Edwin Amador De Trinidad, New York, NY. We are all professional, bachelor’s degree and have in common one thing: The academic progress of the students. By the way, part of is a mix of black, white, and Amerindian. I am a Nicaraguan who celebrate all race in one culture. Can you notice all my ethnic […]
Bryan Fishkin, South Orange, NJ. As a white male who reaps the unfair benefits of institutionalized racism, I must make it an absolute priority to find actionable ways in which I can help alter the system to better promote actual equality. Acknowledging that the system is broken but doing nothing about it is just simply […]
Cora Keahl, Lakeland, FL. My mother has always held high expectations of me when it comes to grades and knowledge, I’ve always been really good when it comes to testing and keeping my grades up. And when I told people that I was Asian (Filipino), they would make remarks like, “that’s why you’re so smart” […]
Hunter Jaymz Harris, Lakeland, FL. I’m mixed with a bunch of things. Yet it’s best never to forget the people and places you come from.
Zamiul Haque, Rockville, MD.
Naette Lee, Philadelphia, PA. The nature of humans is that what we see is what matters. What we see has little to do with what is, or what is important. Maybe one day that will change.
Sarah Diggins, Berlin, MA. I’m almost entirely Irish by heritage (my dad’s side is 100%), but I never really clicked with the culture. I grew up loving Celtic music, looking at gorgeous landscapes of the Irish countryside, and hearing stories about my Irish cousins and ancestors from my grandparents. But when I went to live […]
José Andrés, Submitted via Twitter: @chefjoseandres. Yes that is chef José Andrés…
Kelsey, Cleveland, OH. I’m Lebanese/Irish but grew up solely around my Lebanese family. However they rarely acknowledged where we came from. The closest I’ve gotten to my heritage is through food: being taught how to make baklava, seeing big bowls of hummus, baba ghanouj, and tabbouleh surrounded by stacks of fresh pita bread at parties, […]
Ana Artigas Houston, TX I am the child of an Italian-American mother and Spanish (from Spain) father, and I was born in Mexico. I am married to an American man of Dutch and British ancestry, We have friends in mixed race marriages. All of us have children, and there are very few TV programs, none […]
Marta Silva-Serrano Lenexa, KS Sad statement by an immigration officer when I had to fill in my request for a Social Security Number in order to work as a doctoral student in a Kansas University. I am from Spain and I had never been asked about my race before.
Allison Foster, Louisville, KY.
Alex Loose Conneautville, PA
Josh Martinez, Edinburg, TX.
Nicholas Durham Clarkson, MI I just want to know when America will realize that not only black people like chicken.
Edvige Kromayer Barrie, Clinton, NY. Growing up in the ’50s, I was unaware that most people had no idea how to pronounce my name and were therefore reluctant to call on me in class or say hi to me on the playground. At the beginning of kindergarten, one kid even asked if I was a […]
Cleo Brown, SC. I and others in our late 50s and up are members of the last generation of children to grow up under the “Jim Crow” legal system that required EVERY white person to discriminate against EVERY black person, whether or not they were racist. This extreme inequality left a residue that caused […]
Christine Thai-Pappa Fairfax, VA I was at a National Convention for my sorority, which is an Asian- American Interest sorority. A number of us had gotten onto the elevator at our hotel. There were girls from the University of Virginia, Berkeley, Standford, Cornell, and Carnegie Melon. At the next floor a group of older Caucasian […]
Erica Sykes, Chesapeake, VA. I am always approached and asked, “Are you mixed?” What does my nationality have to do with anything going on in your life? It’s none of your business.
Leslie Morris Roanoke, VA I am in management at one of the top insurance companies in the United States and this was the ignorant comment I heard when an individual on my team transferred a man to me to resolve his issue. He said “You sound like a black person.” I asked if that was […]
T Storm Heter, Stroudsburg, PA.
Takiyah L., Oakland, CA. If all it takes for me is to take on the burdens of intersectionality, just so my brother and sister, and future generations of Black and Brown youth will not have to experience that, then I am all down for the cause. I would not want them to endure such things, […]
Karen Olivares Denver, CO The stereotype of Latina girls getting pregnant at 15 is still going on and I don’t plan on getting pregnant that early because I have goals.
Lynell, Nashville, TN. “We live in a system that espouses merit, equality, and a level playing field, but exalts those with wealth, power, and celebrity, however gained.” ― Derrick A. Bell, Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth
Priya Charry, Middletown, CT. Much too complicated to be expressed in a single word. Jewish father of Eastern European descent, Trinidadian mother of Indian descent.
Marquelle, CA. Don’t believe the hype! I am African American! I am not a violent criminal. I have never been arrested! I am not lazy and uneducated, on welfare, or living in poverty. I am gainfully employed, and I attend California Baptist University! I am not athletic. I cannot play basketball or run fast! I […]
Jada Golden Sherman, Boston, MA. I’m so frustrated with people’s limited understanding and acceptance of genetics, and upbringing. The labels ‘white’ and ‘black’ are over-generalized. Especially when now that we have dark parents having white-looking babies, and white-looking parents having brown babies. Not all white people are…white, nor “white-minded”.My mother’s family is African-American, and many […]
JC Snead, Anchorage, AK.
Barbara Ann King, Sierra Vista, AZ. Find out more about this Race Card at CNN.
Hannah, St. Louis, MO. My mother is from Africa. She has dark skin. My father is Swedish. My mother used to get asked if she was my Mexican nanny. I was bullied as a kid because I look like no one in my family. No one understands I identify more as a minority but I […]
Joe Everybody, Philadelphia, PA. Bet you don’t have the stones to publish my 6 words
Kristina, Zion, IL. I’m multiracial, which caused an identity crisis in my teens. I was never enough of one race or the other to really fit in with anyone. So, I decided to just be myself. I can love all my ethnicities, and the people who were meant to love me understand that.
Charlie Seymour, Baltimore, MD.
Kyle Kruthoffer, Independence, KY. God has his hand over everything, and created everything. We should remember that God has meant for everyone to be equal and remember that, because the only way to peace in this nation and world is through Him and Him only.
Elizabeth, USA. In the novel Invisible Man, a black man in 1930s America struggles to find his identity. He starts out as hopeful and naive, believing that his hard work, determination, and intelligence will lead to eventual success and happiness. He does not realize, until the end of the novel, that the white characters and […]
Tara Saltzman, Evergreen, CO. My teens arguing in favor of de-degrading(?) the word n*****, inspired by conviction that changing the influence of words (no longer receiving the word “n*****” as having negative intent or implication), changes relationships. wondering if they are empowered by the innocence of youth and lack of historic understanding AND regardless able […]
Dianna Hamden, CT I realize that height isn’t necessarily race, but it’s a preconception that I’ve dealt with my entire life. Yes, I’m over 6 feet tall. No, I don’t play basketball. After years of the same answer, I finally learned to respond: “No, I play piano–there’s less running involved.”
Toby Johnston USA. I grew up in Los Angeles the 80’s, rabid fan of all things rap. I am white and for many of my friends (Mexican, black, white, lower/middle/upper class, whatever) rap was the music of rebellion. I got called ‘wigger’ by my white(r) friends and heard a lot of hate spewed. And yet […]
Raheem Cash, Alexandria, VA. As a kid I spent a lot of time being one of two or three black kids in honors classes. Spent a lot of time being only black kid that played tennis. Spent a lot of time not being considered “black enough”. Well I’m not a kid anymore and fortunately I […]
Curtis McCullom Irvine, CA Being a black male from Mississippi, my father taught me that in order to succeed in white American, I had to be the best in all my endeavors. If I was applying for the same position as a white person, I could not be the same. I had to be better. […]
Molly, CA.
Caroline Galvez, USA. Growing up, I always knew that I was of Asian descent because I am Filipino. For some reason, everyone I met who was non-Asian assumed that I was Chinese just because I had the slanted-like eyes as how many Asians do. I noticed that many people who see an Asian person immediately […]
Cynthia Groya, Princeton, NJ. Princeton
Stacey Wicksall, Macedon, NY. Those who have traditionally been able to oppress others also are the same group able to lift others from oppression. The power to transform is in this group’s control. Will the group choose to oppress and suppress? Or will they instead decide to progress by elevating and empowering? The lives of […]
Elizabeth S, USA. Is he on the basketball team? Does he play football? I’m white and in an interracial relationship. Whenever someone new sees a picture of us together that’s usually the first thing they ask. No, I’m sorry just because he is tall and black doesn’t mean he can dunk or played sports in […]
Spencer S., O’Fallon, MO. My entire life growing up people have blamed almost every bad thing or complaint I’ve said on my race. This has made me upset my whole life because just because I’m white is shouldn’t explain anything about me even when I came out as transgender a friend of mine who actually […]
Paula Gaehring, Haddon Heights, NJ. Have taught in Philadelphia and now have students from Camden, NJ. So few of them have good male role models in their lives. Most are raised by moms and grandmoms doing their best but it is not the same as having dads, granddads and uncles in their lives. I wish […]
Johnny B., USA. Growing up in thee northeast US, in a multi-racial mixed racial attitude combined with military and college education has afforded me a peaceful coexistence.
Kyle McDonald NC A couple of weeks ago, a friend and I got in an argument about race and sensitivity that started from watching football, of all things. I mentioned something about the fact that, if you think about it, the team the Washington Redskins is pretty offensive. His thought was “who cares?”. “People these […]
Vicki Vardaman Lynn, IN When I took my 4 year old grandson to the Indianapolis Children’s museum’s exhibit of Ruby Bridge’s school and the reproduction of the empty classroom she entered, he listened intently to the story and replied, “Mamaw! I did not know that!”
Kyle Glasper Houghton, MA Everything I feel I learn in sociology is telling me that as a black male, life has doomed me to the pits. A third of us have been incarcerated or will be and the half of the rest won’t ever go to college. It’s been this way for a while now […]
Danyahel Norris, Houston, TX. When I have a conversation about race or racism with someone white, I tend to get a few common responses. One being the fact that they weren’t even alive for things like slavery and Jim Crow, so they shouldn’t be blamed for it (not that I ever did). Another is the […]
Anonymous Flagstaff, AZ
Martha S. Jones, Ann Arbor, MI. Submitted via Twitter: @marthasjonesUM #TheRaceCardProject @michele_norris
Michael, Beaumont, CA. I was hated for being a white football coach in a nearly all black school. It didn’t matter that I had the players best interests at heart, if I had to speak to a player about his behavior I was only doing it because I was white and didn’t like black people. […]
Cash’e Chapman, Philadelphia, PA.
Brock Townsend, Eugene, OR.
Izarya Nathan, Miami, FL. Whenever I speak out against wrongs being done I immediately become ostracized and veiwed as a threat to status quo.
Elizabeth Gonzalez, Hodgkins, IL. I am proud of living in my neighborhood. I did not choose to be born a Latina or living in this neighborhood but no matter how bad it is I still love it. I wouldn’t change a single thing about my life.
Hilary Salazar, McAllen, TX. I attended a middle school with only seven Hispanics/Latinos. One day during 2nd period, the librarian called all seven of us over the intercom to come to the library. I had no idea why, but everyone laughed as I walked out of class. I got to the library along with the […]
Agnes Farmer, Chugiak, AK.
Franklin Oliver, Indianapolis, IN.
Peter de Schweinitz, Springville, UT. I believe that using race-based terms can either be healing or harmful. Each person employing the terms is responsible for looking into their intentions to discover whether they are working to heal racial injustice and divisions toward the ultimate goal of transcending race, or if they have other conscious or […]
Erin Binford, Denver, CO. This is a great idea!
CP, Garland, TX. I’m frustrated. Very much so. There is a lot of hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance, especially within my race – Caucasian. I wish so much for everyone to open their eyes, minds, and hearts to the plight of others. To recognize that the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s didn’t eradicate the inherent […]
Randy, Richmond, TX. Dividing ourselves is counter productive. It will not be easy, not everyone will be on board. Love, respect, communication, and unity has to be the formula for change.
Piper Meade, Denver, CO. Social justice is our responsibility. Freedom means freedom for all people, all people or it is meaningless, or it is not Freedom. Keep on fighting. Keep on loving.
Marryn Hilliker, Strasburg, PA. I chose these words that are jokingly spoken towards me very frequently. I’m a 20 year old white girl, blue eyes, red hair (although my “basic-ness” was worse when I was a blonde) attending college, who just happens to be apart of a sorority, loves Starbucks coffee, participates in the Netflix […]
Kim Kime, Hilo, HI. People seem to think, at least where I live in Hilo Hawaii, that white means money and a background with out hurt. They forget that many whom came to america came here to get away from racism, abuse, war, and or fame. I am Irish, I know my peoples pasts. It […]
Aaron Matthew Villalobos, Norman, OK. While I’m admittedly more apple pie than beans & rice, I have never felt my heritage as a Mexican-American detracted from my ability to honor my country with the gift god has given me–my voice. I love singing our national anthem. I feel like it’s the biggest contribution I can […]
JaNohn B. Snellville, GA. When we look at someone or find out where they are from, we assume they speak a certain way. When the person debunks that myth, it appears that everything that is said is some wonder. I went to school just like you did. It’s just a place you’re scared of and […]
Danielle Cuddy, Napa, CA. Growing up as an adopted South Korean female in the city of Napa proved a challenging adolescence. I was called, “China Girl” in elementary school, but that was okay with me because the other children would come to realize that they were wrong and I was actually from the opposite side […]
David Yun Anaheim, CA
Ed Wang, West Lafayette, IN. As an Asian living in the U.S., I have been underestimated my whole life and probably will for the rest of my life. I am allowed to be smart and get good grades but I am seen as physically inferior, void of any athletic abilities. People don’t believe that I […]
Jean M. Hebrard Ann Arbor, MI Understanding Race Project – University of Michigan
Christina Williams, Aliso Viejo, CA. Race is such as small idea in comparison to bigger ideas like love, togetherness, family, connection and happiness. I wish to raise my children in a world where people are celebrated for ideas and compassion and not for superficial ideas such as skin color and ethnicity. Race is outside of […]
Ra’Niqua Ball, Shreveport, LA. I am constantly being asked why I am so short. I can’t help that I’m the short one. All through middle school I was 4″10 & I’ve grown some inches since.
Jane Medina Orange, CA My daughter Annie had just turned 21. So she, my husband, my son, and I put on our cocktail party clothes and went to the fanciest restaurant in Orange, California to buy Annie her first drink. As our car climbed the steep hill where the restaurant sat like a crown above […]
Taylor Harris O’Fallon, IL
Alan Smith, Angier, NC. This was said to me by an instructor, as an 18-year old US Navy sailor, having just completed submarine training in Groton, CT in 1978. I graduated 14th of 98 in my class, and was presented with an award for excellence by the Eastern Connecticut Council Navy League of the US. […]
Mike Snow Spotsylvania, VA I have listened to the Race Card Project for some time on my NPR station and it has encouragd my own thoughts on the subject. I admitted to my self many years ago that I had thoughts and views that one could deem as “racist”. This smacked me in the face […]
Damon Williams, Florence, CO. I served four years in the 82nd Airborne Division from Jan 2001 to Jan 2005. Served in three tours and would do it all again for my family and fellow Americans! Airborne, H-Minus, All the way!
Mary Walrath, Rochester, NY. I am Italian-American with the signature “Italian nose.” It is big, humped and crooked, and my entire young life was spent being called a “bird,” a “witch,” having bird calls made at me in halls, etc. It is surely nothing like the plight of many others in this country, but it […]
Mariah Frisk, Morris, MN. Being from a small town in northern Minnesota, I haven’t been exposed to much culture in my day. My sophomore year of high school, I took a trip to New Orleans with my church for the 2012 National Youth Gathering. We were there to help the community recover from Hurricane Katrina. […]
Donald A. Dale Lancaster, PA I believe in a loving, caring and gracious GOD and that we are all GOD’S children, created equally.
Nathan Krasniak, Moreno Valley, CA. As a young child, my parents instilled a solid work ethic and introduced me to setting goals. 18 years later I am so very thankful! Initially I wasn’t very receptive. I didn’t understand why my friends didn’t have chores and I had quite a bit of them. My parents would […]
Fannie Blakely Philadelphia, PA Was in a gifted class in junior high school. First day in an advance math class teacher informed me not to worry, but I would never be as smart as the other kids, that it was not in my genetic make-up. I aced that class (highest grade) and every other class […]
Cierra Garza, Parlier, CA. When I first moved to my new high school 15 minutes away from my hometown, I had no friends. I am now a senior in high school. I’ve met new people and made friends but, one thing that always comes up when someone is comfortable with me is the phrase, “I […]
Elizabeth James Sugar Land, TX I wasn’t really aware of this till I became older, yea my mom looked different than I and pretty much everyone mostly on my moms side of the family but I never put much thought into it. I got this a lot in middle school and high school actually “Well […]
Brandon M. VerBurg, 8th Grade Holland New Tech High School, Holland, MI. I love to study the past, and history is filled with turning points. Points that change the world. One that is being missed often is Civil Rights. Back in 1964 the movement was passed. It was passed so that race wouldn’t be an […]
Janice Lowe New York City, NY My mother, Dr. Willa Lowe was one of the first black English teachers in several high schools in New Jersey, Washington, DC and Ohio. She was part of that first wave of school integration in which talented African American teachers were hired before African American students were admitted. She […]
Eric Wall, Kent, WA. I was fortunate to be part of an integrated busing program all through elementary school. I went to college and got a master’s degree in Multicultural Education. I still spend too much time talking the talk and not walking the walk. Fully understanding the impact of Race is truly a life […]
Jules M. Marquart, Louisville, KY. In Louisville during the pre-busing 1960s, this “screening” question was based on assumptions and generalizations about race and class. A high school in the West End of the city–African-American (Negro or Black back then) and poor; in the South End–white and red neck; and in the East End–white and privileged.
Andrea Vonstein, Akron, OH. During high school, I was considered the whitest black girl because I got along with them so much.
Ava Raddatz Drake University Des Moines, IA
Ava, Westchester, IL. Here is my Anatomy Class during spirit week!
Nicholas Howe, Northhampton, MA. Smith College I attended a mixed-race suburban public high school in Connecticut, where I competed on both the swim team and the track team in the late 80’s. Only one member of the swim team was African American, and his race was the elephant in the room that nobody would talk […]
Eric Arellano Denver, CO Being Mexican has always been tough love for me, I have been bullied and given a stereotype that labels me as a gardner, a trumpeteer with a Mariachi Band, or a Peleta Man who sells Ice Cream out of carts. I am none of these, I am a dancer with a […]
Caroline Kish, Dunwoody, GA. I will not deny that race continues to reek extreme havoc on modern day social order. I see it every day at my high school, in the news, and even on the billboards lining the highway. We can all say that we ‘don’t see color’, but in reality, there are not […]
Deckonti, Vineland, NJ. Just one of the many comments I would get growing up in a predominately all-white Catholic School where I was the only black and dark skin girl in my class.
