Shantelle Willock, Miami, FL
Bass Pro Shops and Guava Pastries
Victoria, Fort Myers, FL I’m half Cuban and half hillbilly American. I think the six words I chose to encapsulate my cultural identity well.
The invisible Arab until 9/12.
Jennie Clement Riverview, FL Thank you for doing this project. I noticed how my university applications changed in the wake of 9/11; how there was all of a sudden a magical radio button for being Arab. I had previously been invisible; moderately enjoying white privilege until 9/11. I was no longer “white”; which was a […]
I am a product of tracking.
Hank Van Putten Jr, Casselberry, FL. Experience is a hard teacher. The exam comes first, then the lesson follows. – Vernon Jordan
Discussing Race (is) sometimes awkward for me
Webdoyenne, Tampa Bay, FL. (I am a) middle-age white female…but it’s not even an issue for my son…college freshman…who has friends from many ethnic groups and every color of the rainbow.
Thirdculture and don’t understand white culture!
Kit Robison, Doral, FL. I am most comfortable when the primary language is other than English. People assume I understand when they hear a lack of accent and see my skin but no your cultural logic did not compute in my head.
Greek, German, American, Indian! #racial salad
Hunter Jaymz Harris, Lakeland, FL. I’m mixed with a bunch of things. Yet it’s best never to forget the people and places you come from.
She’s not my maid, I’m hers
Mara Floyd Fort Myers, FL Doris* and my mother have been best friends for over 40 years. Both teachers with their masters’ degrees, the two women from neighboring cities met at an educational conference. They were as different as could be. One was married, one was divorced. One owned a house, the other lived in […]
Used, abused; accused, bruised; refused, confused.
Rebecca Crea, Coral Springs, FL. We can’t change what we won’t acknowledge.
No, I am not the nanny.
Liliane Dizon, Tampa, FL. Each time I have been pregnant, people (mostly white women) have said the rudest things to me. Most recently, as my daughters were standing next to me, a woman said “You must be excited to finally have one of your own!” I asked her to clarify what she meant. She pointed […]
Pale skinned but black don’t fit.
Zanetea Reece, Fort Myers, FL. I am a bright skinned young woman, grew up in Southwest FL. We we’re not tought about our history in school. But racisim is and was learned at home. Because of that I grew up and still am a loner. No one wanted to be friend me because I didn’t […]
On money and color I thrive.
Ky Hopson-Fernandes, Tampa, FL
This guy named Ish can Fish
Noah Clayton, Lakeland, FL. In the past year I have started be become really fond with Bass fishing. I caught my first Bass towards the end of 2012 and ever since then I have become “hooked”. As I was watching videos on YouTube and doing a little research on techniques and places to fish I […]
Computer Science CEO, you own this?
Desh Bagley, Tampa, FL. Yes. I am the owner of the science and technology center that offers Java, C++, Arduino, Robotics, and Engineering workshops for students. Yes. I do wish that more girls took classes here. No. The young guys who take classes aren’t surprised by me. Yes. It’s their parents who often ask to […]
White child calls black man Dad
Morgan Fort Lauderdale, FL My now three and a half year old brother named Kendall was born to two crack addicted parents. My grandmother now has full custody of him and is his Mother figure. My grandma goes a few times a week to the Walmart across the street to do her grocery shopping. Benny […]
Gay and black is truly me.
Matthew English, Lakeland, FL. Michele was at my college today for convocation. Her words spoke the truth. I will always listen.
Ashamed to be a White American
Maria, Lakeland, FL. I’m Italian, so have to identify as white. Do I stand with ‘Christian white america’? No. Race, oritentation, even hair color are not things I judge people on. “Love your neighbor as yourself”, period. No If’s And’s or But’s about it.
Mom, why do they hate us?
Theresa Salomon, Parkland, FL. A few months ago, as my 7 year old son was about to seat next to a class mate, he was told that Blacks should stay on the other side. That sentence changed our lives. My son and I had many conversations about racisms, and throughout I was able to redirect, […]
But you’re not Italian… are you?
Leah Sherman, Tallahassee, FL My partner’s father asked me this question the first time he met me after discovering that my doctoral study focuses on Italian studies. I am a brunette with brown eyes and my partner’s family is fair with blue eyes. I should also mention this was not only the first time I […]
Don’t be prejudiced, open your mind.
Yamile Escobar, Cape Coral, FL Be prejudiced can lead you to make decisions that you can regret later on. Just, love, learn and give without exemptions.
Parents gave me Confederate flag: protection
Steve Morris, Seattle, WA. In the mid-1950s my father made a business trip from our home in Connecticut to Florida and back. He decided to make the trip by car, and to take my mother, my brother, and me along with him for a family travel experience. In the Deep South I witnessed undisguised segregation […]
“Shonda?” No interview. “SK?” Wow, interview!
Shonda Kay Purvis, Green Cove Springs, FL. I have had to rebrand myself and change my name because “Shonda K. Purvis” (and her “BLACK” resume) doesn’t get job interviews, but SK Purvis (and “his” “WHITE” resume) does. (By the way, I am a Caucasian female. You thought I was black, didn’t you?)
Enter the Diner, all forks dropped
Kevin Heaven, Sunny Isles Beach, FL. Too many times I find myself as the only minority or Black person at a particular location, I get hungry too, but when I […]
I like rice; one-eighth Chinese
Marlene Resnick Sarasota, FL My Uncle Eddie was my favorite uncle. He took me to every carnival, fair and circus in town. He was Irish, my only non-Jewish relative and he was my hero. Aside from the ethnic confusion he created, he was the kind of mentor, supporter and playful companion that I wish for […]
“Othering speaks against diversity” — rinse, repeat.
Anonymous, Coconut Creek, FL. Never heard of the term “othering”, until the PBS special. If nothing else, it’s a great example of creating language where we can speak to each other, however small.
Not invisible. Give me eye contact.
Crystal Jasey Jacksonville, FL
Confronting my whiteness is a journey.
Sheila Veatch, Saint Augustine, FL
What is the real difference here?
Harold Laski, Jacksonville, FL
Neither shaken nor stirred but mixed
Malorie Hill, Miami, FL.
We seek “evidence” affirming our beliefs.
Tony DellaCrosse, Jacksonville, FL.
I see much. I feel everything.
Jeanie Mitchell, Atlantic Beach, FL. I’m a taxi driver. I’ve been accused of being too liberal to be a cab driver. I see so much, every day. I transport a lot of people and I hear so many stories. I fear being a white woman, carrying a white man, in this industry, more than I […]
It’s all about who has power!
Kenneth L. Selmore, St. Augustine, FL. As long as AA’s misuse our economic power in America we will get no respect and our children will continue to die.
A voice is a powerful weapon.
Paige Sharrow, FL.
White high school, black prom date
Charlotte Kendall, Orlando, FL. This was in New York in 1967. The sh** hit the fan at school! Family and church were there for me. I couldn’t believe the racism, from students and teachers. We learned a lot.
I’M African American. Am I African-American?
Dahomey Abanishe, Secrest, FL. As a child in Kansas, I always assumed I was African-American and not because of what I was culturally but because of how I looked. I am Truly a Nigerian American culturally. My father is Nigerian and I was raised eating pepper stew and listening to Fela. No one fried chicken […]
I’m seventy two, and race tired!
Celeste Havis, Jacksonville, FL. Science and religion alike informs us that the concept of race is an illusion. Why do we continue to hang on to this antiquated concept when it only serves to divide us? I have dedicated my life to building positive human relations and now it appears to me that we are […]
I get called Mexican a lot.
Alex Weitz, Lakeland, FL. It is because I play soccer (that’s also six words)
Look in the EYE, smile, say HI!
Deborah Williams Clearwater, FL Fear affects all of us. Bad people are out there but it’s not based on skin color. When you walk by, take a moment to look that fear in the eye. Smile and say HI! You will see that 99.9% of the time your fear was unfounded.
Trust me, I’m not a stereotype.
Jazmine McKinney, Winter Garden, FL. Yes, I am black. No I am not angry. I actually smile all the time, and I get odd looks because of it. I guess I don’t act like people think black girls should act? Yes, I love Disney. I honestly don’t like rap music all that much. I love […]
Daddy invited negro family to dinner.
Karen Munroe, Alachua, FL. 1962 Ohio.
Things I’m sick of PoC saying
Yuki, Ft. Myers, FL. Hear me out here. I am so sick of people talking bad about me being white, like oh I’m sorry Jaiana that I was born with hardly melanin just burn me at the stake and call me a KKK member, but that’s totally fine right? Black people cant be racist! Okay […]
Huh?! I thought you’d be white.
Leslie Cole, Lake Worth, FL.
Don’t call White men “White Boys”
Dave Perry, Tampa, FL. This is a derogatory term which belittles and demeans grown white men. I’ve heard this racial slur repeated far too often without impunity.
Mistaken for Mexican at Arizona protest
Claudia Vero Beach, FL Scary but enlightening’s
Stuck between two races..fitting neither.
Margaret Hayes, Bartow, FL. I am mostly White on my mother’s side. Her family is all Southern. I do not look anything like them nor was I raised in the South so I don’t always think or act like they do. I am Native American on my father’s side. I definitely look much more like […]
Cafe con leche; side of bagel
Raquel Diaz, Miami, FL. I’ve used this protocol in workshops before and it was quite reflective to see that I identify with being Cuban (cafe con leche) American (side of bagel). I am proud of my Cuban parents leaving behind everything to give us a better future in America. I love being Cuban American!!!
My color does not define me.
Amaka Amanambu, Davie, FL. Love is what we should speak, act and show. Doesn’t ask where is my footprint.
DATING AS A “BLACK” MAN…
NR Jr., Tampa, FL. So as a paid volunteer in the US Armed Forces who has traveled extensively across the world. America has a “big” color issue. I spent 6 years living abroad and coming “home” is the worst thing ever… Let me give you the reader a take into my thus short life of […]
The Truth Spoken Behind Closed Doors
Anonymous, Miami, FL. Though I was born and Raised in a suburb a few miles south of Miami, Florida. My mom and dad are from Ethiopia and Sudan respectively. As a child, I’d say about 99% of the community were “white”. During middle and high school it shifted to about 49% “white”, 49% Hispanic and […]
Appearing differently, yet actually the same
Dawn Clearwater, fl We are all healing these wounds- exposing it the air is the best way to heal.
Spanish ain’t the same as Latino
Daniela Miami, FL And yes, it is possible for me not to like baseball and be Latina at the same time!
Alert! Very Dark woman travelling alone.
Tess, Melbourne, FL. Recently I have had to face the fact that my very dark skin is indeed the first thing most people notice about me. The fact that I’m short/tall, healthy/not healthy, sad/happy, age and what not seem to follow way after my dark skin has introduced me to the world. I love to […]
Latino, unlearning conditioning, better listener now.
Pedro Bermudez Miami, FL
I’m not apologizing for being white
Debi Gerbert, Ponte Vedra beach, FL. Love the project
I was not raised with predudice
Anita Cohen, Boca Raton, FL. I did not even know about prejudice until Martin Luther King was killed and I was in my best friend apt baking cookies. Her mother wailed and when I left I was surrounded by people who wanted to hurt me. Her mom took me home. I never hated anyone for […]
Just found out I’m a Jew
Larry, Orlando, FL. In closing up my elderly parents’ home, I was given some family news I did not expect from a relative I haven’t kept up with. It seems she did genealogical research and found out my grandmother’s family was deported in 1912 because they were Jewish. They came to America again a few […]
I like a mix of people.
Maureen McConnell, Inverness, FL. Since I taught in Boston public schools 30 years ago, my view of the racial landscape has forever changed. Since then, when I see an all white event or audience my subconscious asks “Where is everybody?” I like a mix of people best. That feels most comfortable.
Reject romance because of my name
Alexander Zielinski Tampa, FL
My ethnicity isn’t based off stereotypes
Alexia, Deltona, FL. My heritage, culture, ethnicity etc. does not pertain to the stereotypes that spill from the mouth of a privileged man. For I am man as well, I am not a “lazy immigrant, job stealer, mutant to society”. Pay your taxes then we can maturely discuss how reality works.
We’ll stop traveling to Florida now.
Carolyn Anderson Allentown, PA Why would anyone want to visit any state having the “stand your ground” law?
Each born with respect, then taken
Ben Davis, Saint Augustine, FL. Each person on Earth should have our respect, unless lost for good reason.
Not you, you’re from the Caribbean
Johanne Rahaman, Miami, FL. I am half black, half Indian, from the Trinidad, with an obvious Caribbean accent, and while I enjoy adding my bit to the diversity of America, it’s also a curse, because I have often in the past heard people make derogatory comments about African-Americans in my presence. They have referred to […]
Checking OTHER is so liberating and fun
Maggie Martinez, WEST PALM BEACH, FL. When I get the chance to check “other ” on any form it makes me feel as if I am tearing down another little wall and letting the form creators know that I will not be put in a box. Race is fake and constructed to keep people of […]
Those were rules for uncivilized times
Bobby Flam, Miami, FL Owner of Jumbo’s, the first restaurant in Miami to integrate. READ MORE on Bobby Flam and Jumbo’s: Miami Diner, Pioneer in City’s Race Relations, Serves Last Cup Jumbo’s Restaurant Closing Its Doors By FRANCES ROBLES JULY 22, 2014 MIAMI — While the line of white customers used to snake out […]
You called me “white devil slavemaster”
Joe Schechter, FL. This happened when I was in high school. It was not the only incident of its kind. It was especially galling when you consider that members of my family died in the Shoah (Holocaust). I am not white enough for some people, & far too white for others.
Is the scrutinizing of ideas racist?
Joey Klein, Lakeland, FL. Why is it that if one disagrees with the claims of a feminist, or an SJW, that the one disagreeing is sexist, or racist? The claim that women make less money than men in the US because of systemic patriarchy can be used as an example. I’m not entirely bought into […]
Smile and the world frowns back
Elizabeth Thompson, Gulf Breeze, FL. I cannot claim to know how it feels to be black. I cannot claim to know. Unless you are black, neither can you claim to know. Because we non-blacks do not know. If you can imagine though, and wonder what it would be like, to walk with the burden of […]
Slight hesitation, then an extended hand.
Jessica Ruth Robkin Port St. Lucie, FL I have faced discrimination my entire life, though the moment that brought about the above sentence occurred outside of my mother’s hospital room, while she lay dying from pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. My father and I happened to meet someone who had known my mother […]
“They” should all be like you.
Shelagh Mullings, Coral Springs, FL A white supervisor said this to me in 1965 when I was the lone “Negro” working in a white collar job for a large international corporation in San Francisco. I am a naturalized American with light skin (yellow) who was born in Jamaica, BWI. I was well-spoken, quiet (shy), and, […]
“But you’re not ‘really’ black, right?”
Danielle Petterson, Tampa, FL. I have light brown skin and I consider myself to be mixed. Most people have a simple-minded belief that “mixed” means that one parent is black while the other is white. To me, it runs so much deeper than that. I have 4 grandparents from 4 different countries: Puerto Rico, Curaçao, […]
America Bigger, delete the word N*****!
Nelson Morgan, Miramar, FL. My hue is from God. My pain is from man.
Labeled a terrorist due to ignorance
Alexander J. Nesmachnov Lakeland, FL The bombers of the Boston marathon were first mistaken as Russian. Many still believe they are, and me (being Russian) have been labeled socially dangerous by certain individuals
“Race” is Fiction, But “Racism” is Real
Walter Harris Gavin, Sarasota, FL. Walter Harris Gavin is the author of The Autobiography of Obsidian Dumar, a novel of identity and creator and producer of Race Across America: Inconvenient Truths, Uncomfortable Conversations a web series if visual essays.
We are all the same: PEOPLE!
Adam Stefanik, Orlando, FL.
A study of ethnicity in sisters
Miriam Lennmark Tampa, FL If you want to really look at how race affects us, look at sisters. Sisters with the same biological parents, same home, same everything…except the color of their skin, hair, and eyes. Our lives are so different. She looks Caucasian…I look…well, brown. Most people will tell me I look Latin, but […]
No real difference… know real difference
John Everett, Miami, FL. same difference~ it should be more about who i am than what i am, agree? see, i could survive being you but could you exist being me? i’m hated and shunned just for my skins’ hue no matter what i say it doesn’t matter what i do but you lie in […]
Can we all forgive and forget?
Brent Pappas, Cooper City, FL. Normally, I feel it is prudent to forgive others when they wrong us, and to remember their previous actions in order to predict how they will act next and best prepare for it. Increasingly however, I have begun to feel that perhaps it would be for the best if everyone […]
Race Doesn’t Exist, We Create It
Jenna DeBell, LONGWOOD, FL. Race doesn’t exist, we create it. The concept of race has always baffled me. Judging a person’s character, intelligence and abilities merely by the color of their skin does not correlate in anyway. In fact, it seems ridiculous. Race is referred to as “groups of people who have differences and similarities […]
Being white doesn’t make me rich.
Derek Haines, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
Race doesn’t tell the whole story
Sara Branly, Jacksonville, FL. Although i’m white, i have an incredibly diverse family’ culturally, ethnically, racially, religiously, etc.; you can’t tell anything about a person by the color of their skin.
Oh, so you speak Russian, right?
Sonja Racquel Bradley, Flagler Beach, FL. When I was a child, I confess that I hated my name. Of all the ‘s’ names my parents could have picked, why this one? Why not Sabrina, or Sasha? At the very least, they could have utilized the “normal, American” way of spelling it: Sonia or Sonya. But […]
“Puro Mestizo”: Each, either. Both. Neither.
Gil L. Pettigrew, MS Miami, FL I am a university science instructor, science educator, naturalist, scientist & author based in culturally diverse South Florida who is not only proud but smug about my my multitribal, multiethnic (Creek-CherokeeXCeltic-AfricanAmerican-Latin-French) Indigenous American heritage.
THE WALL, BLACK, AN HONORABLE COLOR.
David DeChant, Marine Vietnam Veteran Key West, FL Michele,Greetings again. I am a member of the core group of Vietnam Veterans who built The Wall ~ National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C.; and was at the meeting in Senator Warner’s office when General George Price, US Army Retired, ended the color controversy about “black” granite […]
Race is race. It shouldn’t hurt!
Jesila Desir, Bradenton, FL. Why should what we look like and what we come from make a difference in how we live and how people are treated?
I want to understand, let me.
Marc Strickland, Niceville, FL. I am a 63-year-old college-educated white Republican.
No longer separate but still unequal
Michael Samuels, Saint Johns, FL.
Trump may be our best friend
Tom Tito, St. Petersburg, FL. Maybe. We will know how good or bad the Trump administration is in a few months. By “We” I mean low wage families trapped in crime infested inner cities with failing schools. Trump has talked about us, will he do anything? I was shocked by the racism in the Republican […]
I Shouldn’t Get Benefits For Whiteness
Emily Bertot, Clarksville, MD. I grew up in Florida in an extremely non-diverse, middle-class area. Moving up North was a big culture shock, but it forced me to realize how many different types of people there are. I was also made aware of my privilege.
But she’s black….And your white?”
Sarah Taylor, Casselberry, FL.
I am not defined by Race!
Daaiyah Ellison, Lakeland, FL.
I am not defined by Race!
Daaiyah Ellison, Lakeland, FL.
I will always just be Human!
Matthew Workman, Oviedo, FL. We are all human beings. I’m not saying to throw away what race you are but to open your mind to a greater picture. We come into this world the same way and will leave the same way.
“I’m not just my skin color”
Toni Henry, Sanford, FL.
Why we hafta be “Afro” Anything?
Walter T. Pearson, Jacksonville, FL. I’m a black man, of many various ethnicities, Fifth American generation, from a family of military veterans,including my children who are currently serving in the Afghanistan region wars. I have no relatives from Africa (that I know of),so I wonder WHY must anyone that is not white, have to be […]
Through honesty, we can all grow.
Celest, Lakeland, FL. Southeastern University, Understanding Human Diversity Class. For everyone living in today’s society; we can all grow if we are honest with our choices, words, & actions. Honesty; that time when my a group of my white friends and I changed the letters on a church sign to say, “church of the nig,” […]
I’m white, but I’m not racist.
Ashley Seidl, Lakeland, FL.
Race is important, Love is Necessary
Delaina Peek, Sarasota, FL. One’s culture and Race is important and defining, but Love overcomes all and we all are the voices of Love
We’re all created equal but different
Ethan Lowell, Lakeland, FL.
I am black. I am Haitian.
Esterline Ducarmel, Orlando, FL.
Asian Americans are sterotyped beyond belief
Rohan Nakka, Lakeland, FL.
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