance, cultural connections, and a family that offers a blend of what he had and did not have while growing up.

As I unpack the college narrative of Randall, I wonder these questions:

• What if Randall went to Howard and was #Meccamade? How would his character and experiences differ?
• What if Randall had been in a Black Greek Letter Organization?
• Would Randall’s sense of disconnect from Black culture be minimized if he went to an HBCU?

These are all what-ifs about Randall, but even more interesting is that among his siblings, he was the one that went to college and was not swayed by circumstances or failure. He pivoted, and with #grit and #resilience, he found a different way to achieve his goals. In this case, it was sacrificing further exploring his Black identity in a space that would possibly pose fewer cultural challenges. As #highered professionals, this begs the question of how our spaces are, and among the literature base, is there more to be said about those students who are adopted and in transracial families.

The story of Randall Pearson is one #firstgen story that will definitely be continued.?

James K. Winfield, EdD is a?#popculture?enthusiast,?#highered?administrator and instructor who is passionate about?#equity, access, and?#success. He can be followed via Twitter @jwinfield4