Katherine Fogelberg
Fort Worth, TX
We talk about race as though it is only something on the outside – but I have fought my whole life to find my “place” in the world. I was born in South Korea – found behind a movie theater at about 6 months of age – and lived my next 10 months in a Korean orphanage and a Korean foster home. I was adopted by a Caucasian couple in the US who chose to give me a fully American name. I grew up wanting red hair and green eyes so I could fit in better; avoiding mirrors so I could try to forget I was different. It wasn’t until I lived in Hawaii for several years as an adult that I realized I didn’t “fit in” anywhere – because where I looked like everyone else, I was still an outcast – a banana: yellow on the outside, white on the inside. Race isn’t black and white, and while I’m learning that being different can be a beautiful thing, having a foot in two different worlds in a different way has certainly been – and continues to be – a challenge.
