skin color Archives - The Race Card Project

Meera Andrews, New Zealand.

Not overcooked or underdone. Just right.

Lei-Anna Bertelsen, Bozeman, MT. I’ve grappled with this question all my life. My dad told me a story when I was a second grader after a boy called me names based on my skin color. My dad explained that when God made people, it took three tries to bake us to just the right color. […]

Your color doesn’t make you better.

Sasha Dee, Richmond, VA. It drives me crazy that people think something as arbitrary as the color of their skin makes them inherently worth more than someone else. Your skin color should be the least of the things about yourself that give you self worth. Be kind. Be generous. Be a good person. Be proud […]

Human Spirit – Our One Equal Tie

Kimberly Davenport, Elizabethtown, KY. Irregardless of our containment, the color of our skin, our heritage, our social structures…one element binds us all and that one element is that which cannot completely be embodied.. the human spirit. I just ordered a dna test..so once and for all I can clarify to some degree what my exterior […]

Race isn’t real …

Kaitlyn Cook, Fairmont, MN. When I was little I lived in an apartment building in a small town. I grew up roaming the halls and making friends with anyone and everyone. The Asian-American women on the first floor who let me help water her plants, the Native-American elderly couple on the second floor who loved […]

A mixture that is still white

Sydney Skroch, Minneapolis, MN. I have lived in Minnesota my whole life and my world has opened up extremely slowly to diversity and different cultures. However, learning about the world through the eyes of others has always been super interesting to me, and with every new experience, I feel myself shaping. I am part Italian, […]

“I can marry whoever I want.”

R.E.A.L. Talk, High Tech Middle Media Arts, 7th Grade Trailblazer I never really have thought through what my grandma was saying. I was only just a little girl. I still am but after all these years, I have decoded her. She never thought she was being controlling. She never knew how meaningful all those sentences, […]

Your son looks nothing like you!

Dr. J., Irving, TX. It’s true, everyone tries to find similarities between babies and their parents. But the search ends when people see my son’s curly golden hair, blue eyes, and light complexion. Someone once asked me, “are you sure you want to name him Diego?” (when he was 9 months old). I’ll admit it, […]

One Mirror With Many Different Reflections.

Keith R. Barnes, Colorado Springs, CO. I hear people talking about being a part of a pure race. Race is a distinction placed upon one’s physical and genetic traits most notably skin color. Race is a social construct created to make one category seemingly superior over another. Biologists and anthropologists have discovered race mixing throughout […]

I Carry Guilt Because I’m White

Brandie Bushee, Cedar Falls, IA. In our current times we hear about racism every day. I hate it. I’m not one to say “I don’t see race; I’m colorblind”, because to “be blind” to race is to ignore the problem of racism. But I am one to say that I love everyone no matter their […]

My Mother Hated My Dark Skin

Mike Elliott Alexandria, VA My mother was brown. Her skin a shade so perfect until the day she died she was “Puddin” to her family and friends. My father a lighter shade of brown was “high yellow” and proud to be colored. He had a fraternal twin who was dark like an egg plant, blue-black. […]

I’m white but I’m also European

Gianna Radoi, USA. People think that being white means you are American. I am second generation, born and raised in America, but my parents are from Europe. Sure, they fled communism in the 80’s, but for a better life. Things did not always come easy for them when they started new lives here, with only […]

Privilege cripples; step out, run naked.

Tannya Forcone, Akron, OH. My truck isn’t allowed to go faster on the freeway because it’s yellow. Why should my skin color allow me any other benefit? Privilege is embarrassing. Inequality causes our society to stagger in a circle, never moving forward toward justice.

I hate being called a “white boy”

Anonymous, USA. “White boy”, , , . What I don’t understand is why there has always had to be a race at the bottom. No one seems to be able to get the freaking idea of racial equality through the six inches between their ears. First it was Africans. Then Jews, Asians, Latinos, Middle Eastern […]

Still afraid for my loved ones

Shari Washington, Clinton, MD. Angry that in 2014 I still fear for my beautiful brown children and their children simply because of the color of their skin. I am shocked and appalled by the brutality and number of incidents brought to light as of late involving the denigration of black people, esp., black men.

See me, not my skin color.

Refugio Zavala, Stockton, CA. All throughout my life, people have judged me by the color of my skin. When I was in the United States, people would call me things like “beaner” and “wetback.” These are racial slurs meant to humiliate and make me ashamed of my culture. So what that I liked to eat […]

White doesn’t define who I am!

Briana, Stockton, CA. The color of my skin does not define the true person I am on the outside or even within. The color of my skin does not show you my deep meaning. One cannot judge off of the pigmentation that they see of one person. In reality, we are many things, deeper than […]

Race Doesn’t Exist, We Create It

Jenna DeBell, LONGWOOD, FL. Race doesn’t exist, we create it. The concept of race has always baffled me. Judging a person’s character, intelligence and abilities merely by the color of their skin does not correlate in anyway. In fact, it seems ridiculous. Race is referred to as “groups of people who have differences and similarities […]

I am white, I am privileged.

Carly Mayer, Portland, OR. Often I hear white people say that they are not privileged because they aren’t wealthy, or because they aren’t straight, etc. But white people have a privilege that most of us are unaware of. We don’t get pulled aside at airports or pulled over by police officers or verbally assaulted solely […]

Don’t judge me by my color

Melanie Best, Princeton, WV. Everyday the color of my skin seems to negatively impact my life. I live in a very racist area, and while I’m not “black black” I’m still different and that’s bad enough.

I’m more than just a color

Jasmyn Joseph, Lithonia, GA. I’m from Mobile, Al….. Bible Belt city, unfortunate my grandparents where witch doctors. My granny is half Black-American and Native Cherokee and grandfather was said to be Haitian. While my dad is a creole and Black-American mix. Yet, with some many mixtures in the boiling pot, I’m usually all the time […]

What am I supposed to say?

Zack Ritchie, Boulder, CO. I am a white male. Race doesn’t play a very important role in my life. I go through my daily activities without having to think about how people view the color of my skin. My uncle, however, is African American. His children, my cousins, have dark skin. Because of that, race […]

Why Does My Race Cause Fear

Steven, Aldie, VA. I feel that because of my skin color, my race, and all of the characterizations that have been made about both, there is a fear is exuded when people see me. Some of it is ignorant like the seeing a well-built black man being some type of demon or beast. Like how […]

Shamed for being who I am

Avery, Los Angeles, CA. All throughout my life I’ve felt many challenges that come along with my race. All throughout elementary school, when I was an impressionable little kid, in all my history classes I was told that white people did all the harm in the world and were literally heartless. I even got bullied […]

You’re Not Black, You’re Too White

KayKay Mara, Lancaster, CA. I have spent my whole life being judged by my skin color. It was never a big deal to me since I was always warned that life was going to be this way no matter how hard I tried to fix it. People don’t see that sometimes the little things they […]

The one with the brown skin.

4 Comments

Jeremy Martin, Cincinnati, OH. My 7-year-old daughter about the only African American girl on her cheer team. How do we move past skin color as an identity, even for children?

Race conversation is hard; do it

R.E.A.L. Talk, High Tech Middle Media Arts, 7th Grade Trailblazer Growing up I never encountered racism. I use to think everyone had the privilege to do anything they like such as going to the same restaurant or going to the movies. What I know now is that is wasn’t like that. Our history has shown […]

Skin color can´t define a person

R.E.A.L. Talk, High Tech Middle Media Arts, 7th Grade Trailblazer Race and racism isn’t something I’ve had really any experiences with all my life. I don’t know anyone, I’ve never heard or seen anything before videos and everything with this project, and nothing has ever happened towards me. The only experiences I’ve had are from […]

“You don’t know me, no judging”

As a kid, people call me brown sugar, or caramel, and think of me as a kid who crossed the border with her family illegally, because of my skin color. My family was always poor and had jobs that didn’t always keep roofs over our heads. We always ran or hid from the police and […]

The lies of my skin color.

Kitt Smith, USA. I have white skin, green eyes and brown hair. I appear every bit a homogeneous American white. I am not. I am a first generation American born to a Mexican illegal and a Irish immigrant. My family has no history here and no part in the oppression of black people. Both sides […]

I define myself; nobody else can.

Rucheeka Desai, College Park, MD. I am the only person who has a say in who I am and who I will become. My race does not define me, my skin color does not define me, and other people’s opinions definitely do not define me.

It just isn’t done. Why Not?

Catherine, Beach City, OH. I have always been told by my father that ” I better not catch you with some black kid!” or by my grandmother “that just was never done in our church” or “I don’t know why. we just didn’t have that”. I could never grasp why my family was so discriminating […]

“I’m not just my skin color”

Toni Henry, Sanford, FL.

I feel guilty of my skin color

Elisha Lowery, Delaware, OH. At times I feel guilty for being white. I feel people look at me and say “she has it easy she is white”. I feel guilty of how certain people still today treat colored people and they should’t treat them badly because we are all human.

I have white on my hands

Rachel Rodrigo, Chalfont, PA. Instead of blood on my hands, I have white on my hands. There are days when I read or hear people who are also white like me saying or doing terrible things to people different races and cultures. Some days I feel guilty that I’m white even though I didn’t choose […]

White doesn’t make me a racist.

Dee Oh, TX. Why isn’t it racist for other people to say that because I’m white, I’m a racist? I am attacked solely because of my skin color from black people. Only from black people. Why isn’t that racist? I add to a conversation that statistically, more blacks are killed by other blacks than by […]

Why is my life worth more?

Jasmine Balsalobre, Oviedo, FL. My appearance does not determine my morals, my passions, my hobbies, my opinions, or my relationships, so how can it determine my value as a person? Why do I get to feel safe when I see a police officer while others, similar to me in all but skin color, fear for […]

“Flesh color crayon: now “peach.” Hope.

John Calvin Miller, Fairfield, IA. “Flesh” color crayon: institutionalized racism revealed These both relate to an incident at U-Tapao Thailand where I served as Race Relations OIC during the Vietnam war. I helped design an embroidered Brotherhood patch for sale to airmen. When it was first being made, I went to the tailor shop to […]

My skin color eclipses my culture

Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Denver, CO. Being light skinned and Mexican has been the hardest thing to navigate in life. A dark skinned mother and an Anglo father gave birth to a light skin mestiza.

My Skin Color Doesn’t Define Me!

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 […]

Skin color does not determine beauty!

Alyssa Bowen, Virginia Beach, VA.

Brilliance Is Not Determined By Color

Kelly K. Buck, Harrisburg, PA. Unfortunately as events have shown, some still believe that its either the only or contributing factor, as to how others should be treated. The value and potential of life, doesn’t decrease because of the shade of our skin.

I’m learning to hear ebonics differently

Penelope Howard, USA. I realized lately that while I don’t discriminate against skin color (as far as I know), a part of me discriminates against the way many black people talk. Did I learn nothing from My Fair Lady?

Not black, brown, neither white, beige

Ida Nielsen, Danmark I think it’s wrong to use the words BLACK and WHITE. I mean: I got a lighter skin tone, than the people you would call black, but that doesn’t mean that I’m white. No, I’m not white, and they are NOT black. If I was white, then you shouldn’t be able to […]

I thought you’d be something else?

Natilee Pinedo, Chino, CA. Whenever I tell someone that I am a hundred percent Mexican, I always get a look as if I am telling a joke. Just because I have light skin, green eyes and light colored hair people automatically assume I am some type of European. Someone’s race should not be determined solemnly […]

Very little difference between us all.

Betty Lindsey, South Holland, IL. All of us humans know it…that there is little that’s different about us… but we let skin color, demographic, etc., get in the way of us really getting to know and love each other.

Yes, Brown is beautiful and worthy

Gilberto Tapia Jr, Salinas, CA. I grew up within a mostly Hispanic/Latino community. I remember growing up, others would keep their distance because of my skin color as if it automatically made me some type of criminal. The media portrays beauty as being light skinned with blue eyes, but I would not change my skin […]

My skin color doesn’t make me.

Michael Hall, Southfield, MI. I am from Detroit, MI. I am a leader and role model in my community. I aim high with the goals that I set for myself to give hope to young black children that look up to me.

I knew one side of racism.

Joyce Goodluck, East Lansing, MI. On Location, MSU. Before coming to MSU I knew one side of racism from media. Whites discriminating Blacks. I even once experienced that when I passed by Akers Hall and some one shouted at me from his window black and African. I was like he is a racist.But whom am […]

I Am Not White Or Black

Matthew, TX. Black, White, Asian, or Pink with Purple polka dots – your skin color is not who you are. Do not obsess over the shade God painted you when you were born. Do not let history define you. Do not allow others to control your actions. Love, respect, kindness. Not hate and vengeance for […]

Hiding behind my white skin color

Marlee Chamberlain, Eugene, OR.

I’m Proud To Be Irish/Italian American

Sean, CT. I’m not proud to be white, because there’s so many different kinds of white and I’m not proud of my skin color, I’m proud of my culture. Sunday dinners. Seafood. Irish bread. That’s what I identify with, not the color of my skin. And to call me racist for that is complete shi*.

We all have the same skeleton.

Jenelle Frias, Capitola, CA. Underneath our skin color, our sexual orientation, or religion we all are the same.

I’m Mexican Snow White, Wexican, Washingtonian

Hailey M., Sacramento, CA. Growing up I always called myself Mexican even though the color of my skin would have to believe differently.

RACE isn’t culture or beauty. Brains are.

Aida Verri, New Orleans, LA. You are not ugly, pretty, stupid, smart, strong, weak, violent or calm because of your “race”. Your skin color isn’t your race, isn’t your culture, isn’t your identity.

My skin color tells you nothing.

Lisa Gardner, Portland, OR.

Your soul is deeper than skin color

Melissa Pierce, Bowling Green, OH. As people, we need to start seeing each other for who they are rather than what they are. People have personalities, souls, and feelings that we are not taking account of when we only see skin color.

Yes, you can touch my hair.

Jarae Farrell, Poughkeepsie, NY. My father is West Indian and my mother is black. I grew up in a very diverse town in the northeast, so when I was younger I knew there were people who looked different than me, but race wasn’t really a thing for me until I was in high school. Even […]

The privilege of being white while black

Joseph Benjamin, San Antonio, TX. I’m a light skinned black man who grew up poor and black in the south, but because of my skin color I’ve always been treated differently from birth to the time when I realized the significance of it being white while black. I went with a dark skinned friend to […]

Skin is brown, but I’m successful

Jessica Hernandez, San Juan Capistrano, CA. My little sisters were born very light (white) skinned, while I was born brown. My father likes to think that because they are light, they will be more successful, in terms of reproduction and survival. Because they are light he says they will get all they guys. Well, only […]

iSpy with my pretty brown eyes…

Michele, Leesburg, VA. This was one of the nicer things said to my daughter at her church-ran private school, where she was the only white kid in her class. The girls would actually tell her that they couldn’t play with her because of her skin color. She asked, with tears in her eyes, why she […]

When Skin Color Fades Away

Leonard Rios, Imperial Beach, CA. I am an American Indian on tribal roles and racism has followed my people childhood to present. I am a traditionalist and live an old school life style founded on respect and the spirit of taking only what we need and giving when all possible. I moved to Imperial Beach […]

Embrace who you are, love it

Eric D., Houston, TX. While my son was in elementary school, I asked what race dose he tells his schoolmates he was. He quickly responded, “White”. When I asked why, he said that his skin color wasn’t brown or black. As he grew older he learned about both his Spanish and African American heritage. Now […]

Race is about culture not color.

Hunter, Birmingham, AL. What does race mean to me? When I think of race I don’t think about skin color. I think about culture, religion, and values. Today many people do not understand what it means to have a specific culture. Even though we seem to make claims about it every day. Truth of the […]

Dont judge, until you know me.

Sheila Khakpour, Jacksonville, FL. Now a days everyone is so quick to judge each other. It simply just takes one look. It can be based on your skin color, how you look, or even your name. People are so quick on judging other individuals, no one actually tries to get to know each other anymore. […]

I’m African-American and on time.

Jendayi Rachal, California, CA. I am a proud African-American female who is goal oriented and has her priorities in order. I do not follow stereotypes. I like to express myself and be an individualist. And I know how to enunciate and articulate as well. Intelligence does not belong to a specific skin color.

I don’t… but I really do.

4 Comments

Brittany Price, USA. Being raised in such a racist environment makes it hard to be an adult in a totally different mind set. As far as I have come, I still judge people based on their race, including white people such as myself. It’s pathetic that still, in 2015, individuals are treated a certain way […]

Open Conversations about race always matter

Michael Goldberg, Dallas, TX. Race conversations should always be happening no matter your background or skin color. Stop the finger pointing on both sides and start talking to solve the problems.

Money Brings Shame to My Skincolor

Kelly Escarcega, Northwest, AR.

The Elephant in the Living Room

Theodore, Stilwell, KS. Never assume to fully understand someone or the experiences they have lived by the color of their skin or the appearances they maintain without having a conversation with them.

I’m Brazilian. Am I still white?

Kati, Nottingham, MD. I did not know what white privilege was before coming to the US. I definitely see how I have it easier here than people with different skin colors. But I will be honest. I have had a hard time being told all the time that I cannot understand hardship because of my […]

I pass. What is my place?

Jennifer Ward, Denver, CO. As discussions have proliferated in Denver and online about race, the Black Lives Matter movement, and how change should be implemented, one idea that has been reiterated is that white people’s place is to support, while black people’s place is to lead and direct. I understand that, but where does that […]

Too white to be half Latin

Laura Leon, Riverside, CA. My father was full Puerto Rican and very proud of it. He always taught us to be proud of our culture, especially me because I am “whiter” than my sisters. Over the years I’ve been accused of lying about my culture due to my fair skin, a concept I never understood. […]

We’re more than our skin color

Katie Hixon, Duvall, WA.

That’s My Husband! That’s Her Daddy!

Anonymous, IA. My mother had left the hospital to go home for a while, take a long hot shower,get fresh clothes for us both,and other little errands. Since I was a toddler of 3 or 4 years old I couldn’t be left alone in the hospital Pediatric Intensive Care ward,so my mother left my father […]

Look in the EYE, smile, say HI!

Deborah Williams Clearwater, FL Fear affects all of us. Bad people are out there but it’s not based on skin color. When you walk by, take a moment to look that fear in the eye. Smile and say HI! You will see that 99.9% of the time your fear was unfounded.

I am more than skin color

Mitch Dobbs, Columbus, OH. There was a time in our society when individuals were treated differently based on the color of their skin. It was and is apalling and just plain wrong. Nothing will change that or make it right. “I am more than skin color” means that we must look past the burden of […]

Blacks are hiding behind skin color.

Robert Reich, San Jose, CA. The White Man can’t do any more for the Black Man, he has to do it himself.

You don’t look like you’re Mexican.

Alyssa Ortega, Fresno, CA. I was born into a Mexican family, with parents who were BOTH born outside of marriage as a result of infidelity. They are both still Mexican, but much lighter than the rest of their families (They are also BOTH part Spaniard) and were not taught Spanish unfortunately due to circumstance. I […]

You’re not like other Asian people!

Julie Phan, San Jose, CA. Hey, what are you? Uh, I’m Asian…? Really? You don’t look Asian. You’re tan, and chill, and not like other Asians. And you’re kinda ghetto. Honestly, you look Mexican or mixed. 1. My skin color does NOT identify my race, nor does it identify anybody else’s race/ethnicity. 2. Is not […]

Don’t know if I’m a bad person

Judea, Estes Park, CO. I have heard it said that being White automatically makes me racist. Although I grew up in a mainly White town, I’ve always been kind and respectful to everyone regardless of their skin color. When I heard that many people believe that all whites harbor racist thoughts, I read more into […]

I don’t know what I am.

Jordi A. Snell, The Netherlands. My mother is Dutch and my father is Moluccan (Melanesian I assume). I don’t exactly know what my father’s race is because alot of Moluccans have mixed race ancestry. All I know is that my father’s skin color is ‘Black’, he has thick curly hair when it’s long, but his […]

I am not plain white rice.

Nicole Rice, San Juan Capistrano, CA. I am more than just ‘white’ even though everyone looks at me and says that is all I am. I have a lot more in me than just white, but no one will ever know unless they ask. I have even received the nickname ‘white rice’ because of my […]

You’re not Swedish you’re too dark

Paulina Persson, San Clemente, CA. People love to make assumptions by skin color. I love to see people’s facial expressions when they find out I was born in Stockholm and that I am half Swedish and Puerto Rican.

Does my skin color really matter?

Ricardo Quintanilla Jr., Mission, TX. For what I have seen the world to be, skin color makes for a subject of preference or a form of documentation. Skin color shouldn’t define or explain, it should simply be what it is, a skin color.

I’m color-blind, and it works.

Kennedy R. Cotter, OK. How can we still see people first by skin color, who are we to judge someone?

You have the right skin color

Erin Fischer, Boulder, CO. This is actually the end of a quote from Abraham Verghese’s novel, Cutting for Stone. The whole quote says “Accent be damned in Africa, as long as it’s foreign and you have the right skin color.” It is referencing how a person who was low class and not well educated in […]

My skin color isn’t my culture

4 Comments

Andrew Beer, Philadelphia, PA. As a white male, I am lumped together with the rest of white America, but white isn’t a culture. My family came to the U.S from the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs before WWII from Dubrovnik, but no one seems to even think that I’m not a descendant of the […]

I am not just African American.

Erica Watts, Arlington, TX. Growing up, I believed that I was all African American. My mother was African American and so was my brother and that is all I needed to know, to know that I was African American. However, as i got older, people began to question my ethnicity. Some claiming that I looked […]

Father failed his brown bag test.

Derrick Warren, Baltimore, MD. I remember my father talking to me about his college days in Missouri. There was this fraternity on campus that would require their prospective pledges to pass what was said to be a brown bag test. Essentially, if you were darker than the brown bag, you could not get into the […]

Read Kingsblood Royal by Sinclair Lewis

Marsha Surkin, White Bear Lake, MN. I am a white woman, 72 yrs old. When I was 11 I disobeyed my mom and read Kingsblood Royal. This was the first time I was aware of racial diveristy. In the book a man finds out he has a black grandfather and is run out of town. […]

Only one’s sexuality trumps skin color.

BL, Iowa City, IA.

Skin color shouldn’t define our needs

Olivia Sliwa, Brandon, FL. I am a freshman in college and grew up in a loving, supportive family. Myself and both of my parents are white, but the always instilled in me to treat others as I would want to be treated and to never judge anyone simply because they had a different skin tone […]

Black girl name, White girl speech

Terynee, East Lansing, MI. My name is Terynee, my sister’s names are Tyani and T’Asia. These are all names my mother thought to be creative and beautiful. I love my name and both my sisters names, but when people “Try” and pronounce it, it is repeatedly devoured. I get that it is different but sometimes […]

My blackness should NOT equal fear.

Attalah Shabazz, Richmond, VA. Wipe the slate clean, don’t generalize, there is more to me than my skin color. I am more than what society teaches you about me. Give me a chance, give us all a chance. Throw away all of you presumptions.

Im Very Tan And Not Mexican

Alex Cummings, Weston, CT.

My skin doesn’t make me racist.