brave Archives - The Race Card Project

This doesn’t make you a better person.

January 23, 2025January 23, 2025 AL, Amy Bramlett, better, brave, interracial marriage, mixed, pale, Tuscaloosa

Amy Bramlett,
Tuscaloosa, AL.

My name is Amy. My fiance Keith and I have the most perfect baby girl together. She’s 8-months old and she is a mixture of her African American daddy and Caucasian mommy. Her name is Layla.

When I first told my family that I was dating a black man (long before Keith), my dad’s words stung me so badly that I almost didn’t recover. “Dating a black man doesn’t make you a better person, Amy.” “They can’t have you.” These were the words that rang in my ears for so long. It was Layla that broke the tension and melted everyone’s hard exteriors. She has brought so much love into our lives that never existed before.

We live in the south and yes, we do get ridiculous comments like, “Wouldn’t you rather date someone your own race?” and underhanded compliments like, “You’re so brave.” But compared to where we’ve been and the precious gift we have now, those things pale in comparison. An acquaintance recently said, “Amy, nothing makes you look happier or more in your element than being a mom.” I completely agree. You can’t argue with destiny.

Be color brave, not color blind.

January 22, 2025January 23, 2025 anonymous, brave, Color, colorblind, different, Norfolk, VA

Anonymous,
Norfolk, VA

It’ll all be different.

We are all humans doing life

January 22, 2025January 23, 2025 book two, brave, CA, Chino, difference, different, doing life, exposed, Jolynne, our hidden conversations

Jolynne,
Chino, CA.

If someone makes me nervous it’s usually because they’re different to me. Different than what I’ve been exposed to. It’s hard to emotionally stay with the difference regardless of what that difference is. The brave ones of us stay.

Blood and Tears But Footprints Remain

January 22, 2025January 23, 2025 African American, blood and tears, Boston, brave, Footprints, Justin John Banks, labor, MA, Native, U.S.

Justin John Banks,
Boston, MA.

My ancestors were both Native and African American. The U.S. was molded by the labor of both of these brave peoples and although they shed blood and tears in the countries formation, they left their mark on U.S. soil forever.

Misreading slavery due to modern morals.

January 22, 2025January 23, 2025 African American literature, brave, folklore, march, Milwaukee, MLK, modern, morals, Rikki Clark, Selma, slavery, students, Suffragists, teacher, University, WI

Rikki Clark,
Milwaukee, WI.

I teach African-American literature and folklore at the university level. Often white students will say in class how they would have never owned slaves. But there is a fundamental problem when we view history through a twenty-first-century lens. Our modern morals and values are out of context. I would hope, if I had been in South, that I would have been brave enough to stand up for the freedom of all humans, but I don’t know if I would have been that enlightened or that strong. Would I have been brave enough to march with the Suffragists or with MLK, Jr. in Selma? Human rights are violated all the time; slavery still exists in the world. We need to acknowledge our collective wrongs, celebrate those who survived, and understand our history in order to learn compassion. Once we can do that, then we can look around us and try to right the injustice that is happening right now to ourselves, our neighbors, and to mankind.

China, Yellow, hardworking, dream, versatile, active

January 22, 2025January 23, 2025 active, Asian, brave, China, Dream, hardworking, math, PA, Selinsgrove, small town, stereotype, versatile, yellow, Yilan Miao

Yilan Miao,
Selinsgrove, PA.

Maybe we should improved the inaccurate term “racism” with the much more accurate and potentially productive term “stereotype”. As American people always think, I am really good at math and this is the beginning of the third month for me to study in a small town of America. As you can imagine, the foreigners in the place where I live are really hard to see so it is a normal thing for people to see me surprisingly at the beginning. However, I don’t think that means kind of the racism because people are really nice to me and I have made lots of friends here now. As they start to talk with you the stereotype in their minds begin to break down and they will begin to appreciate your braveness. It is 21st century now, new idea has already had great influence on the racism. I believe as the growth of communications between different race, racism will finally disappear one day.

Happy. Brave. Anger. Rats. Criminal. Passionate.

April 12, 2024April 25, 2024 Anger, brave, CA, Calexico, criminal, happy, passionate, Rats, Ricardo Santos

Ricardo Santos,
Calexico, CA

Cultured, Humble, Bilingual, Hardworking, Brave, Ambitious

March 26, 2021 ambitious, bilingual, brave, College, Community College, Cultured, hardworking, Hispanic, humble, John Lombaida, Nassau, Nassau community college, NY, West Hempstead

John Lombaida,
West Hempstead, NY

I am a Hispanic male. I attend Nassau community college and these things make me the guy who I am. Being Hispanic, I am cultured both in the American and Hispanic culture and I am also bilingual due to the fact that I am a Spanish speaker. I am also a hard-worker because I want to better my situations.

I always wanted to be black

March 8, 2018 Angela, beautiful, beauty, black people, brave, child, first experience, Manchester, NH, Racist, want to be black, white

Angela,
Manchester, NH.

Since I was a small child, I have thought black people were more beautiful, more brave, more…everything than whites. I am white and grew up in a very white state. I always felt other than everyone else, and thought that being black must be wonderful. I didn’t realize until I was older that being black in America is very difficult. I don’t know if that makes me racist or not, but it’s not my intention at all.