The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
Raheem Cash,
Alexandria, VA.
As a kid I spent a lot of time being one of two or three black kids in honors classes. Spent a lot of time being only black kid that played tennis. Spent a lot of time not being considered “black enough”. Well I’m not a kid anymore and fortunately I managed thrive in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic world.
Marlene Krantz,
Miami, FL.
I’m lily white with blonde hair. I have black children and black grandchildren. In 1980 I married an African American man and we had 2 daughters. I lost custody of my 10 year old son because of discrimination. I really feel sad about all this discrimination around the world.
Jamal Wills,
MD.
People often say that black kids need black role models. I sort of cheated. The wild hair, thoughtful eyes, the chin and the smile always reminded me of my grandfather. Yet, Albert Einstein was a German Jew whose prominence in the scientific community reached celebrity status. Even then, he still had to escape his homeland to avoid persecution.
I didn’t limit my sights by my color. I pursue my dreams because I know that ideas change the world, not skin pigment. To me, the streets of Chicago was where I walked to and from home, school, and the Chicago Public Library. That’s how I got to where I am today.
What are you?,
AL.
Olive skinned with dark hair. People would ask if my dad was the milk man. Black kids would ask if I was Jewish. I don’t actually know…..but why should it matter?
Elya,
Chevy Chase, MD.
I grew up very privileged, and when I realized that I was being bullied by my white peers because of race, my parents decided that I would no longer be sheltered because of my race. I became very active in my student activism group and because I am mixed, I was never really accepted by the black kids. I don’t pass as white, so I was not accepted by the white kids. I have learned that self love is more important than trying to fit in with your perceived race. My friends are Jewish, Ethiopian, Chinese, Norwegian, Jamaican and so much more.
Back when I was a kid, I used to wonder why or how people are different, why do we all have different races? When I was in preschool, my mom would always tell me not to play with kids that were bad. Those kids were black. She said that they were troublemakers, misbehaved, and that they don’t have any manners. And of course, I believed her. Most of my life, I only cared about what somebody looked like on the outside. Now, I know how wrong of me it was to assume somebody’s personality. This project has changed me a lot in many ways. It has taught me how we all need to be fair to each other, it has taught me that nobody’s appearance screams out their identity, I have also learned that not everyone is a bad person and that people are different.
Race is not natural, it’s taught.
It all began in the 18th century. Scientists developed categorizing things in nature, including humans. According to the RACE website, “The 19th century also marked a period of widespread racialization—not just of African Americans—but of Native Americans, Mexican Americans and Chinese Americans as well. Much of the racializing of non-Europeans, and even the Irish, served an economic and political purpose.” This is not fair. People were categorized into groups. Blacks, Asians, Mexicans, Italians, separated from each other. Why were we categorized? As reported in “The Story of Race and the Classification of People”, “ In 1680 AD, the idea of classification by appearance slowly began to permeate society as lawmakers in the early colonies of North America began to use “white” as a classification of themselves rather than “Englishmen” or “Christians.” See how this is not fair? I’m pretty sure we all have questions about race such as, aren’t we all just one human race? Will racism ever go away? How do we become racists?, How did racism start?, and who started racism? Some of these answers can’t be found…but one thing I know is that race is not a natural thing, it is the others that taught us.
Maya D.,
College Park, MD.
Living the paradox of being too black for the white kids and too white for the black kids.
FessunUp Cracka,
San Francisco, CA.
My father never said n*****, but the multitude of subtleties…assumptions…these are mine to deal with. When I was a teenager, I frequently made racial slurs…weird, considering that there were only 3 black kids in my 1500 student high school.
Now it is different for me. This cracker minored in black studies….
Still..I speak less formally to black people.
When I am feeling intimidated on the street, I am relieved when its apparent that the approaching black guys are speaking an african language (how F***** up is that?).
Jeremy Murray,
Tuscaloosa, AL.
Growing up my family moved around the country a lot. My brother and I had to attended many different schools but no matter where we were we always get told the same thing, “you don’t sound like you’re from here”, “you sound so proper”, and the my favorite one “y’all talk white”. The way my parents raised us made us that way and people thought it was so surprising because of our race.
Thomas M. Lenz.
Weston, MA.
I was the white kid in Providence. I stayed in my 4th grade class where I was happy. The Black kids were forced to come to unfamiliar territory and join us, and their neighborhood was closed. No wonder they became angry at the White world. Who wouldn’t be?
Pamela Tish,
Dupo, IL.
When I began my first teaching job in Cahokia, IL, “Any black kids in your class?” was always one of the first questions asked by friends and family. I return to that question in my own mind so often as I look across my classrooms, 20 years and three jobs later, and it still prompts the same feelings for me. My reaction is always an emotional headshaking “No. No black kids, no white kids. Kids of a hundred shades of cappuchino, choco-latte, summer peach, melting Hershey bar, toasty wheat crust, caramel malt.” I remember the confusing moment when completing standardized test forms together for the first time, my students and I shared puzzled looks when asked to complete ethnicity questions that had no rainbow answers.
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