Always Asian, always white, always confused
Lisa Ayame Eckenrode,
Asheville, NC
I spend too much time on the /hapa reddit but it’s the only place I can find mixed community right now
Love. Race shouldn’t matter. Hope
Daryl Dar’rell Brown,
Asheville, N.C
Understanding is important. Health comes before hate. Also in some instances race. People will learn what life is actually about. I transferred to a predominantly White high school and most of my peers accepted me. People shouldn’t disturb the peace over race. People have to eat. Respect is important also. People can have mixed relationships as far as spouses. People in this Georgia and North Carolina are allowed to date without anyone telling us who we can and can’t date. The police don’t bother unless I give them a reason. A lot of people are homeless. Religion is just a book. My dads from Georgia and my moms from North Carolina. People will learn. Everyone can learn from life. A lot of people are hated sometimes and it’s not because of their race. The individual has things going on with themselves. Being Black is fine. I graduated high school and went to college.
I’m Appalachian–it’s an invisible ethnicity
Catherine Vance Agrella,
Asheville, NC.
I’m white, and by definition am associated with some of the worst perpetrators of racism. But I also come from deep Appalachian Scots-Irish roots and have a clear ethnic identity. I do know what it feels like to be mocked for my speech, or thought of as a dumb hillbilly, even though I have two MA degrees…
I’m a bridge between two worlds.
Jazmin Whitmore,
Asheville, NC.
I am the result of two worlds but I was only raised in one. My father was Jamaican and my mother was European/Native American mix. My mother raised me. Although it was not her intention she raised me to be “white”. I did not realize how devoid I was of my own heritage until I was in my late teens. I watched white movies. I had white friends. I listened to white music… I decided that I had neglected on half of me. So I set out on a journey to integrate myself. To learn about myself, all of me. After awhile I realized I did not have to choose a side because I was already both and neither. I was special, I was a bridge. I truly feel like mixed people are changing the world. They are living proof of boundaries eroding and stereotypes breaking down. We live in two worlds and offer two perspectives while most people only have one. This has been difficult for me and for many others but ultimately I feel like it is a blessing.
Race, the easiest way to discriminate.
AnnAdèle Lloyd,
Asheville, NC.
Appearance is always how we make our initial judgement of someone on first meeting.
We’re one family divided by fear.
Andrew Kerbs,
Asheville, NC.
See me for who I am
Rob McCollough,
Asheville, NC.
Interfaith; Vietnamese & “Other”.
Because I am told that I am ‘lucky I can pass for white’
White privilege is power. Listen. Act.
Stephen Wollentin
Asheville, NC
In the words of French philosopher Voltaire, ”with great power comes great responsibility.” I believe it is my responsibility, as one with power, to listen to and validate the experiences of those for whom discrimination is a daily reality and to exercise my privilege in support of equality and appreciation for diversity.
I listened in apartheid South Africa
Ann Karson
Asheville, NC
In 1963, I was an active member of the Liberal Party of South Africa, a small, multi-racial group, a political party made up of people opposed to apartheid who wanted that opposition to be fully non-racial. We were liberal in that sense, not economically: some of us were capitalists, some socialists. We were horrified at what our government was doing. What it was doing was similar to what was going on in the south of the United States, but with the full force of national legislation behind it.
I say I “listened,” because we had no television. Our government seemingly feared to let the outside world in. But we were attentive. We cheered every civil rights success and mourned every adverse reaction in states or in the United States as a whole. We were inspired by the civil rights movement. We also sang “We shall overcome.” We clung to hope that we too would see a day when we would have majority democratic rule and non-racial policy-making.
Eventually, apartheid fell. Having married an American, I now live in the United States. But I look at what is happening today in my country of origin with serious misgiving. We knew apartheid would leave a bad legacy and that, even after its end, the struggle would continue. That is true here also. But how much more difficult it has to be in a country that went through what South Africa did.
Everywhere, the basic human struggles persist. Whether it is race, gender, poverty, preventable disease, it is important to maintain morale and keep fighting. Let us keep right on singing “We shall overcome!”
Asked my race, I say “human”.
Jeff Byrum
Asheville, NC
I can’t remember where I first heard this, but now, whenever I’m asked for my race, my answer is “human.” When it’s a phone survey, the response is usually delight.
From 3.7 billion miles out, earth appears in a famous photograph taken by Voyager I as pale blue dot.
I’m a mutt and I’m proud!
Lily Nadal
Asheville, NC
I’m one quarter Irish, one quarter Greek, one quarter Puerto Rican, and one quarter Native American. And even though I have encountered many forms of racism from people, I keep my head up because I love who I am and I love the heritage I have. I know I’m beautiful and my unique, mixed blood makes me even more beautiful.
