All eyes on a black boy
Darius Tornes,
Jackson, MS.
Every time I go to the store people be keep on eye on me. They follow me around. I’m just trying to buy some now or laters. The people who work at the store tell me to take out my pockets to see if I’m trying to steal things. I even got the cops called on me because I wouldn’t take my pockets out to let the workers look at them. Not everyone black person is a thug theft etc. I always pay for things when i go to the store. My mom didn’t raise me like that. My mom raised me to be myself.
Be the Light in Someone’s Darkness
Claudasheia Buck,
Jackson, MS
My spirit carries good energy. Anybody I’ve ever come across has acknowledged the fact that I’m such caring and genuine person. I’m a supportive friend and we all need somebody sometimes. I’m cheerful and really goofy , overall fun to be around. I was taught that you never know what the next person is going through, so it’s good to be kind to your peers. I give even if it’s my last and look for nothing in return. If nobody know nothing else about me, they know that I try to bring all my friends closer to God as well. We all need him especially in times like these, so I try to spread the word as a source of encouragement for the ones I care about.
With kids, people don’t separate us.
Steve Cox,
Jackson, OH.
Prior to having kids, people usually thought my wife (Chinese ethnic, Thai national) and I (white) were separate. If we went through a line at the store and we were both caring something, they would assume we were separate. Same thing would happen at airports and people would send us to separate lines. After having kids, now everyone assumes we are together. Something about the kid – I don’t know if it is looks or the way they interact with us, but now everyone assumes we are family. Oddly enough, if I do walk into a store separately from my family in the town I live, people let me know immediately if my family is in the store.
Why my kids are the minority
Tara
Jackson, MS
They go to the highest scoring elementary school in the state of Mississippi which happens to be 98% African- American. My kids are white and they don’t care about skin color and because of their school probably never will, I hope.
She’s White in a Black body….
Cooper Shell,
Jackson, TN.
She’s White in a Black Body…..
That is what has ALWAYS been said to describe me—since I was at least 12 years old. My name is Cooper Shell, and I grew up in Choctaw County, MS. I hail from a blended family which is very typical in my town. I suppose that I should dress, speak, and behave in a certain manner because I am an African American female in the deep South; I don’t…at least not in the manner most people expect. I prefer to wear business suits, pearls, and pumps; Paramore is one of my favorite bands. My natural hair has always looked more like a weave, and I am incredibly articulate. However, society says that I should wear Jordans and Sean Jean, aspire to be Beyonce while dancing to Lil Wayne, and wear weaves as I speak the latest slang and broken English. I had African American and Caucasian friends as a child and teenager. But apparently my speech and preferences just seemed to be more “White” than “Black”. As an adult, I have gotten quite use to my clients and business contacts assuming I am male because of my name. However, I am never prepared for the awkward stammers, stares, and hearing “Are you sure you’re Cooper?” once those people finally meet me face to face. It is even more disheartening to meet people who make incredibly racist comments on the phone, only to learn they were speaking to a “Black” all along.
Mississippi now feels like Mississippi then.
R. Johnson
Jackson, MS
I love this place I call home because my family’s roots are strong here; however, it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same! #WHATTHEHELLISGOINGONANDDOESANYBODYELSENOTICE?
Blacks are more racist than whites
Anonymous,
Jackson, MS.
Dissatisfied with black racism. But we never want to talk about it, and when blacks are tyrannically racist against white people, we just act like it’s no big deal. Black people today were not slaves, and no one I repeat NO ONE is stopping them from succeeding except themselves…but they want to talk it out on white people and claim that we’re all racist. I can find thousands of white folks near my house who are not racist at all, but I have NEVER meat a black person who did not harbor racial hate for white people. Get real, America. Blacks are the problem.
The problem is racism not racecraft.
Rickey Hill
Jackson, MS
The dominant discourse on race amounts to racecraft. In so many ways, racism and racial domination never get discussed. Consequently, racism and racial domination get trivialized. See Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields, Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life (2012)
