Camarillo Archives - The Race Card Project

Yes I’m Jewish, Yes I’m Blonde.

November 6, 2024November 6, 2024 assume, blonde, CA, Camarillo, Jewish, Moorpark College, summer, Yiddish

Summer,
Camarillo, CA

I am Ashkenazi Jewish and have always known so, and was raised speaking English and Yiddish. I am fair skinned, blue eyes and blonde hair. People assume because I am what people traditionally think of as “Arian raced” they can make nazi Germany jokes to me and I will tag along. I don’t look what people assume Jewish looks like and so people are surprised and sometimes don’t believe me and ask me to prove I am Jewish. I had a boyfriend once who didn’t know I was Jewish yet and told me that we needed to have children because it was our duty to carry on a traditional, clean, white race, I dumped him promptly after. Looks don’t determine someone’s heritage.
I am a student at Moorpark College, CA.

Everybody else is potentially a friend.

February 6, 2024 CA, Camarillo, class, friend, gym, PE, school, teacher

Christina,
Camarillo, CA

I taught PE in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 12 yrs. During Homeroom, we taught our students the “Character Counts Program.” One of the 6 pillars is “Respect.” This pillar asks you to be accepting of all differences, like religions, race, age, sexual orientation, etc. After that I would say to my students……”so if you decide to get married, for example, they’ll be one person that is your spouse, but everybody else is potentially a friend” Another example, “so if you respect everyones differences, you never know who your next best friend is going to be.” I would tell them how exciting that would be, to be respectful to everyone, because you never know who your next best friend will be, maybe even a friend for life.

Judge by character, not by color.

June 14, 2021June 14, 2021 CA, Camarillo, character, classmate, clique, Color, culture, ethnicity, Helen Zhang, judge, middle school, new perspectives, open-minded, school

Helen Zhang,
Camarillo, CA.

When I was in middle school, I noticed that my classmates tended to form “cliques” with people of the same ethnicity. However, I preferred to learn about the values and traditions of other cultures. Speaking to people of different backgrounds continues to allow me to stay open-minded and gain new perspectives.

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