Neither This or That, but Also
Rena Joy Dunbar, Eugene, OR. Our Black and White bi-racial identity was questioned even before we emerged from the womb. What ‘race’ would we turn...
You’re Native American? Well, how much?
Kaitlin Reed, Poughkeepsie, NY. I am a Yurok Indian. We are the salmon people and my ancestors have lived by the Klamath River in northern...
Two Arms, Two Legs, One Head.
Latoya Baerlocher-Turner, Newport News, VA. It’s fun watching people attempt to imagine my face from my name. My first name is notably of African American...
A costume I can’t take off.
Anonymous Athens, GA Centuries ago, on the Horn of Africa, where my parents originated, Arabs crossed the Red Sea then crossbred and/or raped the indigenous...
Borderlands born. Always illegal. Always home.
Chuy Benitez, Houston, TX. When you grow up at the collision of two countries, of two cultures, of two identities, you learn very quickly the...
Whitey guilt do-gooders destroyed black family
Anon Ymous Charlotte, NC “Replaced slavery chains with entitlement chains” As a white with guilt, all I can say is: I’m so sorry, twice…
I live in two confliting worlds
Hisham Jabim, Reston, VA. I am a Muslim borne and raised in Palestine. I am married to an American woman name Rebekah and we have...
“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...
Hispanic. Gay. Handicapped. All minor details.
Tomas Sanchez, Forth Worth, TX. It’s so easy to choose any single part of you to define your identity. When you have more than one,...
It’s ok, you don’t act white.
Katy Carpenter, OH. I recognize that we don’t live in a color blind society, but race is never something I felt was central to my...
Ni de aqui, ni de aya!
Yesenia Chavez, Houston, TX. I’m a first generation Mexican- American, born and raised in Houston, Texas. Sometimes it feels like I’m too in between both...
A foreigner in my childhood home
Daryn Crowell Denver, CO I am a US citizen but my family moved to Peru when I was two years old. Basically my whole childhood...
I find my identity in Christ
Janine D Herrera, Rancho Cucamonga, CA. When beginning this exercise, I almost regressed back to my old thinking habits. I came up with the six-word...
Nazi past, American present, Christian regardless
Jessica Eaton, Minot, ND. My maiden name is “Hess” and carries a lot of weight for being a “Nazi name”. Growing up, other students in...
Shouldn’t need to defend my race.
Rebecca Hassine, Palo Alto, CA. With racism being such a prominent issue throughout the world, especially within the United States currently due to the hostile...
What’s it like being a “wetback”
Mary Rodriguez, Carmichael, CA. True question asked of me by my very first crush. I remember this time vividly. I was in science class and...
I am not wrong, I’m different.
Back when I was a kid, I used to wonder why or how people are different, why do we all have different races? When I...
I’m always asked “What are you?”
Madysen Phororo, Corona, CA. South African dad, and white mom: I’m pretty ambiguous in terms of my race. There were questions I got in high...
