Stop With The Cherokee Syndrome, Already
Jemmie Valencia, San Francisco, CA. Proudly that they are Cherokee and they know this because their great great grandmother had long black hair- was a...
PROUD FATHER OF MULTIRACIAL CHILDREN.
David Reising, Peoria, IL My first wife and I adopted 2 bi-racial boys in ’69, a girl in 71 and another girl in ’74, Had...
Good hair is well maintained hair.
Jessica Elaine Burks, San Diego, CA. I am Black, Irish, and Native American. My paternal grandmother had straight long hair. My maternal grandmother had 4c...
You’re in America now, speak English
Alondra Rivera, Wilmer, TX I remember hearing this as a child constantly, especially with my grandmother. I felt ashamed speaking Spanish that I completely didn’t...
My ancestors? Forgotten. Wish that’d change.
Anonymous, Canada My grandmother will not speak of her heritage. She will not get her status card out of shame, despite the possibility that it...
Race is nothing. Family is everything.
Sheli Turner, Los Angeles, CA While I am now a biracial 62 year old woman, who bore living witness to the difficulties my parents had...
Armenian, Tagalog, Ilocano, no. Wolof, yes.
Anoosh Jorjorian, Santa Monica, CA. My paternal grandmother came to the U.S. to escape the Armenian Genocide. My maternal grandfather jumped aboard a U.S. submarine...
So white, you would never guess.
Francis, Livingston, MT If the civil war had gone differently I could have been born a slave. The children of slaves are almost always slaves....
I don’t know what I am.
Jasmine Perry, Cleveland, OH. When it comes to race I honestly don’t know what I am. My families backdrop is kind of patchy, no one...
Grandmother ate in kitchen with housekeeper
Alice J Walker Gay, GA This concerns a story told to me about my grandmother, who died in 1960 when I was five years old....
Grandma said I looked too haole.
Carol Silva Portland, OR My step-grandma danced, taught, and had her own hula group who performed during the week on Oahu. Once when she and...
Strange fruit in a Plum Tree
Ronnie Dunn, Cleveland, OH My family was the third African American family to move on my street, Gay Avenue, on Cleveland’s Eastside in 1964. I...
I don’t know Inez’s last name.
Rosemary Brinson Siipola, Kalama, WA. Reflecting on growing up in Duplin County, North Carolina, my Grandma Cora was the matriarch of a large family. Inez...
I’m black, not from the Carribean
Lemuel Reddikc, New York City, NY. People ask me “where are you from?” and I never know how to answer that. I just say “I’m...
Call Me Irish, Not Just White
Rowen, San Francisco, CA. I was always close to my grandmother, although she died when I was pretty young -she made a big impression on...
If I’m Filipino, Am I Asian?
Danicka Sailer, Honolulu, HI I am 25% Filipino. My Father was 50%, and my grandmother was full. Although I look white and most of my...
