Where’d you go to high school?
Jules M. Marquart, Louisville, KY. In Louisville during the pre-busing 1960s, this “screening” question was based on assumptions and generalizations about race and class. A...
In a Class of My Own
Marcus Garcia, Chicago, IL I chose these words that have been plucked straight out of InuYasha. If you aren’t familiar, InuYasha is about a half-demon...
I never even thought about race.
Ric Leczel, San Gabriel, CA I grew up in a firehouse with every race. We spent every holiday together. Black and Mexican and Indian firefighters...
I learned I was Black in kindergarten.
Shakira, Phoenix, AZ. One day after our teacher snapped photos of our class she developed them in black and white and scattered them out on...
It’s more about class, than race
Craig Woolmington-Smith, Orinda, CA. I was raised in a military family where discrimination was everywhere and a highly respected way of life, but the discrimination...
Everybody else is potentially a friend.
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...
I’m “too white” or “too black”
Edison LaCour, Orange County, CA. I am a product of a biracial marriage, or now with my newfound knowledge from my Biological Anthropology class, a...
Small brown flecks on a tortilla
Jane Orias, St. Louis, MO We moved to St. Louis, MO about 6 years ago after living in Hawaii and the west coast. The topic...
The “quiet girl” in the back
Alyssa Banas, VA. Before I attended college, I was known as the “quiet girl” that sat in the back of the class. I loved meeting...
Privileged, What exactly does that MEAN?!?
Janet Davis, Huntsville, AL. I live in the South where we have always had a larger black population as long as I can remember &...
You have the right skin color
Erin Fischer, Boulder, CO. This is actually the end of a quote from Abraham Verghese’s novel, Cutting for Stone. The whole quote says “Accent be...
I was bussed. I was scarred.
Andrea Stewart, Brooklyn, NY. When I was in third grade I was bussed from the predominantly white side of town to the predominantly black side...
Puerto Rico’s Identity Crisis Defines Me.
Isabel Nicole Otero Hernandez, Silver Spring, MD. I was born in Puerto Rico to a Cuban Mother and a Puerto Rican Father. The summer I...
White? Just don’t think about it.
D., Toomsboro, GA I grew up in a small southern town with a fairly even mix of African Americans and whites. I went to a...
“So, what are you?” they ask.
Karen Gephart Altschul, Vernon Hills, IL. I was five, the first time I can remember somebody asking me that question. “What are you? Chinese or...
Why didn’t we talk about this?
Madison Martin, Ewing, NJ. Growing up in a predominantly white town, race was not a topic of much discussion in the classroom. My parents were...
When did “enunciating” mean “sounding white?”
Skye Carr, Virginia Beach, VA. Throughout middle school and high school, people used to always call me an “Oreo” because I was one of the...
Damn, did you see that White girl?
Lisa Jasinsk, Trinity University In 2007, I spent a year working at The Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY. One day on my way into the...
