Aren Brown,
St. Cloud, MN
I grew up as a white girl in an inter-racial family and constantly had to defend myself against others not believing that my siblings and I were truly related, either we had to be lying or someone was adopted. When I was young I didn’t think twice about color, to me they were just my family. It was not until I started noticing that other people would treat my family members differently that I really started to take notice. My brother would come home crying because he was being picked on about his long hair. I had witnessed mothers throwing fits at the county fair because they didn’t want their kids sitting with the colored kids. My Step-father and I stopped going to the arcade at the local mall because security would follow us, the ENTIRE TIME. Even as we have become older I have been witness to ways that people treat my siblings differently, especially my bother. I often feel guilty to be the ‘Casper’ of the family because I know I am treated differently simply because of my color.
