I’m finally learning, I am powerful.
Alexandra Rosas, Milwaukee, WI. After a lifetime of wishing I could be accepted and trying to be anything except who I AM, to fit in,...
“But you’re not ‘really’ black, right?”
Danielle Petterson, Tampa, FL. I have light brown skin and I consider myself to be mixed. Most people have a simple-minded belief that “mixed” means...
I’m never asked about hot sauce.
Christine R. Ann Arbor, MI Before I started dating my “black” boyfriend, I really didn’t think about race very much or the privilege I inherited...
Pale freckled redhead burned by words
Marie Farrell, Brooklyn, NY. I grew up in San Diego, California where the sun shines all the time. I was the kid that never tanned,...
Delicious ambiguity: the permanent inbetweener.
MaiLynn Stormon-Trinh New Zealand I am the only child of an American woman of Norwegian descent born in Fargo, North Dakota and a Vietnamese man...
Like you, gingers do have souls.
Katelyn Nicole Volz Hemet, CA “You know they say Gingers have no souls right?” “A Ginger gains a freckle every time they steal a soul.”...
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...
“They” should all be like you.
Shelagh Mullings, Coral Springs, FL A white supervisor said this to me in 1965 when I was the lone “Negro” working in a white collar...
I wish the voice would stop.
Al, Atlanta, GA. I was born 51 years ago. I grew up with a father who would definitely be considered racist today, but was probably...
I flourish farming ancient tribal lands
Ed Kaufman, Morris, MN. Another Six words: My grandfather stood witness at Mankato. I enjoyed seeing you at UM Morris a while back (when this...
I am dead to my father
Debra Taylor, Bolton, MO. Fourteen years ago I married a black man. My father told me my child and grandchild did not exist because I...
Red hair gets the most stares.
Stefanie Walker, Sacramento, CA. Sometimes I just want to dye my hair and see what it would be like to blend into the crowd-to not...
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...
