If you hurt, I will listen.
Kevin Johnsrude, USA. If you feel unwelcome or unheard or afraid, hang out with me. I promise to listen fully and lovingly to what you...
Oreo: Black outside, white inside
Lauren, Silver Spring, MD. This was a term that was often used to describe me during my middle school days, it always hurtful to hear...
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...
I’ve been guilty of hurtful discrimination.
Jonathan Routon, Riverside, CA. Often times people are afraid to own up to past racism due to how they may be judged. I must confess...
I’m not “white”, I am human.
R.E.A.L. Talk, High Tech Middle Media Arts, 7th Grade Trailblazer Personally, people haven’t been racist to me, but I have heard racist things being said...
White denial of privilege hurts all
Karen Randolph Rogers, Kansas City, MO. I’m a civil rights attorney who grew up in a predominantly white rural area and left for the city....
Don’t judge me based on color
Anonymous, Riverside, CA. People usually judge me within seconds based on the color of my skin. Not only does it hurt, most of the assumptions...
CubanAmerican Gringi is not acceptable nickname.
Pamela Torres, West Palm Beach, FL. CubanAmerican daughter often teased for being light skin. It hurts.
“Your black, Do you do drugs?”
Aries Johnson, Minneapolis, MN. My 4th grade teacher asked me if I did drugs, I was so hurt. It was 2 years ago but still...
I’m afraid I’ll hurt your feelings
Eileen Morgan, Durham, NC. #afterferguson I’m part of the “dominant” race with privileges that I did not earn. I’ve been listening and learning about racism...
To see Dale hurt, still hurts.
Erin Thomas, Riverside, CA. In 1956, when I was in 4th grade (9-10 years old), we had a less-than-kind teacher, but you were taught to...
I’m ashamed of my white privilege.
Marcy, Little Rock, AR. I want to be an ally but I’m scared to make hurtful mistakes. I want to learn how to speak up...
Don’t paint blue eyes. It hurts.
Marcia Hartsock, Cincinnati, OH. I’m an illustrator, and Caucasian. In the 1980s, I was painting a wall mural in my integrated church that included a...
Jokes Can Be Just As Harmful
Skyla Gochenour, 8th Grade Holland New Tech High School, Holland, MI. Every day there are supposed “jokes” batted back and forth between man every day....
Color should not hurt but enhance
Sarah Barnes, USA. I grew up in the south-color was a defining characteristic. So much happened or didn’t happen because of color and sometimes that...
Own the hurt that you utter
Don Williams, Jacksonville, FL. People have a tendency to use the wrong words, the wrong tone to others and when questioned they pass the buck,...
