I don’t get followed in stores
Jim Stauffer, Canada An Indigenous adult student in my class once remarked, “I’m so tired of being followed around in stores.” My co-worker who is...
Left Crying in the Bathroom Floor
Charlie, USA. I brought my car in for an oil change (in the predominantly black area I live in) and they told me that it’d...
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...
Born Norwegian, Raised American, not illegal
Linda Kristensen, Grand Rapids, MI. I am writing this for my daughter who is 34 with Autism. She became my daughter in 1980 when I...
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’m American Indian-I’m a Unicorn.
Ty NolN, Tempe, AZ. I’m from a traditional family and have braids. I dance at Powwows, and participate in our Longhouse Ceremonies. The photograph is...
Will they ask me or assume?
Hillary Buren, Kansas City, MO. As a biracial women growing up in am almost entirely white community I have adapted to addressing my racial ambiguity...
The nun made me mark “white.”
Jackie Loya-Torres Kansas City, MO As a small child in the 1970s, I remember having to take some sort of standardized test in school. You...
You are holding the binoculars backwards.
Andrew Schlager, Kansas City, MO. “You are holding the binoculars backwards.” We are so consumed by generalized assumptions about race that we fail to see...
Native Education: Moving beyond the Asterisk*
Alberta Jones, Juneau, AK. Alaska Natives and American Indians are often just an asterisk (*) in higher education and other data. We are collectively, trying...
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...
I am Micronesian. So like Hawaiian?
Aliyah, Kansas City, MO As a Pacific Islander (specifically Micronesian), a lot of the islands aren’t very known. I understand not many people are knowledgeable...
Jewish white woman wanting different perspective
Natalie Sabes, Minneapolis, MN I chose to include three words about my identity (Jewish, white, woman) because they affect every action I take and every...
I will never really ‘get it’.
Celia Beasley, Seattle, WA. Being an upper-middle class white woman, I know I will never truly understand what it feels like to be a person...
I never thought you’d like this.
Asia Smith, Kansas City, MO This has been said to me many times throughout my life. I am a black girl who goes to a...
Asian and colonial pride and shame
Rena Brown, United Kingdom I’m a quarter Dutch burger born to a British father. My mother is half Scottish Highlander and half Dutch burger. The...
Hispanic doctor. It’s not an oxymoron.
Lynette M. Silva, Dallas, TX. My ethnicity apparently changes depending on the immediate environment. I get followed in stores here in Texas, and asked questions...
