border Archives - The Race Card Project

Border life safety, mass murder, lose.

June 12, 2024June 12, 2025 border, El Paso, interconnected, Juarez, mass murder, Mexico, Patricia Valdez-Harrison, TX

Patricia Valdez-Harrison,
El Paso, TX.

El Paso Texas for the fourth year in a row as been reported to be the safest city in the country even though it shares borders with one of the deadliest cities in Mexico. I chose to end my sentence with lose not only for the lose of so many innocents but the lose of culture. Growing up my family often traveled to Juarez for various activities such as dinning, shopping and entertainment. These two cities where interconnected. This is no longer the case for many native and nonnatives. I for often find myself longing for what once was.

“Si se puede” the famous quote.

December 16, 2022December 16, 2022 activist, border, CA, Calexico, Cesar Chavez, civil rights, Elaine Gastelum, famous, labor leader, Mexicali, Mexican-American, Mexico, si se puede, small town

Elaine Gastelum,
Calexico, CA.

My name is Elaine Gastelum and I’ve been raised in a small town called Calexico. Calexico is right next to the border going to Mexico in a city called Mexicali. My town is full of Mexican-Americans that have been raised by Mexican and/or Mexican-American parents. We’ve been taught about our famous Mexican-American labor leader Cesar Chavez who was a civil rights activist. His most famous quote that everyone has grown up to is “Si se puede!”

Mexican boy didn’t cross the border.

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022 American Canyon, border, CA, cross, Jordan, Mexican

Jordan,
American Canyon, CA.

I’m Mexican; Race is a Border.

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022 AZ, border, Brian Federico, Mexican, Nogales, Race

Brian Federico,
Nogales, AZ.

THE BORDER CROSSED ME: SOY CHICANA!

May 27, 2021 border, CA, Chicana, English, Lawndale, Leticia Hernandez, Mexican-American

Leticia Hernandez,
Lawndale, CA

Chicanos, Mexican Americans, despised, ignored and looked upon as less. They are always surprised when we accomplish something. Or even when we open our mouths and use polysyllabic English words!

No, I didnt jump the border.

April 4, 2021 anonymous, border, illegal, Mexican, reputation, USA

Anonymous,
USA

I’m Hispanic / Latino. it’s often a misconception that we’re all Mexican and that we are all illegal. I was born and raised in USA, and I hate the reputation we have.

Racism is not a harmless joke

January 14, 2021 Acworth, border, first experience, GA, Hispanic, joke, racism, school, Sofia Cuenca Rojas

Sofia Cuenca Rojas,
Acworth, GA

I am Hispanic and due in great part to my parents, who I am thankful for, I have been protected from racism for the majority of my life. And yet when someone makes what they would consider a harmless joke, safely from the other side of a wall they use to separate “us” and “them”, even when I have not personally been grievously wronged, or done what was talked about, or was even the recipient of the comment, I still remember it after 5 years.
I was in PE in the second half of the semester and there were two boys- one Hispanic like me, and one white- who were best friends. They spent all class together and were known by several other of my peers as very good friends. One day, we were all outside running the mile when the boys passed by me in conversation and I happened to overhear one of them ridicule the other for being so out of breath by saying, “Why are you so slow? You’re Mexican, you guys run the border all the time!”

That one, off-hand comment cut deep.

White. Live on Indian Reservation. Blessed!

November 28, 2018November 29, 2018 blessed, border, Cass Lake, Dream, gathering, hunting, Indian, Indian reservation, live, Mexico, MN, mother earth, Neighbors, Ojibwe, Terry Larson, white

Terry Larson,
Cass Lake, MN.

I have lived my whole life with Ojibwe people, am a fishing & canoe guide at the beginning of the Mississippi River. My life is filled with their customs, hunting and gathering for my table. We spend the winters on the border of Mexico, now, and they are much like my Indian neighbors. I am so blessed to share mother earth with these people. I–Dream, Plan, Do.

No, I didn’t cross the border.

March 15, 2018March 15, 2018 border, cross the border, Guatemala, Mexican, sterotype

Lucas Lopez,
Seattle, WA.

I’m Mexican and Guatemalan.

Borderlands born. Always illegal. Always home.

January 5, 2018January 3, 2018 border, bravado, Chuy Benitez, collision, define, GPS, Home, Houston, identity, illegal, language, Mexico, two worlds, TX, United States

Chuy Benitez,
Houston, TX.

When you grow up at the collision of two countries, of two cultures, of two identities, you learn very quickly the different nuances between the two cultures and you adapt to appease whichever culture you have to encounter. It makes you more observant, but of course it doesn’t occur without making mistakes and having to learn how to deal with the situation of appeasing more than one point of view at a time. If you think the social constructs and expectations of a singular culture, from even a singular city or town are rough enough to deal with, try growing up with two very distinct cultural expectations that even clash against each other on a daily basis. The languages clash, the religions clash, the politics clash, and the economies clash, but yet somehow on the borderlands you have friends, families, and lovers that exists in both worlds and that cross those borders and work with them everyday.

The border is always there, the signs are threatening to the new visitor, but to the borderland native looks at the border crossing like they would a McDonald’s sign or a neighborhood park. It’s just part of the landscape that they might use from time to time. The border in ingrained in their heads. They have a natural cultural GPS on how to act depending on which side they are on. Which language to use, which jokes to say, how much bravado or humility they should have as they walk down the street.

As one book put it best, the borderlands are the laboratory of the future. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Race doesn’t matter; What’s inside does.

February 1, 2017February 1, 2017 "Am I not a man and a brother?", “Waiting for Anya”, 7th Grade Trailblazer, 99.5%, border, cameo, Charles Darwin, Chinese, filipino, High Tech Middle Media Arts, human, Inside, inside matters, intrusive, Jamaican, Jamaican and Chinese mix, judged, made-up, mix, nature, nazi, R.E.A.L. Talk, Race, race isn't real, same, species

R.E.A.L. Talk,
High Tech Middle Media Arts,
7th Grade Trailblazer

Lots of people have asked me if I was Filipino. I’ve always had the same reply, ”I am a Jamaican and Chinese mix”. After encountering people who asked me such questions, I wondered why it mattered what race I was. I have read books where characters were judged based on their race, such as the book, “Waiting for Anya”. In this book, the Nazi soldiers have come to Jo’s village to patrol the borders. Everyone thinks that these soldiers are bad and mean because the soldiers that came before had been rude and intrusive. They judged the soldiers based on their appearance instead of what’s on the inside. When people actually start to accept the soldiers they realize that not all Nazis are bad and that these Nazis certainly aren’t. Books like these teach kids that race doesn’t matter; what’s inside does. When will people start to accept that race doesn’t exist, humans only think it does?

Nature Didn’t Create Race: Humans Did.

Race isn’t real; we make it real. People should start to accept others for what’s on the inside and not the outside. According to a study by Charles Darwin, all humans are all the same species and are 99.5% the same. Among the family heirlooms that Charles Darwin inherited, symbolically speaking, was a china cameo depicting a black slave in chains, asking “Am I not a man and a brother?” This proves that people have falsely made race real. Why does this matter? Because, we the people need to understand that we are all equal no matter the race or religion. An opposing view may be that we aren’t equal and that only one race is superior. Again, Charles Darwin’s phrase that “all humans are all the same species and are 99.5% the same,” confirms my point. Does that other .5% really matter? In Theory, people should learn to welcome the inner-self instead of the outer-self, because nobody is more important than another.

“You don’t know me, no judging”

February 1, 2017 Africans, American, American Indian, bad influence, biological, border, born here, Brown Sugar, caramel, categories, criminal, define, illegal, judge, label, legall, names, science, skin color

As a kid, people call me brown sugar, or caramel, and think of me as a kid who crossed the border with her family illegally, because of my skin color. My family was always poor and had jobs that didn’t always keep roofs over our heads. We always ran or hid from the police and people judged us for that. Thinking that we were criminals. People would ask where I was born, and when I answered America, They would make a fuss of how I didn’t look white. This offended me because it made me think that I didn’t belong here and made me that I was a criminal and illegal like every other Mexican, according to them. They found a way to convince me that I shouldn’t play with their kids because I was or am a bad influence. Somehow, the police found out my parents were illegal and deported them back to Mexico for not having papers. Someway I will make these people know that not all Mexicans are criminals and aren’t illegal and a bad influence. I was born here and am legal. Not everybody born in The U.S.A is white. They are also colored, Asian, and like me: A Mexican. Although, we can help stop racism, by choosing right from wrong.

Race ain’t real, We are all the same

Race isn’t biologically real because people invented it to put other people in categories. Like the American Indians and Africans. They were put as slaves because they were a different colors than the Europeans. People back then believed that race was real. But today biological races don’t exist at all. The reason is because there is nothing in science or biology that proves that race actually defines who we are. Everybody is the same race. Nobody is different. Since we cannot point to something real that separates people of different races, we mustn’t look at race as a culturally defined label or something that puts people in categories.

Imaginary borders make us different “races”

December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 border, CA, Cesar Gonzalez, Cosumnes River College, different, illusion, Imaginary box, made-up, Races, Sacramento

Cesar Gonzalez,
Sacramento, CA.

Race is an illusion. Made up.
Cosumnes River College

Sad truth: racism is still alive

September 1, 2015September 1, 2015 alive, border, bordertown, Indians, Javier, Latino, marriage, Mexico, racism, Roma, sad, small town, truth, TX

Javier,
Roma, TX.

I grew up in a little town in Mexico, near the border with the US, there was not as much cultural or racial differences as bigger cities have. I know that racism exists in Mexico, because I have read articles where they explain how Mexican people discriminate people who they consider Indians, just because they come from the Mexican thrives, or I have also read articles about discrimination against gay people.
While in High School we learned the horrors committed by the Nazis against Jews, homosexuals and other minorities. When I came to the US, I learned about slavery and I thought to myself that the world learned from those mistakes and that racism had ended, but I was wrong. Sadly, I realize that racism is still alive and people cannot tolerate nor accept different persons. The two examples that I have heard recently are all people who is against same-sex marriage, why they cannot accept that homosexuality is part of our world and everyone have the same rights? It is unacceptable that people use the Bible and God to judge other people. On the other hand, recent attacks against Latino Immigrants made by Mr. Donald Trump are a sad example the racism that is alive in the US, why he is trying to spread hate against hispanics? This is just the beginning, he has a lot of followers and this could end up in a big tragedy.
It is sad that with all human advances in technology, medicine and many fields, humans cannot advance in their own minds and we repeat the same mistakes over and over.

You’re spanish and don’t speak it?

April 24, 2015 bilingual, border, don't speak, fluent, Keatan Oliva, language, McAllen, Mexico, Rancho Viejo, Spanish, TX

Keatan Oliva,
McAllen, TX.

Growing up near the boarder of Mexico, where I would often cross with my mother to have lunch on weekends, it seemed expected of me to know Spanish fluently. Although I was raised in a town named Rancho Viejo, which might even be considered nearer to Mexico and its culture than McAllen is, I really wasn’t exposed to the Spanish language very often and it never occurred to me that I HAD to learn it growing up. My entire family is bilingual, but even so I was never spoken Spanish to in or outside of the house by them. To add to the lack of exposure outside the natural culture that was all around me, I was defiant in learning Spanish. For some odd reason I just didn’t want to know it and was aware of the fact that I felt I didn’t need or want it. Unfortunately, the older I became the more demanding it got to know the language. A barrier had been created and I was no longer looked at as the young little girl who had time to learn. I was a teenager and eventually a college student who was now looked at differently, almost disrespectfully with surprise. Although I personally feel somewhat left out of the culture around me because I don’t speak Spanish, I know I can become fluent in it with practice. Even though I feel its a stereotype for all Spaniards, Hispanics, Mexicans or what have you’s to be able to speak Spanish, I do feel its probably important for us to learn the language to be better able to communicate and know our culture a bit better.

Standing on border of Mexican and White.

March 19, 2015March 19, 2015 1930, 1940 Census, border, Deborah Torres, Mexican, MN, SAINT PAUL, white

Deborah Torres,
Saint Paul, MN.

This has two meanings for me. First, I honor both my paternal (Mexican) and maternal (English, French & more) heritage. Second, because race is a socially constructed concept, the idea of whether or not Mexican is White evolved throughout the 20th Century. For example, on my paternal Grandfather Bedardo Torres’ WWI draft registration card in 1918, his race is checked as White for race. But when the Torres family appears in the 1930 US Census in 1930, the family members are categorized as Mex rather than W for the designation, Color of Race. Then in the 1940 US Census, the Torres Family members are categorized as W for Color of Race. This historical evidence helps to ground me.

Half white and half a man

November 17, 2014 border, David Conti, Grand Rapids, Half, luck, Mexican, MI, white

David Conti,
Grand Rapids, MI.

What makes being half Mexican and half white so much more difficult is that I look 100℅ white. Half my family thinks of me as the white boy on the wrong side of the border and the other half sees me as the half breed, a blemish on their otherwise perfect European lineage. While they’d never say it, and will fight this statement to the grave, me not being completely European means I’m treated differently. The worst is the subtle racism my sister receives, outside the household, as the only Mexican looking child. I’ll never understand her struggle or the struggle of my own mother because of my, I guess “luck of the draw”? I don’t belong to the Mexican world and will never perfectly assimilate in the white world. I’m a man without a people. Half a man.

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