color of skin Archives - The Race Card Project

The Uncertainty My Blackness Brings Me

March 12, 2024March 12, 2024 Anger, angry back girl, Ashlei, blackness, color of skin, hate, Knoxville, Knoxville. Sociology 110, speak up, TN, University of Tennessee

Ashlei,
Knoxville, TN

Being a black woman sometimes feels like I will always have unjust obstacles in my life. I will learn to deal with them and not let them anger me the way they probably should. But I wonder if I will ever truly feel like I belong in a space. At the age of 19, I began to worry about how I will one day be treated when I give birth in a hospital. I wonder if my complaints of pain will be ignored because of the color of my skin. I hate that I now fear something as beautiful as childbirth, because of the un-proportionally high maternal mortality rates of black women in this country. I often catch myself not wanting to speak up about things that bother me because I don’t want to be perceived as “the angry black girl.” How many off-hand comments have I let slide because I was afraid of the way my disdain would be perceived? I wonder when I will ever feel like I truly belong in a space.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Sociology 110

Why isn’t your skin darker?

May 1, 2023 anonymous, color of skin, dark skin, image, Mexican, NV, you don't look Mexican

Anonymous,
NV

As someone who is Mexican, I often get told that I’m not actually Mexican because of the color of my skin. I’m often told that I’m not REALLY Mexican because my skin is so pale. Why does my skin have to be Darker for you to believe me? And why do you have a set image in your mind of what “Mexican” should look like?

Human Spirit – Our One Equal Tie

June 7, 2021June 7, 2021 American Indian, Cherokee, color of skin, containment, disdain, Elizabethtown, embodied, equal, God, herotage, human, irregardess, Kimberly Davenport, KY, more than, Native American, Raven Spirit costume, skin color, social structure, teacher, tie, white honey

Kimberly Davenport,
Elizabethtown, KY.

Irregardless of our containment, the color of our skin, our heritage, our social structures…one element binds us all and that one element is that which cannot completely be embodied.. the human spirit.
I just ordered a dna test..so once and for all I can clarify to some degree what my exterior culminates into. Mostly my reason for this is because of once again having to fill out a form which asks the question regarding my race. I have hated that question since grade school when the first proficiency exams were doled out and the question was first asked of me. I remember how I struggled. I had just learned that very week , finally being of age to understand, that I was predominantly Cherokee/Native American Indian. I wanted to check the box but when I looked at my skin as directed by the teacher.. it was definitely white and my hair was blonde. The teacher said ” check white honey”. I checked white with disdain. I have checked white with disdain every encounter since. I am more than the color of my skin. We are ALL more than the color of our skin. Thank God we are more!

I just want to be respected

September 28, 2020September 28, 2020 color of skin, FL, followed while shopping, Hero, microagressions, respected, Riverview, shopping store, Simone Bouyer

Simone Bouyer,
Riverview, FL

I don’t want to be followed around the store while shopping. I don’t want to be pulled out of line at the airport. I don’t want to pay more for my house or any other purchase. I don’t want to be eyed with suspicion. I am a professional. I work hard. I’m educated. I am a good, kind person. I want the same things in life that all of us want and deserve. I feel that because of the color of my skin, none of that matters. If I leave the house I have to wear a super hero’s cape. I have to be prepared for the inevitable microaggressions and negative attitudes afforded to black people. Some days I just can’t, or won’t, expend the energy that it takes to be seen as a human being worthy of respect who happens to be black.

We are all spirits of human race.

January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 CO, color of skin, ethnicity, ghost, human, Human race, Katarzyna Smirnov, Longmont, misuse, shades of brown, skin deep, spirit

Katarzyna Smirnov,
Longmont, CO.

Yes, to expound I am tired of people misusing race or interchanging it with ethnicity. There is not one single genetic marker that distinguishes one ethnicity from another. The only time the color of ones skin should matter if they go missing or you are painting them in which case you’ll see that humans are just various shades of brown. Love for yourself isn’t skin deep, love your spirit and be a spirit not a ghost.

Elected by color of skin…wrong!

August 14, 2013January 18, 2016 character, color of skin, elected, Joi, MLK, skin, skin color

Joi
USA

Vs character-quote MLK.

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