The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
Spencer,
Wilmington, NC.
Everyone dies. And when we do die, there will be no color, just bones and dirt. It’s funny that race is so important when it doesn’t last forever. We only have a short time on the earth and yet we spend so much time dividing ourselves based on something superficial, that no one has control over.
Saheba Cuccia,
New Orleans, LA.
Aspen X
Adopted and raised in the South, I have seen and heard of the racial barriers that some people use to divide us. The color of your skin should not determine anything such as relationships, jobs, and social standing in society.
Athena White,
Chicago, IL.
Embrace the power of love for it has no color.
Teach others that lack this purity and watch how well it blossoms. “Love” speak it, mean it, live it…nourish one another by erasing racism, hate and terrorism within our own country against one another and we shall unite as one.
Sabrina Tilley,
Hutchins, TX
Student at Dallas County Community College District, Eastfield College
Alan Kummer,
U.K.
Scientifically, colour doesn’t really exist. Thank you ‘National Geographic’ for fully opening my eyes.
Kirl T. Lawson,
Oakland, CA.
I have so many tales to share about my experience with my color (or lack of “definitive color recognition”). growing up in Chicago, I was called “a white n*****” by friends at times w/ affection and at times derisively. Initially the appellation hurt my feelings until I took an objective look at myself in the mirror. Years later and moving to San Francisco and working at city hall, a female constituent asking for me but not remembering my name, described me as “he is either a “black white-man” or a “white black-man”. Hearing that relayed, those phases resonated with me in their succinctness. These are the ways that people view/see me. it’s been a blessing and a curse as either can create discomfit for the viewer and then extent to me. Black folk ask me “what ‘is” you” seeking racial confirmation. I tell them “you know what I is” you just want me to verify/affirm it
Alejandra Vargas,
San Jose, CA.
Christy Blade,
Rochester, MN
In the past I treated people without regard to their race. I’ve lived in my other countries. Until recently I thought I should treat all people without regard to race. As I’ve grown as person, I have realized that each person comes with their own experience which affects the lens they view life and events. I am asking more questions and learning my life experiences are far different from other races and cultures.
Heather Raymond
Grand Rapids, MI
Understanding Race Project – University of Michigan
People say that “blondes have more fun,” but having light hair isn’t what it is cracked up to be. Many times I find myself at the receiving end of stigma when I have a “blonde” moment: dumb, human mistakes blamed on the color of my hair. These “blonde” moments then turn into judgement of my intelligence and my mental capacity usually being underestimated.
Lora-Ellen McKinney,
Renton, WA.
I am not my color, though I am in some ways what my color represents in America. I am, by this definition, an African American first because this what people see. I also identify with African American history, culture, family structure and faith practices. But alone in my house where I work as a writer, I am just me, skin and bones, joyful, happy to learn new things, getting adjusted to being a dog mom, trying to stave off the unhealthy aspects of aging me. I have no color or gender or height or age until I see a mirror or leave my house and am confronted by a human response to some part of me that I love and adore.
David DeChant, Marine Vietnam Veteran
Key West, FL
Paraphrasing his response about “black being a dishonorable color” ~ if anyone else comments about black being a dishonorable color, you will answer to me personally!
There was an incredible silence for several seconds; then the meeting continued. Never again were there any disparaging remarks in the media about “black” and Maya’s Chinese heritage.
Semper Fidelis,
David DeChant
Kevin Browne ,
Submitted via Twitter: @drbrowne
#TheRaceCardProject
“Black Boy” for Michele
by: Kevin A. Browne
I was grateful; granny was prophetic,
almost making me out of clay,
caressing my tar with old love.
black before it was a color.
we come from an oily family,
our skins sticky to the touch.
we, who gushed from the oilfields:
she didn’t want me digging holes.
she didn’t want us digging holes.
she remains, now, a 45 minute recording—
my own ghost in the machine—that I listen to often,
but not often enough.
she named me.
I think it was so that every time I say my name,
I say it with her tongue:
black boy.
Anne Huntemer,
Sonora, CA.
Coming from a place of privilege, how can I help welcome and fight for my friends of color? I know I haven’t experienced what you have, but I’m here to support you in any way I can.
Rose Mary Prifest,
Wayne State,
Harper Woods, MI
If there is anything important I learned in my lifetime, it’s acceptance of peoples’ differences. The key is education. It is opening your mind and heart to learning what makes people who they are. We may not agree with how they worship, whom they love, and how they celebrate, but we should always respect their existence and their human right to be themselves.
Eileen Seigfried,
Greensburg, PA
As a preschool teacher, I would lay out black and white sheets of paper. The students would lay their hands on them. Wow! no one matched either. The lesson was that we are all the same and should be treated the same. I retired after 20 years and hope they all remember this lesson.
Connie Mortara
Tewksbury, MA
Growing up I didn’t “know” I was Mexican American (we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us). It wasn’t until I moved east that I discovered that I am so very very Mexican. But its not my color that speaks to my background — it is so much deeper. Family, beliefs, customs, traditions buried in my soul, transferred to my children and embraced by them–that is what you see in my face.
Christina Rains,
Riverside, CA.
French, Indian, Mexican, Dutch, but American?
It is quite clear that you cannot judge individuals by their color. Race in reality just identifies where your family has lived and what part of the world you are from. Throughout my life, I have been called “white girl” but in reality, this categorization is far from the truth. Both sides of my family are trilingual (speaking French, Spanish, and English), and yet my great grandparents and grandparents chose to assimilate by not continuing to teach their native languages. Despite the assimilation, I am proud to be an American. As a result of the loss of my family’s native languages I have never mastered Spanish, much to my disappointment. I have been frustrated with the association of the term “white” since the term now seems to be synonymous with the term racist or prejudice. I feel that this is unfair since many individuals that are categorized as white are not racist or prejudice. Many individuals seem to have forgotten the America has been striving through the education system and legal system to establish equality for all races. Although America is still working towards equality, equality is finally within our grasp. I am excited to be part of the race card project, so that I can make a difference and stand up for racial equality and universal value for human life. It is important to realize that God created all individuals equally and in His image. Thus, who are we to judge others by their race whether Latino, Asian, African American, or White.
HIS311 CBU!
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