You don’t have an accent.
Susan Lee New York, NY On the phone no one can tell I’m Asian-American, but in person I sometimes elicit this response. Because I am...
Growing up Phillipino and Irish
Vincent Remolete Boston, MA I had blacks and whites chasing me home after school. Anyone Asian was considered a chink or a jap in 50’s...
White privilege doesn’t work for Asians
Martin Smith Mobile, AL We are told that the wealth and functionality of Whites and the poverty and dysfunction of non-Whites comes from “White privilege.”...
Asian me: hated by Blacks. WHY?
Neil A. Sookdeo Baltimore, MD With six degrees, four from grad schools in the USA, I cannot compete fairly to teach African or Caribbean history...
“Reverse Racism”? Your privilege is showing…
Andrew V. Chavanak Falls City, NE When companies choose to make diversity a priority in hiring, or universities seek to create a more diverse student...
Zimmerman verdict made me “the other.”
Christina Wong Seattle, WA I’m a second generation Asian American woman who married into a Caucasian family. I have always felt Americanized and never really...
You’re not as pretty as Asians.
Kimberly San Jose, CA Since moving to the San Francisco area, I’ve been told by a few men quite bluntly that I’ll never measure up...
Are you black, Asian, or normal?
Jenna Overton Langhome, PA I’m a half-black college student. My friends and I were having a discussion about race one day and a few of...
Asian American: Not majority, not minority.
Jennifer Chow Brookline, MA We seem to occupy this in-between space, identified as neither a minority, nor the majority. Where are we?
I don’t look like any race
Anonymous, Canada. My Father’s family is Guyanese, they believe in the 1 drop rule, but for white, not black. So my very brown, fro haired...
I refuse to just check one.
Sarah Pasadena, CA I love the words “Check all that apply.” I proudly check white AND Asian. Sometimes even Pacific Islander to honor the island...
Ching-chong yourself, I’m not Chinese!
Thuc Luong Philadelphia, PA I am Asian and when I was a kid about 6 years old I moved to the US, this is when...
Quarter black, look asian, passe native.
Anne Guillory Thom Vancouver, WA Don’t feel comfortable in ethnically oriented gatherings, except in Louisiana.
My skin does not define me.
Marcus Atlanta, GA Born of African American parents, raised by my African American mother and Irish-German (adopted) father. Big brother to a bi-racial sister and...
Appearance judgments – Yesterday Asian / Tomorrow Caucasian
Teresita Tomita Gant Kailua-Kona, HI When I lived in the continental US, I found people generally judged me by the way I looked. When I...
Middle Eastern ancestry. Asian? African? White?
Lauren Mooney Elk Grove, CA As children, my mother always referred to us as Lebanese Leprechauns. She was first generation American, of hard-working Lebanese immigrants....
You speak such good English! Why?
Natasha Jane Chrisandina USA Is it wrong for an Asian to speak good English? You ask, why do I speak such good English. I ask,...
My eyes aren’t all I am.
C.Q. Menlo Park, CA I know people who have been surprised that I’m Asian. Why should it matter? So much beyond my eyes defines me....
