“Why Do You Look So Exotic?”
Jaya Harrover Saxena Astoria, NY My dad moved to America from India as a child. My mom’s family has been in America since the 1630s....
Kids’ mother tongue isn’t their mother’s
Elise DuBord, Cedar Falls, IA. Growing up in the Midwest, I started studying Spanish as a second language in high school, fascinated with learning about...
You look less…exotic…than expected.
Varshana Trudgian, Great Britain I’m white and have typical Celtic colouring of pale skin, dark hair and blue eyes. But, my parents were Hare Krishnas...
Where are you from? You’re exotic!
Abbie Elliott Leesburg, VA For my entire adult life, dating has been a challenge. As an Asian-American, I vehemently resisted falling into stereotypes. But, as...
I ‘speak well’ ’cause I’m adopted
Grace Jiahui Robinson, Kentwood, MI Of all the six-word phrases I could’ve chosen (‘I am NOT your sexual fantasy,’ or ‘I’ve felt safe here til...
Exotic for a black girl
Jasmin Fortune, Temecula, CA. I am a multiracial girl who has bullied for the way I looked from K-12. I have been hated because girls...
I am not an exotic creature
Hana Peoples, Seattle, WA Being of Japanese and African American ethnicity has brought many interesting comments from people. Because I have an “ambiguous look,” I...
Exotic has never been my culture.
Ruby Russoniello-Damaskos, Ruston, WA My whole life I’ve been described as ‘exotic’. I am Aaniiih, Nakoda, and Northern Italian. I’ve always thought of it as...
They glare at my bi-racial son.
Linnette Derry, New York City, NY. I often think about the inevitable discussion about race that I will have to have with my son one...
“Youre so exotic”, said white guy.
Jhanae Wingfield, West Orange, NJ. Often a part of the pick up line.
Greek American, cheeseburger cheeseburger not funny
N. Blandis, Portland, OR. I am a second generation American born of Greek parents. My father’s birth certificate in Los Angeles California in 1921 listed...
You’re Guamanian? You’re whiter than me!”
All my life, people have mistaken me for “races” that I am not: Mexican, Hawaiian, Filipino, Indian, Brazilian. I was always flattered because I thought...
Tired of Asians being a minority
Jaimie Nguyen San Jose, CA There are not much Asians in the media, not many Asians exposed in the light. Also, it saddens me how...
Saw an ugly world too early
Diana Ryan Millbury, MA My last name notwithstanding, I am 100% Puerto Rican through and through. That is an ethnicity, not a race but too...
Black, Mixed, Metisse, Exotic, Afropino, Fulatto
Christina Lewis Halpern New York City, NY The strange thing about race in the western world is the strong need to put people’s identities into...
