Benefit and burden with being biracial
Ryann Williams, Trinity University In a lot of ways, having two parents of different racial/ethnic backgrounds allows a unique insight into both cultures. It can...
South Texas Born, Melting Pot Raised
Jerheme Urban, Trinity University I am very proud of the fact that I was born in south Texas, a location steeped with history and tradition....
Turban, Assumptions, Fear, Perpetually Foreign, Resistance
Simran Jeet Singh, New York, NY. Trinity University My visible Sikh and South Asian identity have shaped my experiences with racial and cultural identities. Upon...
Bicultural and Bilingual should be enough.
Megan Medrano, Houston, TX. Growing up Latina in south Texas, I have always been surrounded with rich culture. My home was filled with both the...
Biracial woman: strength, confidence, confusion, pain.
Melissa Flowers, Trinity University My mother is caucasian and my father is black. I have immense privilege in my life, and I feel that being...
I will make reparations to you.
Jane Cavazos, San Antonio, TX I have been reading the stories of African Americans for several years–their struggles, triumphs, setbacks and progress…I feel badly about...
Mrs. Thicklin was my best teacher.
Wyndee Holbrook, San Antonio, TX. Mrs. Thicklin was my 5th grade teacher. She was my best teacher and she was my first African American teacher....
United yet unique, diverse yet connected.
Dana, San Antonio, TX. Around the world, my white skin and my blonde hair make me easily identifiable as an American. This superficial categorization has...
Justice for all requires White awakening.
Albert Marten, San Antonio, TX. Trinity University I’m ashamed and embarrassed to admit how unaware I was as a white person about the hate, the...
Biologically baseless with immesurable social impact
Ta-Nehisi Coates writes in his book Between the World in Me that “racism is the father of race.” I teach that to my students every...
Damn, did you see that White girl?
Lisa Jasinsk, Trinity University In 2007, I spent a year working at The Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY. One day on my way into the...
Black girls can rock bold lipstick!
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX. Often black women are told that we shouldn’t pull any more attention to our lips because they are sooooooo big!...
You don’t sound like a Hispanic!
Susie Gonzalez, San Antonio, TX. I had just gotten married and opted to add my husband’s last name to my byline as a newspaper reporter....
Institutional racism is America’s persistent challenge.
Overt racism is largely outlawed, but practically everything that determines how we live, from education, to housing, to financial access, to the legal and justice...
“You can only check one box…”
I got my driver’s application returned the first time because I chose boxes that aligned with both of my racial identities. The woman gave me...
From Unawareness to Critically Examining Whiteness
In my world, white was normal. I believed that race was something other than whiteness. The normalcy of whiteness meant I did not have to...
No apologies for who I am
Stanton Lawrence, San Antonio, TX. Throughout my professional life, I have experienced efforts to devalue or negatively assess the contributions of blacks in the work...
