Questions of identity are so common these days one might think they were the result of recent events. But while they've certainly been supercharged by such, they've been around longer than many of the people who are reading this have been alive – or, at the very least, busily adulting. For proof, one need to look no further than key episodes of classic television programs that date back decades. Race relations, economic hardship, gay rights, environmental concerns, equal pay for women … they've all been done before. A case in point: An episode of The Facts of Life from its second season titled "Who Am I?" in which Tootie (Kim Fields, pictured at top) becomes increasingly obsessed with the fact that all of her best friends at the all-girl boarding school she attends are white. "You think it's a terrific thing, giving a Black girl a white education, and white friends," she exclaims at one point. "Nobody cares that I'm going to wake up one morning and not know who I am. Well, I care, and I'm not going to let that happen to me!"
"The Facts of Life" Were All About … Us!
