The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
Claudia J. Ford
Providence, RI
For the vast majority of natural births we all come into the world exactly equal. But race remains the social and political myth that has circumscribed and defined who I am and who I am not, both negatively and positively.
Malley Morales,
Dallas, TX.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say, “and then Jesus whipped his slaves, who were inadequate because of their skin color.” We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all equal.
Brynn Franken,
Sioux Center, IA
I chose these words because it is significant to note that although many of us are different races, we are all united by one being. God created us all equal and in His image regardless of race.
Kayla Levenson,
NY
As I am going to be an elementary school teacher in the future, it is important to me that everyone in my classroom no matter what they look like or if they have a disability is treated equally and given the same opportunities.
Kenneth D Crowley, SR.
Denver, CO.
Love this idea
Emily Vallies,
Spokane, WA.
I am happy to participate in a project like this. It is very important to me that people start realizing their privilege and start working to make this country a better place for diversity to blossom.
Abbey Gammill,
Lawton, Ok.
Im am from the south, and I have grown up listening to elders make racist comments. My mom and dad raised my brother and I to believe that everyone is equal. I never really had a personal encounter with a race issue until I moved into college. My roommates name is Ida and she is muslim. The fact that she was Muslim never has mattered to me, yet to my grandparents it apparently should. When I told them about my super awesome new friend they quickly asked what church she went to. After telling them she was Muslim my grandma asked “Is she a terrorist? Do you worry she’ll bomb you?”
Keith Webb,
Orangevale, CA
It is sad that we don’t treat each other with more respect. Too many people believe we have equality now, but we still really don’t. We weren’t born with racial prejudices. We learned that from people around us.
Kellianne Murtha,
Chesapeake, VA.
Times have changed, people have changed so why is “race” still thought to be an ongoing problem? We are no longer who our ancestors were and we no longer believe all of which they did. Race should not be a problem and should not be a deciding factor for things, such as jobs or scholarships. We are all equal and we should ALL be treated that way.
Jose “Jay” Zarate,
Soquel, CA
My skin is pale, my hair normally just light brown, yet in the summer you’re always eager to point out my streaks of red. It’s funny how you focus on that, how the contrast seems to shock you every time the sunlight reveals it or starts to make it apparent. Or when my facial hair grows and the picture changes, around the same time UV rays start to color me golden and the tiny differences start to click. To matter. To change things.
You thought I was like you. Called me a friend, a coworker, a classmate so much easier than you did. You “knew” “me”, an assumption that sprung to life as you finally thought you could let your guard down. My teacher, my childhood friend, a scared transfer student I shared my time with as you silently tested the waters. Eyeing me closely as you sent wave after wave of jokes and comments carefully designed to try me.
When I was a child I’d ignore those ripples until the tide would come to crush me, let those off-color comments slide as you let them fly. Too naive to understand the full weight of them beyond the discomfort I felt, the confusion, the panic as I wondered if you knew I was brown too.
I know now you didn’t, too focused on the narrow caricature of color the world believed us to be that my hard-to-explain half shades went unnoticed. Ignored until confronted. A simple glance deeming them white by the faculty, the student body, and the hiring team that would only interview me when I went by Jay instead of Jose. Because that’s who you can trust, right? Because that is who I am…right?
Right?
Why can you only trust me when you see me as you. Why am I only equal before the summer comes around, or before I slip up and speak anything but English a little too well. Before I tell you about my family or the fact I’m not even from here in the first place. Why do you look at me, treat me, and talk to me differently before you knew?
Because then you know. And suddenly I’m “almost white” until you remember I’m “a Mexican too”. Suddenly all the jokes about landscaping, or “la Migra”, or the jokes about being deported are okay because we’re “friends”. Even though I can’t come over because your grandpa would flip if he knew. Suddenly I’m google translating in class, until the white Spanish teacher Ms. Smith decides she knows more than me about my own culture than I do because I don’t use “vosotros”.
Because suddenly you know, and no matter how good my english is, how long I’ve been here, or how good of friends we are…now you know.
Now I’m different, no matter what I do.
Val Andrew,
Overland, MO.
My parents taught us early on to accept all people and invited international college students of different races, religions, and nationalities to stay with us during holidays. During the Vietnam War we hosted an AFS student from Vietnam for a year. I grew up a few miles from Ferguson and taught middle school there. I chose where I live now because of the diversity in my neighborhood. Love is the answer.
Durand,
Stone Mountain, GA.
Rights are completely equal in theory. But ill-advised in practice.
Secondary essay: White guy. Crowded theater. Anybody scared?
Julie Murphy,
Plainfield, NJ.
I wrote this in response to the excellent article in Nat Geo. White people talk about feeling outnumbered by other races. How do they think people of color have felt for hundreds of years? 30 years ago I moved to a town that was predominantly black and sent my daughter to public schools where she was one of less than five white kids in her grade. I chose to live here because I thought it was better to live in a diverse community rather than an all white one. I chose to send my daughter to a school where she was a minority because I think all of us should experience that and learn to connect with people of all cultures and backgrounds. Our town has had a huge shift in demographics with the Hispanic population now being almost equal to the black population. Whites make up a very small part of the numbers. When whites talk about being out numbered, i am mystified because I chose to be outnumbered and love it. Why can’t people see others as humans who have much more in common than difference???
Rylan A Brooks,
Mount Joy, PA
I have never been discriminated against in my life, based on my skin color and my gender. I have seen discrimination first hand on many occasions, once towards one of my best friends. The level of anger I felt was indescribable. I was raised in a household where everyone is equal, where no one person is better than another, and I greatly appreciate that. No one person should be faced with discrimination based on their skin color, based on what gender they assume, or their financial status. The fact that this is still rife in today’s society is completely unfathomable.
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!
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