My children don’t look like me.
Ava Nanjung, San Diego, CA As an Indian/White mother to my three biological children of color, strangers find no issue asking me or them if...
You are all the same but different
Malan Hadizadeh, San Francisco, CA I was driving my then three year old son to preschool the Friday before Mother’s Day and asked him, “Who’s...
I hope he’ll look “American” enough.
Katrina Nye San Jose, CA I am full Asian and my husband is a quarter Japanese. Once our son was born I asked my husband...
Cleaning myself to look like her
Matthew Garcia, Salinas, CA. I’m African-American, my mother would have my stay at my baby sitters house after school while she was working. One day...
I don’t know where I fit
Nina, Marina, CA I’m light skinned, half white, but I don’t feel white. My other half is Hispanic. I ever know what race to put...
Small distinction blown out of proportion
Kellen, San Clemente, CA Thinking someone is less than you simply because they have a different skin pigmentation is asinine…we are all human.
Adobo Beef Stew Rice Potatoes: Dinner
James Estanislao Herr, Los Angeles, CA. Dad’s side came over in 1717–Swiss-German and Irish with some Danish and Greek thrown in. Mom came over in...
Me llamo Lora y hablo español.
Lora McManus, Altadena, CA. Being transracially adopted (by Caucasian parents) comes with a plethora of advantages and challenges. One of the most common misconceptions that...
Bi-racial daughter draws Black self portraits.
Malika Los Angeles, CA Our daughter began to draw what she saw in the world very early. She wakes up from vivid dreams, grabs a...
I have been alone among many
Gordon Lee Pattison, Los Angeles, CA. In 1959, when I was 14 years old, I moved from Los Angeles to Honolulu. I had just started...
Uniquely Made, The American Girl Today
Christina Rains, Riverside, CA. French, Indian, Mexican, Dutch, but American? It is quite clear that you cannot judge individuals by their color. Race in reality...
Glad my daughter is not white.
Nice White Lady, San Francisco, CA. I’m a white mom to a brown daughter who can’t shake the shame and embarrassment that stems from a...
“You’re Asian? But you’re so tall!”
Lisa Harrison Long Beach, CA This is such a common reaction from people over many, many years. I don’t look half Cambodian by others standards....
More than “just a Black girl”
Jolie Anne Chevalier, San Jose, CA. This is me at eight years old back in 1979, the daughter of an African-American/Seminole Indian mother, and a...
White privilege has broken my heart.
April Anderson, Sonora, CA When I read From the Editor in Junes’ Nat Geo (I’m a bit behind) I suddenly had this sentence pop into...
