The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
Autumn Danielsen,
Maquoketa, IA
Moving from a bigger city to a small town, I hear a lot of comments like: Why do you dress that way, you should dress your race, that’s not how you’re supposed to dress. For me clothes are clothes. If I find something I think is cute I am going to wear it, I do not care if it is the clothes for “my race” or not. I currently am enrolled at Eastern Iowa Community College.
Juan Dominguez,
Sacramento, CA.
Mexican people say I am a shame to our people with gauges in my ears, the clothes I am wearing, the fact I do not have an accent when I speak. It’s like I was raised in America but by Mexicans that eat tortillas with every meal celebrate mothers day the 10th of May. Am I white washed or just a mix of both cultures?
P. Contreras,
Benicia, CA.
How you choose to dress gives an impression about you. Whether that impression is accurate or not no one will know unless they get to know you. But, they won’t get to know you if your image repels them.
Example. Teenage Boy (black, Hispanic, Asian, white) in your neighborhood in jeans (that fit), t-shirt, and athletic shoes compared to a teenage boy in your neighborhood in saggy jeans (prison style), hoody obscuring most of his face, and athletic shoes.
It’s how you wear the clothes.
Har Simran Kaur Khalsa,
Los Angeles, CA.
Since I started wearing mostly white clothes along with my practice of Sikhism, it has become glaringly clear that I am not white — or rather, that my skin is far from white. I am aware that I still experience much white privilege.
Gianna Radoi,
USA.
People think that being white means you are American. I am second generation, born and raised in America, but my parents are from Europe. Sure, they fled communism in the 80’s, but for a better life. Things did not always come easy for them when they started new lives here, with only the money they had in their pockets, and the clothes on their back. Their skin color did not change the way they worked or the way they were treated, nor does it benefit them now. Being white does not have an impact on my work ethic nor does it affect my grades in class. We still struggle because we are human. If anything, I would like to apologize that I am white. I cannot do anything about my skin color, but we can all change the way we look at others based off of their skin tone. CBU HIS311
Lily Waxler,
NA
No thanks, I’d rather not say., .
I was going on my 8th grade trip for Costa Rica last year and I was with one of my best friends; (I’m going to keep their name anonymous). Wore a hijab for their religion, because of this she got stopped for three “random” security checks when we were at the airport. Not surprisingly me nor none of my other friends (they were the only one wearing a hijab and they had dark skin) got stopped. Even though I knew racism was very prevalent today I still didn’t know it was this bad. This made me realize how much people judge others just by their race and how they choose to dress.
LaLana Martin
Gold Beach, OR
When I was 9 years old, our mixed-race family (Asian/Pacific Islander and German/French) was on vacation in the southeast. With six of us there was a lot of laundry. We stopped at a laundry mat and I hopped out of our camper to help Mom with the wash. A sign on the door read: “FOR WHITES ONLY!” That was the FIRST time I realized I was diverse!!!
Barbara Klinman
Havertown, PA
When I was a young girl my mom was a working mom (nurse) and we had a cleaning lady, Essie Mae, come in every Saturday to clean. I recall she was paid $7.50 ‘and car fare.’ I used to beg Essie Mae to use my bedroom to change into her working clothes, but she would not do it. She tried to quickly change in our (busy) basement. I never understood why.
Robin Smith
Newburgh IN
Submitted via: NPR’s Talk of the Nation
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