Defined by race – who am I?
Jamie Lee Myers Jacksonville, FL Many people seem to identify who they are by their race. We also all seem to have a tendency toward...
Blackanese is not Black or Japanese.
Brian Murray, Seattle, WA. Growing up it was always hard to find my own identity because I came from a bi-racial background. I am half...
I look black; never felt it.
Janetta Stringfellow Brookline, MA Tons! Grew up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine in the ’70s with a white mother who denied I was adopted. Found my...
Do hillbillies have white privilege too?
Anonymous, Knoxville, TN. I’m from the Mountain South, where white privilege and racism take on a range of meanings outside the mainstream. I’ve heard our...
Woke up late. Now I’m dreaming.
Claire Berman Boston, MA I am a white woman and didn’t begin to understand my racial identity until I was in my late twenties. The...
Mixed race: which box gets checked
Andrea Alexander, Rochelle Park, NJ. The constant dilemma of “boxing” your identity when your category is not among the selections.
“What are you? Where’re you from?”
Bettina Sferrino, Oakland, CA. As a mixed race person, I get these questions all the time. The persons asking have a strong desire to know...
“White” papers over background identity.
Catherine Kehl, Cleveland Heights. OH. When we divide ourselves into “us” and “other” we don’t only lose the other, we lose ourselves. I was twenty-seven...
Race isn’t important, but identity is!
Allen Greiner Lumberton, MS I had to spend time on a battlefield to finally see where we as a race were headed. It amazes me...
Can’t fit me in a box!
Myriah, Arlington, VA. All my life I’ve gotten the “what are you?” question. It seems to be human nature to try and categorize people in...
My children have no heritage day.
Mac Los Angeles, CA My children grew up in southern California and attended fabulously diverse schools that frequently featured “Heritage Days” where the school children...
Will he choose Mexican or Caucasian?
Josh Smith, Sacramento, CA. My son is 3 years old, and the son of a white male with no real cultural identity (myself) and a...
Adopted. Raised as white. No identity.
Anonymous Kennewick, WA Being Latina, with a white name, but in knowledge of my Latino surname. I try to be supportive of my friends with...
“Asian” to whites, “white” to Asians
Anonymous Being of mixed race can make a person feel out of place, and lacking of identity. My friend and I were talking about which...
My Race is a Collision of Shrieks
Senju Rajan USA My race is a collision of yelps, yips, of shrieks, Carnatic Punk Rock: Alan Vega smashing a raga over my head. I’ve...
If he’s white, they’re all black??!
Alethia Grace Cyrus, Tulalip, WA. My most striking experience of my own internal “like me is normal” sense came midway through reading The Ear, the...
Personal Identity Creates Community And Conflict.
Ty Pethe, Seattle, WA. For better or worse, we are social creatures that innately create groups of people like us. Whether it’s race, nationalism, gender,...
Always check “White, Non-Hispanic origin” box
Jay Marie Fernandez, Bridgeport, CT. With white skin, being of Hispanic origin, in a household that did not speak Spanish, in a predominantly Spanish speaking...
