Immigrant to America equals sacrificing generations.
Tom Lau,
Chicago, IL.
This is a Polaroid of the back of my mom and dad that I took few years ago.
White Jewish girl in a bubble
Emily Einhorn,
Beachwood, OH.
Whenever there is talk about racism, a part of me feels guilty. I have lived in a small suburb my entire life. In this town, people joke you’re either black, Jewish, or Asian. I have never witnessed a racist act and I feel as if I’ve missed out on being a part of a prominent aspect in American culture. I have never felt targeted as a Jew and I have never seen any of my friends be targeted for the color of their skin. I am taught that, that is not how America really is and as ridiculous as it sounds I want to have the opportunity to stand up for what I believe is wrong. I hate feeling like a lucky little white girl.
Afraid he’ll deny his Black side.
Tiffany Smith,
Joppa, MD
My husband and I fought for years to conceive and are proud parents of a 17 month old, mixed race boy (I am Black and my husband is White). I remember when I found out I was nervous and cried for fear of raising a Black son in today’s America. Fast forward, my son is white presenting; fair skin with blond hair and curls. We live in a super red part of MD where racism is prominent. I have a big fear that eventually he’ll deny his blackness aka me in favor of white privilege.
Disabled, black, native American, another minority
Gary Norris Graybl,
El Ceritto, CA
p>Being disabled and black was a project..being a part of a culture within a culture, that did not want you…not knowing your native American until the first year of college,,,was it America first, disabled first or native American first…in the era of the 1960’s-1970’s
Own history, own America, our turn.
Keith Stokes,
Newport, RI.
Persons of African heritage have been far too long a background to much of American history. The more we can learn and share about our important contributions to American history, the more we as a people will be able to share in the full fruits of living and prospering in America.
In America, we use turn signals.
Caitilin Weber
Los Gatos, CA
I was raised in Alabama and moved to California in my mid-30’s. Alabama was at the time a “bi-cultural” society (as I like to call it). We had black and we had white. There were very few people of Asian or Hispanic descent in the Alabama I knew. So, when I moved to California (the Bay Area, more specifically), the diversity of cultures was a wonder to me and I reveled in the community of cultures in my new home,. I thought myself very evolved in terms of my acceptance of diversity…until one day in a Mexican history class I was taking. The professor asked us to share a time when we had felt discriminated against. A young woman who was of Asian heritage spoke of her experience. She was perhaps 19 or 20 years old, and she told how just a few days before, she had been driving home, and had turned in to her driveway. She did not use her turn signal as she turned in to her driveway and a man yelled out at her “In America, we use turn signals!”. She then shared that she had been born in the United States, as had her parents, and that she had been raised in Chicago.
That moment was an epiphany for me, because all the sudden I realized that I had not thought of her as American! I, who thought myself so lacking in the tendency to stereotype people, discovered that I was just as racist (perhaps more racist) than some of the more racist people I had left behind in Alabama! It was a lesson I never forgot.
Fast forward a few years to a year when I was teaching an English Language Development class at the middle school where I work. In my class were several Hispanic kids, two or three from Vietnam, one from Korea, and two from the Philippines. All were in fifth or sixth grade. One day, we got a new student who was from Denmark. As we introduced ourselves, one of my Hispanic kids piped up and said “But, why do you even NEED this class? You’re American!”
The lesson here is, of course, that even the youngest of us…even those of us who live in very diverse cultures…even those of us who think we are so evolved…think that to be American is to be white.
Child of Pennsylvainia coal miners
James Tupko,
New Milford, CT
My grandfather came to Pennsylvania in 1907 to work in the coal mines. It had to be tough to be a Lithuanian in America.
Listen when we say it’s real!
Celestial Holmes,
Yulee, FL.
It’s frustrating when whites are dismissive and argumentative about race issues and privilege in America.
Time for America’s new color, HUMAN!
Thomas Lloyd,
Fair Oaks, CA.
A transnational adoptee, consumed by “in-betweenity.”
Rebecca York,
Takoma Park, MD
Fighting for visibility and validity, in white and of-color spaces is perpetually exhausting. Transnational adoptees are at the heart of America’s racial, cultural, and nationalistic legislation and cultural beliefs. Stop gate-keeping, and let us join the conversation.
This country is such a beautiful place
Kelly Mulvany,
Chandler, AZ
This country is beautiful BECAUSE we are not all white. The variety of cultures and beautiful people ARE what makes America great and I would not like to see that whitewashed. If that means giving up privileges than so be it- after all, have so many people already proved it’s doable?
White in America, Gringa en Sudamérica
Kiersten Stiles,
Watkins Glen, NY
Student at Corning Community College
America is a work in progress,
Brie Stoll,
Houston, TX.
We are a very young country. We need to work with each other to fix this country.
“Race flavors every encounter in America” – Rev. Marshall Hatch
Joe Baker,
Fort Wayne, IN.
I wish I could take credit for this, but it was spoken at the National Christian Community Development Association Conference in Raleigh in Sept during a talk entitled Reconciliation and why Race still matters.
Prejudice is rampant in rural America.
Robert Pond
Hebron, OH
I witness it firsthand every day.
Two languages, Three dialects, Three cultures
Vincent Lei,
San Ramon, CA.
Grew up in Macau, China. Mainly speak Cantonese there. Moved to America four years ago and started to speak English and Mandarin. I made some friends from mainland China and also some American friends. I learnt about the difference between Mainland China and Macau. School system were different. Most mainland people and Macau people didn’t get along so well, so my friend in Macau was surprised that I made so many Mainland Chinese friends and that my Mandarin has improved so much.
Can Anyone Believe I Love Everyone?
Lisa Johnson,
Holden, MO.
I am, unfortunately, from very rural America. There was a short period in my life (approximately 1/4 of it) that was lived in larger areas where I got to know various people. My most favorite experiences were the multicultural atmosphere of the Modern Languages and Literatures Department of a college I worked at. There people were enthusiastic to celebrate our differences, learn about them and even share them.
I was astonished when I later joined the Navy and was told by someone that, as a person who had very little experience living around people different than me, I would not be able to ever be friends with anyone unlike myself because I was incapable of not being a racist. From a very young age, between songs in Sunday School (“Jesus Loves the Little Children,” anyone? “Everyone Is Beautiful?” “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands?”) and “The Electric Company” and “Sesame Street,” it never occurred to me that the color of someone’s skin or the accent of someone’s language was so insurmountable of a barrier that I would choose to make assumptions about them without knowing who they were. It honestly never occurred to me.
Today we were listening to a religious program on the radio and the man teaching mentioned those with the gift of mercy, at which point my very merciful husband (oh, the irony) patted me on the head with teasing condescension. My heart breaks for any injustice, and I often wish for a magic wand or unlimited funds, because I really believe that the most invisible among us are those who deal with poverty, regardless of where they come from or anything else. It is a terrible trap and probably, in some ways, the continuing stagnation of the world economy is doing more to create racial tension, etc., than anything else, because when you are struggling, resentment seems to grow.
I keep hoping for the day when I, too, may actually not be judged by the color of my skin, the place I grew up, or what my parents’ choices might have been.
