Erick, National City, CA
Girls are different? Sorry, didn’t know.
Katharine Corona, CA When I was young I grew up on a street with boys and ended up being a pretty big tomboy. I enjoyed sports, I was competitive and I liked playing with my friends. As I got older I began volunteering at the local hospital and became a fire explorer with my friends. […]
Your last name has two L’s?
Liam Llerena, Los Angeles, CA Growing up, people used to ask me why my last name had two L’s. I myself never understood why nor did I like. I don’t know, I used to tell them. I was not proud of my heritage nor did I understand its rich history. After having traveled more, and […]
No, they’re not adopted; they’re mine.
Katherine Hoyt, Chula Vista, CA In 1967, I, a tall woman of mainly German ancestry, married a shorter, darker Nicaraguan pediatrician. People who saw us together quickly recognized our children but when I brought the children to the States, people asked (or thought) that question.
Stuck in-between, but maybe that’s good
Emma Schechter, CA As a half asian, half white kid, I often felt like I didn’t really belong. I didn’t quite fit in with the white kids or the asian kids. However, as I have grown up, I have realized that my perspective can help me relate to many people.
Fully Korean, can barely understand it
Audrey Lee, Menlo Park, CA I’m fully Korean – both of my parents were born in South Korea to Korean parents. Yet I grew up in an English-speaking environment, and once I went to preschool, my mind switched from fluent Korean to English and American-accented Korean. I never returned to fluent Korean, and as I […]
Let me walk in your shoes
Renee Poselski, Riverside, CA. So Cal – Atlanta – Hawaii – Russia: No matter where I have lived, my heart yearns to connect and understand. Writing this, I am hesitating because I don’t want you to think that I can’t understand because I am white. My whiteness is a wall between you and me. I […]
My background doesn’t define my intelligence
Azucena Rosas, Mission Viejo, CA
Proud of my skin, not defined.
Cassandra G. Orange, CA
Indian women are not your maids
Shayal Devi, San Jose, CA
Diversity, resiliency, respect, unity and God
Jan Ligasan, Placentia, CA identity: Shaping self-perception and societal views. Systemic: Embedded racial biases in institutions. Privilege: Advantages based on race, causing disparities. Stereotypes: Harmful generalizations perpetuating biases. Intersectionality: Overlapping identities influencing experiences. Allyship: Active support for racial justice and equality. These words and concepts reflect the ongoing discussions surrounding race and racism in society. […]
Our colors blend, creating harmony together.
Khanh Nguyen, San Jose, CA
One is not all, vice versa
Hamza Khan, Irvine, CA
Working Harder for the Same Opportunities
Wai Phyo Paing, San Jose, CA I am an immigrant from Myanmar who has lived in the US for two years. To obtain the same opportunities that US citizens have, I have to work substantially harder.
International family, want to stay local
Maxwell, El Cerrito, CA
Your “Statistics” do not define me
Marco Orozco, Newman, CA
How pretty, she came out guerita
Nacira Estrada, San Jose, CA
Culture, Melanin, Stereotype, Appearance, Organize, Myth
Stanley Filipowicz, Dana Point, CA p>Our oldest ancestors are from Africa, according to the out of Africa model. This is an environment where the sun is extremely prevalent and inescapable in everyday life activities. The color of our skin is dependent on how much sun exposure we receive. If we are exposed to more sun […]
Who’s directing? It’s HER? No Way!!
Lorna Green, Altadenam, CA. I am an independent filmmaker, a writer-director, African American, and a woman. This combination confuses some people; it makes no sense to them because most directors are white guys. Granted, I selected a profession that relegates me to invisibility, but what’s interesting is the day-to-day reality of this. Working with new […]
Jumped by blacks, but not fearful.
Charles William, Riverside, CA White Baby boomer who grew up in lower socio-economic minority neighborhoods east of Los Angeles, parents “quietly” racist but also very religious. Teenage years in early 70’s marked by race riots at junior and senior high schools, I was involved directly and indirectly in many race-related violent incidents. Higher education and […]
The outside will not make who you are
Khang P. Nguyen, San Jose, CA
Fit in everywhere, but not anywhere
Alex Concordia, San Jose, CA
Mexican- American is not less American.
Isabel Gutierrez, Merced, CA Being Mexican- American people want to treat me less than them but I was raised to not care what other people think.
White outside and brown on inside.
Donato Rivera III, San Jose, CA I was born in raised in San Jose, Ca. My family is of Mexican descent. Although when people look at me they don’t see someone with that background. It doesn’t help that my family didn’t teach me or my siblings Spanish. People think I am Russian or German when […]
I’m indian, nothing more nothing less
Medha Garapati, San Jose, CA
Brown in summer, white in winter
Ronisha, Laugna Niguel, CA I am of mixed race. My mother is one hundred percent Filipino and my father is white. In the summer, my skin is dark due to extra sun exposure. In the winter, my skin is pale. In the summer, I get compliments such as, your skin is so beautiful and glowing, […]
It’s not racism if they’re Native
Arthur Webster Carlsbad, CA Obviously, this shouldn’t be the case, but often I feel as though people think it is ok. I live North of the border, and while Canadians have a slight tendency to get…shall we say, a bit self-righteous over racism (underground railroad, anyone? Outlawing slavery? We’re the good one’s, right?). I don’t […]
Passed for White; woke to shame.
Beryle Fobes, Torrance, CA Born at end of WWII to res-born Native American hetero male who later remarried a Japanese war bride. White mother remarried racist. Children married Black and Native American; grandchildren more mixed than me. Always looked White though, as do progeny. International family at varying stages of race awareness.
My mixed-race son looks All-American.
Emma Alvarez Gibson, San Pedro, CA. My husband’s heritage is Japanese/Portuguese/French. Mine is Mexican/Irish/Scottish. Neither of us fit in anywhere while growing up; both sides of each of our families considered us oddities at best. People never knew what to make of us. I was too white for the Mexican kids and too uptight about […]
Always felt different. All are unique.
Nona Lynn Simons Orangevale, CA My Six Words: Have you ever felt different from everybody else? I have and sometimes I still do! In the fifth grade, I was different because I was part Jewish and my classmates weren’t. They went to church and I didn’t. During the last week of school, one of my […]
Judged for wanting to be different
Jared Baumer, Laguna Hills, CA. It can be hard to stand out and pursue a path of something different then what society and the world want you to do. People categorize you as weird or a loser if you aren’t doing what everyone else is doing. If anyone struggled with this all I can say […]
You’re Indian, which isn’t really Asian
Ayush Patel, San Jose, CA
Not all Mexicans are dangerous
Jonathan, Redwood City, CA
Hard to go outside a Jew
Gavin Vogel, Los Angeles, CA I chose these six words because of my Grandfather, a person who does not go to Temple very much but keeps Judaism close to his heart. As a young skinny boy in Manhattan, he was walking home from school one day as a few bullies walked by and they called […]
Daughters of Muslim father are American.
Suzie Husami, San Diego, CA. My mother and father met in college in upstate New York – he, a Lebanese -Muslim-Republican named Muhammad and she, an American non-practicing Methodist-Democrat named Maureen. They fell in love and had three daughters – Najla, our olive-skinned sister, and my twin sister and me – pale and freckled. My […]
We don’t all look the same.
Lori Gray, San Francisco, CA
You don’t look like your race
Daniel Atoui, Mission Viejo, CA a lot of the times I mention anything to do with privilege or my upbringing people always just tell me it’s because i’m white but just because i am white-passing doesn’t make me white. when they learn about my actual background, everyone suddenly has a bone to pick with me.
Love braids, gumbo, Malcolm, and Beyonce
Pcyeta Stroud, Oakland Adjacent, CA The black experience is so complicated and storied, it’s tough to capture a snapshot in just a few words.
Rice Is Life And Nothing Else
Hunter Hua, Buena Park, CA
Race pigeonhole’s people’s perception of others.
Leah Wilson, Moreno Valley, CA I’ve lived too long to have personal issues with another person’s race. Went thru trying to identify my mixed racial ancestry. I just look at the person that presents their identity to me in their word and actions.
Don’t get pregnant before your quinceañera.
Andrea Butts, Tustin, CA Apparently I was going to be like the rest of the family and be a teen mom.
I guess your considered a minority
Nathan Buneta, Mission Viejo, CA
Ignorance benefits no one but yourself
Nicholas Hendrick, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Privilege lives everywhere, silent but deadly
Ava Zahm, Irvine, CA White privilege is something I’m embarrassed to have learned about so late in my life. As a young white woman, I live a completely different life with so many fewer hardships, threats, and dangers than the life of someone identical to me but with more melanin in their skin. White privilege […]
I’m More Than a White Girl
Alejandra Boscan, Trabuco Canyon, CA I’ve always been seen as fully white when my culture and heritage is more than that. Coming from a mixed heritage of Italian, German, and Venezuelan, I want to keep all of these identities alive within me. However, I present fairly white, meaning that my Venezuelan culture is often lost. […]
Your race does not define you.
Lauren Machado, Lakewood, CA
Ignorance is Bliss in Korean Culture
Juliet Kim, Irvine, CA In Korean culture, mental health and awareness is not something that is openly talked about. Being a first-generation citizen of the United States, I grew up with both American and Korean cultures that have shaped me into who I am today. I feel that mental health and awareness is extremely important […]
A world hard to fit into
Jamie Jaimes, Tustin, CA
Rooted in hatred, Risen in Understanding
Shawna, CA I am White. Every white person in my life has always been so hateful and this has shown me what not to be like, instead of what to copy. I am enrolled at Cypress College.
Mexican, Guatemalan, Italian that is me
Karen Yanes, Garden Grove, CA Not that many people know that I’m Italian but I am. Even though I don’t live with any of my Italian family members. I try to learn the basics of Italian and teach my mom Italian at the same time.
I’m Filipino and that means a-lot
Coby Guzon, La Palma, CA I’m born a Filipino, I speak English, Tagalog, Visaya, Cebuano, and a bit of Spanish. I live in America and I look Chinese. Being Filipino is not just an Asian culture it’s a mix of many cultures. I’m also a current student at Cypress College.
Having beard does not mean Sikh
Shubham Bhardwaj, Cypress, CA I am Indian. I am not Sikh or Muslim. I am Hindu. Having beard does not mean I am Sikh or Muslim. I study at Cypress College. I also speak Spanish but I am not Mexican. I want to become a registered nurse. My major is Cypress College is Nursing.
Guatemala isnt in Mexico, we’re different
Jocelyn Hidalgo, Anaheim, CA Im Latina, I was practically raised in Central America… Guatemala if you couldn’t have guessed. I do have a warm skin tone and have a typical “Mexican” appearance… whatever that may mean to you. But when you hear me speak Spanish I tend to have people second guessing if I’m actually […]
I believe I can do it
James Rojas, Buena Park, CA Hello, I am a Mexican who was born here in the United States. I moved to Mexico at a young age and that’s where I grew up with Mexican culture. When moving back to the United States, my mom kept repeating that I received a chance that she couldn’t have, […]
Never truly fitting in Americas definition
Grace Shiffrin, CA
Rice is my LIFE. Deal with it.
Emily, Perris, CA. I have NEVER been so proud to be a Filipino-American. My culture is my everything and I would not trade it for the world. Being the handful of Asians at my school makes me even more unique. I want to promote diversity, I want people to be okay with the color of […]
Black lesbian CPA, it’s really me.
Andrea Hyson, San Francisco, CA. About two months ago, I finally met a new employee in another department. This woman and I had numerous phone conversations but hadn’t yet met. I decided to stop by her office to introduce myself. Another employee was at her door as I approached. As I turned into her office, […]
Asians challenge the Black-White racial binary.
Jason Fong, Los Angeles, CA. Asian Americans have been in the U.S. for hundreds of years and yet we are routinely excluded from discussions about race relations in America. I’m in the 11th grade and I learn nothing about Asian Americans and our long history in America in my U.S. history class. I don’t think […]
I get sunburned in ten minutes.
Christine Leach, San Francisco, CA. If the sun is intense enough, I can and have gotten sunburned in ten minutes, literally. I joke with my friend in Nigeria that I can’t visit him because it’d be too painful, physically. It’s a silly point, but one I’ve joked with friends about, who are black, hispanic, or […]
Yep, Guatemalan-American is an actual nationality.
Laura De Mata Solorzano, Tracy, CA
Stop judging, start loving, create peace.
Irvin Vega, San Jose, CA
Why does government care about race?
Sonia Loya, San Juan Capistrano, CA I’ve always been confused about my “race” when I see the question “what race are you” in almost every government form. Why does my race matter? What difference does it make if our society is a promoter of diversity? Why does government continue to ask this question? Why do […]
White Bones Ache For Black Moves
Mike Tracy, Oakland, CA. When I was 3 or 4 I asked my parents to put brown sugar on my oatmeal so I could grow up to be a running back like Jim Brown or Floyd Little.
But I’m not White… I’m Jewish.
Liza Frolkis, Nevada City, CA. I understand that because modern Jews are descended from multiple populations that ‘Judaism’ is not technically a race. But the truth is that as a student of history and with a serious soft-spot for little things like social justice, the innate right of all human beings to life, liberty and […]
You’re not Dale Evans-Roy Rogers.
Judy Jessick Fresno, CA In the early 70s, agencies turned us down unless we wanted to adopt a son w/mental or physical disability or a minority child. We applied for a multi-racial child. People freely voiced their opinions (we are Caucasian), including the one above that we were not Dale Evans-Roy Rogers who could adopt […]
Finally noticing my own racial biases
Marilyn Sharp, San Francisco, CA
Wow! You don’t have any kids?
Yira Pineda, Anaheim, CA I am told that it is surprising that at my age, gender and Hispanic culture I do not have any children yet. I hear that by the age of 15 it is common for Hispanic girls to become pregnant and quit school but that was not my stereotypical. I am 27 […]
Rose colored veil of white privilege
Bill Lee, Simi Valley, CA. I was raised seeing the world through the rose colored veil of white privilege. I now know this. Spoiled and clueless white Americans need to wake up to a new reality where we are just another face in a multi cultural crowd.
I Forget I Am Not White
Dougherty, Outside USA. I was adopted. My Dad is Irish, raised in Texas and then California. Mom is a retired nurse. I was raised around Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews. My friends in elementary school were white. Race was never an issue. Or if it was, I have long since forgot about it. I even […]
The “Non-Aztec” Looking Mexican
Claire Rainey, Los Alamitos, CA. I have a friend from Spain who I adore. He is gay, I am a Christian. One day we were road tripping with our mutual friend from France. She was telling us about her new found “love” Fernando who happens to be 100% Mexican. My Spanish friend condemned her for […]
Being Brown Makes Me Look “Hood”
Victor Vega, Los Angeles, CA. What troubles is on his mind? What’s he hiding from the camera? What’s in his jacket? That’s what I think when I see a picture of mine taken from several years back. If a white person was wearing street attire, one might think he’s cool, trendy, or might not even […]
Living In Accordance With Nature’s Way
Chad Howarth, Oceanside, CA We are each responsible, regardless of race, for making ourselves strong. The particular suffering that is in our blood, and imposed by accident of birth, are the weights we are given so that we might lift them and become strong. I am not particularly sensitive to popular race issues for this […]
Reasons to not Hate Mexicans
Angel, Northridge, CA You should not hate people of Mexican origin because them, along with others should feel happy in their own skin. If a person is happy in their own skin they can be hard workers, be strong enough to get college degrees, and not want to commit crimes against societal bullies. Mexican children […]
“Si se puede” the famous quote.
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 […]
Stop calling us sick men of Asia
Jiawei Wang, Irvine, CA After more than ten years of reform and opening up, China is no longer what we were before. We changed the government and changed the policies, and people gradually broke through the country’s blockade and went out of the world. What you should do is to help us get rid of […]
I ate pasta, family ate rice.
Melanie Vanderlipe Ramil, Sacramento, CA. Growing up, I wanted to be as “non-Filipino” as possible and felt great achievement whenever a friend said to me, “You seem so white!” During my middle school years, I claimed to not like rice (the staple for every night’s family dinner). My mom, after rushing home from work to […]
I felt what you have felt
Frank Pineda, Van Nuys, CA Empathy is truly a gift.
“A Teacher Who Looks Like Me”
Meghen, CA I’ve been babysitting for my current family for about a year and a half now, and I’ve heard of and been present for stories in that time on being Black in a predominantly white neighborhood. One of the first and better chats was my 10 year-old getting excited about moving as she would […]
B/c I have to think about it…
Shelley Brown Santa Cruz, CA
I will never really ‘get it’.
Celia Beasley, Seattle, WA. Being an upper-middle class white woman, I know I will never truly understand what it feels like to be a person of color in America. Despite my attempts to be aware of racism in this county through conversations, news stories, interviews, books, this website, etc, I know that I will never […]
Taxi took me, not black friend.
Steve Scott Hollywood, CA
No, I won’t do your homework
Dillon Pham, CA. As a person who enjoys volunteering and helping others, I typically don’t mind if my friends or fellow classmates ask me for help on their homework. Sometimes however, they ask me to send a picture of my homework because they don’t “get it.” This irritates me because one, I feel like I […]
Want to get fired? Discuss race.
Tony Harris, San Diego, CA.
“Can you speak Indian for me?”
Kushal Methukupally, Pleasanton, CA A common stereotype that is involved with Indians is the thought or belief that we all speak “Indian”. This is surely not the case. There is no such a language called “Indian”. To be “Indian” is considered your race, not your language. Hinduism is the religion we practice and Hindi is […]
I compose music. But I’m brown.
Luis Enrique Jimenez Jr., Los Angeles, CA IT’S TIME TO LET CLASSICAL MUSIC DIE By: Nebal Maysaud Western classical music depends on people of color to uphold its facade as a modern, progressive institution so that it can remain powerful. By controlling the ways in which composers are financed, it can feel like our only […]
Somewhere between Salsa and Country!
Stephanie Connors Eureka, CA Music is one of my biggest reminders of the cultures that I grew up with. It fills me with nostalgia and pride, longing and love of the people who came before me. The people from: everywhere! I love all of it now. From day to day I swirl around in a […]
Miles, Duke, Ella. Music conquers race.
Ernie Hills, Sacramento, CA. “As a young musician growing up in a white bread and mayonnaise world, I revered the recordings of black jazz musicians. This, more than anything else, is responsible for erasing the lingering racial animosity that was part of my family’s unspoken legacy. Thanks for being with us today!”
My mother taught me without words.
Michelle Mead San Diego, CA
I’m not adopted! I’m mixed-race.
Julie Taeko, San Francisco, CA. Writing a book called “Good Morning, Mixed-Race America!” to highlight the stories of 12 mixed-race individuals who are part-Asian, millenials and loving life! Checking All the Boxes & Embracing Our Own Unique Multi-Cultural Identity.
“Good Morning!” But there’s no response.
Clyde Jasper Oakland, CA I’m a tall black man with dreadlocks. I’m a husband and a father. I’m a property owner, and a taxpayer. I’m a veteran. I vote. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from a world class university in Berkeley, CA. In passing, I many times acknowledge a white persons presence and humanity with […]
Why’d my black nanny love me?
Sharon Raven Clark, Mammoth Lakes, CA 83 yrs ago, Anna knew all about the continuing atrocities of whites against blacks…yet she loved me…why??? how could she??? I didn’t become aware of “white supremacy” until our high school was integrated in 1956 and many jocks walked out. I was so embarrassed. Time and again, black women, […]
Regular Asian trying to find myself
Keisuke Okaguchi, Lake Forest, CA I am Japanese but born in United States. Both parents are from Japan and lived in a Asian life style my whole life. When I moved up to High School, I realized that everything was different from other people such as lifestyle, food, and hobby. Trying to find “who” I […]
You’re not Swedish you’re too dark
Paulina Persson, San Clemente, CA. People love to make assumptions by skin color. I love to see people’s facial expressions when they find out I was born in Stockholm and that I am half Swedish and Puerto Rican.
I am not a criminal, statistic, failure
James McCray, Hemet, CA I am not what society has labeled me. I am not a criminal because I am so called African American. I am not a statistic because I grew up in a single parent household, studies suggest that young black boys who grow up without a father in the home chances are […]
White Black Arab Mexican Jesus matter’s
Derek Ziebarth, Oakland, CA We can unite to change the narratives pushed by puppets of Satan aka college schools and TV. Wake up and realize they don’t get to destroy what they did not build.
Don’t speak to me in Arabic.
Christine Abraham Santa Monica, CA My mom is ashamed to speak Arabic in public in this post-9/11 world.
I’m a recovering racist, still learning.
Marnie Singer, Fremont, CA. I used to think I wasn’t racist; but when I joined Transcendence Gospel Choir and was accepted and loved, I realized how much I still had to learn, how much I still had to UN-learn.
“You’re white-passing, you aren’t discriminated against!”
Sanaz Chloe Homayounieh, Irvine, CA It’s a common joke among Iranians: “They used to classify us as Caucasian, but once 9/11 happened, now we aren’t white!” Traveling has always been an interesting experience for my family. Growing up, being stopped at airport security was not unusual. Whether they checked our hair, ankles, or even our […]
Yes there are Christians in Egypt
Christine Abraham Santa Monica, CA Ask me where I’m from – born and raised in Santa Monica. My ethnicity? Egyptian…but I feel the need to identify as Christian. Coptic Orthodox Christian. Especially in this post-9/11 world. Sad…
I am not a MAIL-IN-BRIDE
Kristal Vanessa Baradi, Milpitas, CA …or Domestic Helper. I am a Filipino- American, I was born in Hawaii. My husband is white, we meet in the Army (yes, I served for 8 years Active Duty). Everywhere we go people ask me where I was from of how long did it take for my husband to […]
Chased and called Jap in Detroit.
Joyce Fidler, Toluca Lake, CA. In 1956 I was in first grade, my mother was Japanese-Hawaiian, and I knew nothing about WWII. I didn’t realize my mother was part Japanese, nor did I know why anyone should care. Years later in high school I failed to grasp why students on my Indianapolis school bus would […]
Mexican hands are for farm labor.
Fred Rocha, Huntington Beach, CA Those are the words my parents were told by their counselors in Los Angeles high schools back in the 1940s. All they wanted to do was pursue their interest in Engineering. Instead they were told to go work in the fields. They took the anger they felt and made it […]
Can Mutt be a human race? .
Ashley Boggs, Wildomar, CA That is me. I think of us as all human, that is our race. Spread love.
Perspective is an important life skill
Alex D., Irvine, CA
Hey show me the answers please
Dylan Pence, Laguna Niguel, CA As an Asian American I am often associated with the stereotype that all Asians are good at math. So almost every week during the school year I am asked to send the homework to a number of students because they automatically assume that I am smarter than they are. When […]
Go back to the country you’re from!
Belsy Montufar, Lake Forest, CA As a Hispanic myself, there have been multiple instances in which I have felt too white to be Hispanic, and too Hispanic to be white. Finding your bicultural identity when you feel this way is extremely hard. One day my classmates are pointing out that my English is “too perfect” […]
The Term “ABC”, American Born Chinese
Chloe Foo, San Clemente, CA
Understand that you will never understand
Rafael, Lake Forest, CA People will never understand the hardships and stress racism brings on people.
Why must I change to belong?
Jack Gornowicz, RSM, CA
I wish we were all equal.
Keith Webb, Orangevale, CA It is sad that we don’t treat each other with more respect. Too many people believe we have equality now, but we still really don’t. We weren’t born with racial prejudices. We learned that from people around us.
Dude, you look like a terrorist
Spencer Scranton, Los Angeles, CA
Changing the path of my children!!
Tina Bradford, Chino Hills, CA. Being raised in a home where “White is Right,” I only had one thing I could do. So I went on my own path of development. Creating myself into the black sheep of the family. Why would I do such a thing? So my children could learn we do not […]
Seasonal confusion; your problem not mine
Courters, Bay Area, CA. I grew up in a latin home, of a first generation born parent. By DNA–I am native-american sicilian. I was raised with latin catholic, tibetan, native american, and sicilian culture. As a child, in my desert neighborhood, I stayed dark and it was rarely noticed that I was not “technically” latin […]
I didn’t know english, but learned.
Phillip T., Elk Grove, CA. Prior to going to school I didn’t know a lick of English. My parents spoke to me either in Cantonese or Vietnamese, but when I enter kindergarten I learned English for the first time. I don’t remember much of kindergarten, I don’t even remember her name. I was in E.S.L […]
You’re one of us (not really).
Molly, CA.
Hatred is learned. Time to unlearn.
Lauren Slotsve, Santa Rosa, CA Hatred is a learned behavior, but it can be unlearned. For many people, they will spend their whole lives unlearning prejudice and hate.
Do you eat dogs and cats?
Ian, Lake Forest, CA Being an Asian American, we are constantly under the attack of racial discrimination and stereotype. In middle school, since I lived in a white town, being the ONLY Asian in my school’s 150 years of history, I get asked the same question every single day: “Hey! you Asian right? so you […]
Not a thing. Just geography + time.
Odile Sullivan-Tarazi, Redwood City, CA. Of course, culturally it has been made a thing, and a thing which privileges some and penalizes others. We need to fix this.
Understand that you will never understand
Katarina Iannucci, Mission Viejo, CA
Why won’t we just turn colorblind?
Julia Wright, Irvine, CA.
White Baby Boomer Low Wage Slave.
Skyler Crane Oceanside, CA There is a small splash of African in my ancestry, never talked about, though obvious in physical traits of many of my relatives, Why I give my Race Card sentence is that born a baby boomer to low, very low, middle class WASP parents, i was not given or alerted to […]
No B’s in an Asian Family
Jessie Blakely Los Angeles, CA I was raised in Hawaii, where there really isn’t such thing as a racial stereotype. Hawaii kids tend to be so ethnically diverse, that any stereotype today may apply to up to 1/2 of their bloodline, but rarely more. When I moved to the mainland to go to college, I […]
You Italian then? No, I’m Hispanic.
Andrea Lopez, Sacramento, CA. When confronted with the question of whether or not I’ve experienced racism in my life, I always remember the first time I felt discriminated against. I was about twelve years old and I was meeting my best friend’s father for the first time. She moved to California from Georgia with her […]
Hispanic and White? You don’t belong.
Kimberly, Palmdale, CA A sheep in a wolf’s skin. Even if you try to run with the wolves, you are still a sheep. I can relate to this imagery because even though I was raised by a Guatemalan father and a white mother I am not accepted by my family. I am too white to […]
Latinos don’t graduate, so I did
Melissa, Imperial, CA
Complaining and handouts only address symptoms
Jeff, Belmont, CA
Asian searching for what assimilation took.
Jessy Verkler, Solvang, CA Assimilation allowed me to wish I was white and hate that I wasn’t.
Hi. You must be the nanny.
Mayra Cramer, Menlo Park, CA. I’m a brown typically Hispanic looking upper middle class woman living in an affluent suburb of San Francisco. I’ve allways had a hard time fitting in because I was raised in “white” neighborhoods and went to elite and desirable schools. My third child is fair and people in the street […]
My tastebuds tell me I’m Japanese
Ka’Olu, Los Osos, CA I’m a “third culture kid” raised in Southern California by expat Japanese parents. We were repatriated when I was a teenager, then I moved back to California in my late 40’s. In Japan, I felt I was not really Japanese, but in the US, I don’t really feel American. Because I […]
Never met Grandfather because “Bull” Did
Andrea James Andrews Fresno, CA Our personal family legend includes Bull Connor from Alabama. My grandfather was diagnosed as Schizophrenic but that didn’t stop Bull Conner from killing him either before or right after they took him to the Colored Hospital for the Insane. Have an irrational hate for anything “Alabama” since then (born and […]
Mexican boy didn’t cross the border.
Jordan, American Canyon, CA.
“Tom’s best weapon was his smile” Ray Bradbury.
Jim Moore, San Jose, CA.
I don’t fit anywhere: Multiracial identity
John Calloway, San Francisco, CA. I have been struggling with being a mixed race, multi-racial, muliti-ethnic identiy all my life. Belonging neither here nor there. I mean how can you be Filipino-American with a name like Calloway?
America provides opportunity for English accent
Andrew, Irvine, CA. Love America and as an immigrant British CEO recognize the opportunity afforded by this forward thinking multi cultural environment that is SoCal
Black-white man; white black man
Kirl T. Lawson, Oakland, CA. I have so many tales to share about my experience with my color (or lack of “definitive color recognition”). growing up in Chicago, I was called “a white n*****” by friends at times w/ affection and at times derisively. Initially the appellation hurt my feelings until I took an objective […]
I’m okay with no racial majority
L J Laubenheimer, San Jose, CA. The thing lots of people miss with whites losing the majority is that no one race will be in the majority. We’ll all be minorities, which will ultimately remove a source of resentment and conflict. I’m white, I live in Silicon Valley. I doubt whites are the majority here […]
GUYS, NOT ALL ASIANS ARE CHINESE
Stephen, San Jose, CA. I see lots of news that some Asians are considered to be Chinese when they do wrong and insulted by other race people. But, NOT ALL ASIANS ARE CHINESE.
Race is color, color isn’t you
Alejandra Vargas, San Jose, CA.
I’m one of the good ones
Abraham Sanchez, Palo Alto, CA. Just cause I don’t act the same as other Mexicans does not define my moral value. You don’t say that to someone who looks like you right?
Lizzie’s Journey from Plantation to Farm
Michelle Hill, Oakland, CA. Our family is so fortunate that my great, great, great grandparents were not separated from each other and their children during slavery. Because the family stayed together, we have a family Bible, pictures and records that document their lives in this country. My great grandmother, Mama Lizzie, was born in 1870 […]
They always ask: What ARE you?
Lisa Page Rosenberg, South Pasadena, CA. Mexican-Spanish-Apache-Basque-Irish-Swedish American
I’m not from the country ‘White’.
Matthew Palavido Beaumont, CA My family’s background is Polish and Swedish and the town I grew up in in New Jersey was predominantly “white”. Like a lot of Americans, I grew up rather sheltered and culturally insensitive/ignorant. While on a camping trip with my family and friends from my wife’s side of the family, we […]
Too brown for the fancy restaurant.
Jane Medina Orange, CA My daughter Annie had just turned 21. So she, my husband, my son, and I put on our cocktail party clothes and went to the fanciest restaurant in Orange, California to buy Annie her first drink. As our car climbed the steep hill where the restaurant sat like a crown above […]
I’m not split I’m a whole
Nicolas Ortega, Redwood City, CA My cultures are both Mexican and Sicilian. I have always been told I am not enough for both sides.
Wait, why is your grandma Asian?
Ryan Flanagan, Mountain View, CA A friend in high school asked me this question after meeting my grandmother, who is Filipino. I grew up eating pancit and lumpia and feel a strong connection to my Filipino heritage, but am often met with eye rolls since my appearance reads as white. I worry that my blue-eyed […]
My Color does not define me.
Artein Ganji, Mission Viejo, CA
Hate, Discrimination, Divided, Less Than, Stereotype, Anger
Asia Tunstall, Tustin, CA Let’s be as ONE!
I am called Wu Ming Yang
Westley Wu, Fountain Valley, CA
Father’s reflection, mother’s renewed hope, transformation
Christina Mayes, Richmond, CA. The constant revolving question in my life is, “What are you?” Let’s take care of this question now. My father is Peruvian and my mother is Irish-Italian. My father left when I was three, so for most of my life I felt like he left me with no culture or language. […]
That’s weird, your kids are blonde.
Brian Parra, Oxnard, CA. Without fail, the first thing a person remarks on, upon seeing my kids, is that they are blonde and I am not. I’ve gotten used to odd looks and the consistent recitation of a poor understanding of genetics, “Mom must have some strong genes!” Some have literally questioned whether they are […]
Roll the rr in my name
Jack Herrera San Mateo, CA
She’s nice for a black woman!
Barry Watkins, Santa Rosa, CA. My mother took me back when she told me that. She was loving & guileless. She drove off the road when I told her I had Black roommates in SF, though I grew up in Beaumont, TX. I never thought of my roommates as “Black”, they were individuals – Ron […]
Held against your will?
Judy Vasquez, Murrieta, CA. I am a caucasion female, brown hair with brown eyes and my husband is proudly Hispanic/Mexican. We were pulled over at a checkpoint one evening on or way home from a family event and when the officer looked in the car, he asked me, “Ma’am, are you being held against your […]
“Why don’t you like me?”
Mandy P, Sacramento, CA. When I was 7 years old we moved to Sacramento from Oregon. The culture and diversity is very in California than in Oregon. Moving to California exposed me to many other races and cultures. I saw many other races in my environment. Although in my neighborhood, where I lived and attended […]
Homeless. White. Unusual. Gave him money.
T.C. Green, Los Angeles, CA.
Guessing my race isn’t a game
Sheila Islam, Oakland, CA. You do not win a prize if you get it right. People hardly ever guess it right and thats not exactly the problem. The problem is, that when people do this, I feel objectified. I feel like my physical appearance is being ripped from me and being judged. I am so […]
“Didn’t know you were an alien”
Tifanny Lopez, Mountain View, CA People have called me an alien when they find out I wasn’t born in the U.S. Suddenly my whole identity changed in their eyes. I was once told that I had the opportunity to hide the fact that I was an ” alien” since my pronunciation is very well.
I didn’t know you speak Spanish
Nathan Ojeda, Ladera Ranch, CA Because of my physical features, eye color, hair color, complexion…. people generally are surprised to learn that I speak Spanish and that my parents are from Mexico.
Wik na tiki wawa bastən wawa
M.H. Culley, CA. It is sad that my Indian Elders and Ancestors were taught to be so ashamed of being Indian that they tried to protect their descendents by not teaching us their songs and language. This is even more painful because in the 20th century out tribe was declared extinct by a white bureaucrat […]
Race is nonsense. We are humanity.
Mark A Tyler, Perris, CA. As an astronomer I see the Earth as a speck of life in a sea of emptiness. If we never learn to work to better all of us we will never survive the trials ahead.
Where are you from?
Beth Aguirre, San Francisco, CA People outside San Francisco ask me where I’m from. I am a 4th generation Asian – San Franciscan. When I say I’m from San Francisco, please ask me, “Really, where are you from?” Just because I have dark hair and tan skin doesn’t mean I’m not from San Francisco.
Facts don’t care about your feelings
Teddy, Long Beach, CA Race in America could use a 3rd party perspective
I am more than a race
Chris, Tustin, CA
Judgment based on an individual’s ACCENT.
Ame Cruz, Sacramento, CA. It’s not just about blacks & whites. People tend to judge based on others’ accents as if they’re not good enough because they don’t know English well.
I ask again, am I racist?
Karla Torres, Oakland, CA Am I racist? This is something I’ve been asking myself recently as I’ve encountered new neighbors living on my street. This neighborhood has always been predominantly black and Latino and while there have been issues between the neighbors, things have never gotten to this level of uncomfortableness. All the homes here […]
Single White Dads Need Help Too.
Jamin Rohner San Diego, CA Eye White Open Sometimes, we all go through situations where we could really use a some help, even if it’s only a little. Whether it be something relatively small, like supplemental food stamps or grants for reeducation in times of employment hardships, to more immediate needs like emergency, short-term shelter […]
Latina I am I am me
Carmen Angelica Zapata, Santa Monica, CA. I lived in Spain for a year after growing up in the United States and for the first time I was not other. No one yelled “speak English!” no one asked if I was legal, or if I was going to be deported. It was the first time in […]
Your accent… Are you from here?
Ivan Vazquez, Sacramento, CA. Although I was born and raised in San Diego, CA ; I grew up in a household that comprised of both the English and Spanish language, about 60% English and 40% Spanish. I am a child of second-generation immigrants and even though I received my entire education in English, I came […]
Its OK to take up space
Reese Marcosa, Tustin, CA
Actions speak louder then six words.
Andrew Soriano, Tustin, CA
My parents think you are white.
Jennie, Los Angeles, CA. I am 4th generation Chicana. My mother is Mexican-American and my father is White. One of the saddest things is to be rejected in relationships or see as different from your significant others’ family. I find that Mexicano families do not understand the history of Mexican-Americans. Someone I dated pointed out […]
Rejected because love is colorblind.
Paula Morris, Long Beach, CA. A white girl growing up in Orange County, CA, where I was anything and anyone “different” was “bad”, I have found love with two wonderful men in my life: the first one (who died) was African American, and the second one is African. The happiness both have brought me is […]
Wow, you speak English really well!
Sharmila Guha, Oakland, CA. It was my first summer job after high school. A man in the lunch room one day tried to ask shy me this odd questions… which just left me stunned. I was born and raised in Los Angeles; why wouldn’t I speak English well? I guess the “dad from India and […]
I am mom, not the babysitter
Mikaela Rejbrand, San Francisco, CA. Being a person of mixed race, my biological mom is white and my biological father is black, and having married an Irish man, my children are much lighter skinned than I am and therefore am often mistaken for “the babysitter”. The constant theme since my children have been born is […]
We were equal until you knew.
Jose “Jay” Zarate, Soquel, CA My skin is pale, my hair normally just light brown, yet in the summer you’re always eager to point out my streaks of red. It’s funny how you focus on that, how the contrast seems to shock you every time the sunlight reveals it or starts to make it apparent. […]
Straight Caucasian male, not a privilege.
Nathan Hansen, Yucipa, CA. CBU HIS311
America, we are your children too.
Sheree Lewis, Fontana, CA. The term American should represent the vast multitude of cultures, ethnic backgrounds, languages, complexions, origins and spiritual beliefs of its inhabitants. When those in power do not address the mistreatment of humans because their race is considered inferior, or choose to scrutinize and negatively profile individuals because of a difference in […]
Don’t whisper. I can still hear you.
Sabrina Fuentes, Apple Valley, CA. Some people are racist and some people are not. It is a fact, but some individuals believe that if they stay quiet about the matter they are doing no wrong, but it is on the contrary. We are all one race, HUMAN. It is about time we remember that.
Your Life, Your Choices and Your Freedom
Alberto Garcia, Santa Cruz, CA
I have benefited from white privilege
Lise Dumont, Brisbane, CA I will try to correct the imbalance.
Racism is a form of hate.
Alberto Lopez, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Your people don’t want to succeed
Gehrig Urbano, Laguna Beach, CA
Made up to keep us small
Valentina Charlton, Aliso Viejo, CA
We live on one rock, together
Alam Carpenter, Santa Cruz, CA We aren’t going anywhere. Why create chaos when we can have harmony.
Female Chicana, not from Mexico/Philippenes
Mariela Uscanga, La Mirada, CA. When people see me, I am often confused as Filipino or from Mexico. People will speak to me in Spanish or Tagalog. It’s a bit frustrating only because when I tell people that I don’t speak Tagalog people question my honesty with them. Or, when I tell people that my […]
First Black Female Air Traffic Controller
Sandra Durbin, San Diego, CA. It was hard. I was smart, black and female, 18 years old in 1966. I joined the U S Navy, because they promised me college. I give the govenment 3 years, and they give me four years of college. It was horrible. I was given a Captain’s Mast, at 8:30 […]
I’m white. How can I help?
Anne Huntemer, Sonora, CA. Coming from a place of privilege, how can I help welcome and fight for my friends of color? I know I haven’t experienced what you have, but I’m here to support you in any way I can.
I stay in my “own lane”
Livi Dom, Napa, CA. I have opinions on things, but because I’m white I feel as if it’s not my place to talk about them, because I have no idea what it’s like to be discriminated about because of my race. Which is fine! I just stay in my lane, and I try to support, […]
Honestly I just mind my business
Deviian Williams, Mission Viejo, CA
Skin color is a coping strategy.
Matthew Mark, Aliso Viejo, CA Skin color changes varies with the environmental conditions one lives in. Melanin is due to biological evolution and it is evident as people living near the equator have darker skin compared to people living near the artic. High skin pigmentation offers protection from skin cancer and sunburns. Body size and […]
Trust the brother, distrust the other.
Bert Olson, San Jose, CA. This is an observation on human nature, not confined to race. Humans tend to bond with people of similar appearance and background. It takes effort to understand the other.
Did not choose to be Jewish
Sarah Elizabeth Rosen, Laguna Hills, CA. I did not choose to be Jewish. But, I have come to realize as I got older to appreciate who I am and how my religion is important to me. People think I am Mexican because I am tan, but really I am a Eastern European Jew. When I […]
I don’t understand why race matters.
Jennessa Cairo, Los Angeles, CA. I believe it’s important to know who we are, and to learn and respect our cultures all over the globe. But growing up I never saw race, I just saw people as equals. Sometimes I just don’t understand why is matters to people.
Wow, you sound like a white girl.
Tanea, Lancaster, CA.
I failed the brown bag test.
Meghann Carey, San Francisco, CA Which is great because why would I ever want to pass? My brown skin is soft and clear and beautiful. Growing up an adopted mixed race child in a white family in Irish catholic suburbs and a mostly WASP and Jewish school made for the usual social confusions attached to […]
Listening, learning to sit in discomfort.
Kris Cornwall, San Mateo, CA To help effect change, I have to understand the privilege that is my normal. And this means listening to the truths of those who don’t have my privilege – allowing my discomfort to open my heart not close my ears.
Still figuring out my six words.
Rob Moore, Oak Park, IL. I was raised in Southern California, born into a military family. I’ve lived most of my life in a white–or beige–bubble. Recently, because of an important and loving relationship, I’ve been thinking a lot more about race as it affects us today. Reading Claudia Rankine, Patricia Smith, many others who […]
Our hearts are the same, right?
Steven Scogna, Sacramento, CA.
I Am A Light-Skinned Black Woman
Rosina B., Temecula, CA. African Americans come in all colors and hues, and just because my skin may be light it does not make me a lesser African American, it only make me more proud to be who I am!!
You tell me what I am!!!
Paul, Hayward, CA So My Mom is creole and her parents(my grandparents) passed for white and I didn’t know I had black ancestry until I was 28yo my dad is Irish/English… people tend to tell me what race I am. I identify mostly as white but look Latino but depends on who you ask… apparently […]
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