Natasha Smith,
Philadelphia, PA.

I am white. I look white. I am white? Pale skin, red frizzy hair, littered with freckles. Often I am asked “Are you Irish?” The answer is “No…” and I wonder if it is the time to go into my family’s racial identity or my own struggles with my racial identity. My dad’s side of the family is black. My mother even put on my birth certificate that I was black- my father apparently rejecting this idea and her stating it would be beneficial.

I think what I often feel is that I have to convince people that I am what I say I am. “No really, my dad IS black. “