Where’d you go to high school?
Jules M. Marquart, Louisville, KY. In Louisville during the pre-busing 1960s, this “screening” question was based on assumptions and generalizations about race and class. A...
Mainly white neighborhood, racism is normalized
Eden Coy, Bondurant, IA I am from an area with high white demographics. In my high school, there is a small percentage of people of...
“But you’re not like other Mexicans.”
Tom Vásquez, Seattle, WA. I was in high school when this happened. I’m a son of a Mexican-American, so I’m 50% Mexican blood. 50% French-Canadian...
White female, eager learner, poor listener
Terry Tringali Killoran, Sterling Heights, MI I had black friends growing up. I thought I did. We played together at school and after school at...
That girl spat in my eye.
Caprice Becker, Manhattan, KS. I was in High School in a very small town of about 1300 mostly descended from German immigrants in the 1870s,...
Divide in America demands one listen
When I entered high school, I quickly learned terms like white privilege, white fragility, and microaggressions, which challenged my identity. While I understood I benefited...
Always felt different. All are unique.
Nona Lynn Simons Orangevale, CA My Six Words: Have you ever felt different from everybody else? I have and sometimes I still do! In the...
You’re not from here, are you?
Rachel Butler, Japan. I’m from Virginia, from a primarily white town. I went to a pretty white high school, but had a mixed group of...
Regular Asian trying to find myself
Keisuke Okaguchi, Lake Forest, CA I am Japanese but born in United States. Both parents are from Japan and lived in a Asian life style...
Not all innocent. Not all guilty.
Caroline Kish, Dunwoody, GA. I will not deny that race continues to reek extreme havoc on modern day social order. I see it every day...
Go Back To Your Own Country
Aixa Rojas, El Paso, TX I am told by a blonde girl from the opposite team while we leave the locker room at the State...
Just another do-good white woman.
Margaret Davenport, Vienna, VA. This was said to me by a black male student in a high school program for disadvantaged but very bright, high...
Hispanic and White? You don’t belong.
Kimberly, Palmdale, CA A sheep in a wolf’s skin. Even if you try to run with the wolves, you are still a sheep. I can...
“The only Mexicans I’ve ever met ..”
Josie Villanueva Washington, DC “… pick our melons on my Daddy’s farm.” she said to me, with wide eyes, on one of the first days...
Wait, why is your grandma Asian?
Ryan Flanagan, Mountain View, CA A friend in high school asked me this question after meeting my grandmother, who is Filipino. I grew up eating...
So Chinese and For What Reason
Marissa Ding In high school, I was simultaneously comfortable with my Asian identity in my predominantly white surroundings, yet constantly questioning why I cared so...
I do not understand whats race
Stephen J Cahill, Peru, NY I don’t have melanin. In high school I was hanging out with a guy, who was also without melanin, and...
See me for who I am
Jonah Gerry, Haslett, MI. My name is Jonathan Gerry and I organized my Black Student Union at my high school. This quote was inspired because...
