Strange fruit in a Plum Tree
Ronnie Dunn, Cleveland, OH My family was the third African American family to move on my street, Gay Avenue, on Cleveland’s Eastside in 1964. I...
Not as white as I appear.
Susi Matthews, Kansas City, MO. I am 1/4 Navajo plus Cherokee and Mohawk. I am also English, Irish, Scots and German. I LOOK white; my...
When did you notice the Band-Aids?
Molly, Bozeman, MT. I was in my teens before it occurred to me that Band-Aids are made to match the skin of the White majority....
I see much. I feel everything.
Jeanie Mitchell, Atlantic Beach, FL. I’m a taxi driver. I’ve been accused of being too liberal to be a cab driver. I see so much,...
White women: remember, you’re still white.
Brenton Poke, Lansing, MI. Feminism is important. It is something that should be studied and taught. It needs to be led by women and men...
“I am an undercover Mexican.” – a coworker of mine who doesn’t “look Mexican”
Paul Audette , Submitted via Twitter: @wisereturn5m.
My Family Well Kept Secret Revealed
Mary F. Howard, Stockbridge, GA. I discovered I am one-fourth Native American. My paternal grandfather is full blood Cherokee. I just learned several months ago...
I wonder what he’s doing there?
Edward Hershey, Portland, OR. My mom, a Stevenson Democrat, and I were walking home from the subway in Brooklyn ca. 1955 when she spotted a...
Blond hair – can’t use Afro Sheen
Diane Smith, Anchorage, AK. I was the only white girl in my 6th grade class at Windsor Hills Elementary School in Los Angeles. I wished...
We experience, we teach, we grow.
Eli Russell, Austin, TX. As a writer, these six words are something I’ve said before. I lend it here to hopefully add to the growing...
Why didn’t we talk about this?
Madison Martin, Ewing, NJ. Growing up in a predominantly white town, race was not a topic of much discussion in the classroom. My parents were...
I’m actually from the United States
Katherine Ellis, American Fork, UT. I stood alone by the playground, kicking pebbles. Someone approached me and I glanced up eagerly, hoping for a friend....
Excuse me, are you a Negro?
Jean Pierce Morrow, State College, PA I grew up in a suburb of West Philadelphia in the 1950s. My town had two elementary schools, and...
Grateful for Painful Cultureshock Down South
Audrey A Fischer, Wilson, NC. When I lived in Virginia Beach, I didn’t notice race. Up north, it was so institutionalized that I barely knew...
I never met a Jew before
Bob Rosenfield, St. Louis, MO. I work in a rural area of Missouri where there is no diversity. Most everyone are white and Christian. It...
Constant conversation with my radical mom.
Alexis Danzig New York City, NY Manhattan This exhibit moved me to tears. I am so proud of the Brooklyn Museum, delighted to see the...
Which category do I belong to?
Patrilie Hernandez, Washington, DC. When you look at me, what race do you see? Do you see my dark skinned grandparents, whose African relatives escaped...
From love – fear, (a) foreigner’s view (on) racism.
David Chen, New York, NY. I grew up in China listening to artists like 50 cent, Tupac, Snoop dogg (lion), and Jay-Z. I have every...
