Lighter than us, Darker than them
Juliette Delacano, Los Angeles, CA Growing up mixed race, it’s hard to feel a sense of belonging with each side of your family, each community...
I never think of you as Asian.
Virginia, Cambridge, MA. I’m half Filipina. And I’ve always thought of myself as half. But one day at a faculty meeting a colleague told me...
I (don’t) fit. Don’t look closely.
Emery Boyle-Scott, Milwaukee, WI. I want to belong in a group, and it’s nice to belong until someone looks closely. My whiteness is always sidelined...
My friends forget I am Asian.
Ben, Reno, NV. One time a bunch of friends and I were hanging out, and I forget what exactly was said, but one of them...
Blinded grandfather gave granddaughter excellent vision
Nicole, East Lansing, MI. My grandfather was blind all my life. All I knew was that there was an accident. It wasn’t until he passed...
Sorry, this AMERICAN sings it better.
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...
Stopping myself from hating white people
Simone, Canada. I’m Asian-Canadian, and honestly, it’s kind of hard not to feel just plain alienated right now. It’s just gotten bad lately. The level...
I wish he was a girl.
Kristen Moorhead, Silver Spring, MD. I’ve always told my son, “You can be anything you want to be.” Before Shani Davis’ won gold, POTUS was...
Our boys died for your kind
Deborah Halperin, Bloomington, IL A man said this to me while we were in line at the post office. I was 18 and had just...
The plantation haunts my gay marriage.
Erik Shawn Frampton, Charlotte, NC. I am the descendant of a line of plantation owners in South Carolina. As a gay man, my upcoming marriage...
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...
“Shonda?” No interview. “SK?” Wow, interview!
Shonda Kay Purvis, Green Cove Springs, FL. I have had to rebrand myself and change my name because “Shonda K. Purvis” (and her “BLACK” resume)...
Latina raised in the suburbs….Wepa
Brenda Enid Mejias, Honeybrook, PA. True Puerto Rican girl….. I am the one with all the family recipes… And I love being her. Wepa– According...
Rice is my LIFE. Deal with it.
Emily, Perris, CA. I have NEVER been so proud to be a Filipino-American. My culture is my everything and I would not trade it for...
Vietnamese, torn between remembering or not.
Thien Kim Ho, Somerville, MA. I grew up in what seemed like a movie representation of my own race. My mother was a nail technician....
Black lesbian CPA, it’s really me.
Andrea Hyson, San Francisco, CA. About two months ago, I finally met a new employee in another department. This woman and I had numerous phone...
Growing up in America as “other.”
Marie K. Shanahan, Submitted via Twitter: @mariekshan. When you’re not quite minority enough. In 1997 at age 25, I came to terms with my place...
