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...
Checking OTHER is so liberating and fun
Maggie Martinez, WEST PALM BEACH, FL. When I get the chance to check “other ” on any form it makes me feel as if I...
Why not select all that apply?
Anna Murphy, MA My Mother is Mexican and Slovak. My father is Irish. Many applications and census options only give the option for “Hispanic,” or...
Why I Choose To Use Other
Malcolm X. Mosely, Lorain, OH. I started using “Other long ago when they first started putting it on an option and I could start filling...
First generation immigrant; you’d never know.
Choua Yang, Green Bay, WI. I was one of the lucky to escape Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War conflict. It was 1980 and I...
“White” papers over identity and background.
Catherine Kehl, Cleveland Heights, OH. When we divide ourselves into “us” and “other” we don’t only lose the other, we lose ourselves. I was twenty-seven...
Don’t worry honey, he’ll brown up.
Jen, Bowie, MD. My husband (African American) and I (Caucasian) took our son to his one month doctor appointment. The nurse asked us if he...
I look white & I’m not racist.
Lynn, Great Falls, SC. I tend to look white; especially when not in the sun. I’m actually a mix of: European (German, Irish, & British),...
No one box is correct.
David Kung, St. Mary’s City, MD. In 2000 when I filled out my census card and was finally allowed to (correctly) check more than one...
Because I’m white, I feel ashamed.
Sadie Petersen Philadelphia, PA As a child, the streets of west Philadelphia were my playground. I loved going to school in the area and wouldn’t...
Suburban white kids nicknamed me Chinaman
Aaron Yeh, Las Vegas, NV. White mother, Chinese father, I was raised by my mom and don’t speak Chinese. Sometimes I look in the mirror...
I’m Middle Eastern but I’m white?
Ilana New York, NY I grew up in Israel to a father born in Germany and a mother born in the United States. Yet every...
When did borders start defining ‘race’?
Sarah Naomi Burnett, Norristown, PA. Being a ‘white’ girl raised on the border of Mexico the ‘race-card’ issue was raised daily. I always felt that...
Black, Papua New Guinea, curious, adopted
Brittany Barnes Reno, NV I am adopted. I was born in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, now known as Western New Guinea. I don’t really tell people...
“Generic Brown” is my passport everywhere.
Gil L. Pettigrew, MS, The Federated States of Micronesia. I have a very strong, very proud cultural heritage; I’m a North American Mestizo, 50% Native...
You have to choose. Which one?
Aimee Mallery, Rochester, NY. My daughter is Native American on her father’s side. When faced with a form for daycare, I had to choose whether...
