None of us can define equality
Kennedy, KS. I truly think each person’s definition of equality would vary from one another in any given circumstance depending on their bias. We all...
They Say I’m Black and White
Stephen Young, Kansas City, KS. People often do not know what race I am but they assume based on how I look. I am mixed...
I look white but I’m hispanic
Kassandra Lynn Pasquale, Bonner Springs, KS. I never really liked how people automatically assume that I’m white just because I always really pale. Just because...
Too ambiguous to fit in anywhere.
Tasha L., Largo, MD. I am adopted, raised by a half French/half Black mother and full-blooded Sicilian father. I am half Black, quarter Indian (India)...
I am sorry Miss, you’re Hispanic
Marta Silva-Serrano Lenexa, KS Sad statement by an immigration officer when I had to fill in my request for a Social Security Number in order...
My race is not my nationality.
Linda Morris, Shawnee, KS. Growing up, I got teased a lot for being a fair-skinned black girl by kids who would assume and make sure...
Educated man people see only black
Jason Adams Wichita, KS I have fought to educated myself so I could raise my family into the middle class but at every job I...
Are you a honky, or not?
Jeremy Wilhelm, Atlanta, GA. Got this from a peer while living in Kansas in the late 1980s. I didn’t know what honky was. Picture is...
Again I was barred from dancing.
Stephen Pagel Wichita, KS In my early years I saw The Temptations on The Ed Sullivan show and was blown away not only by their...
Your race tells me almost nothing.
Tyler Brown, Topeka, KS. What knowledge do I gain of a person by being told their race? Am I told that they have certain facial...
The Elephant in the Living Room
Theodore, Stilwell, KS. Never assume to fully understand someone or the experiences they have lived by the color of their skin or the appearances they...
Ignorance breeds isolation, learning creates community
Reva Friedman, Overland Park, KS. We live in our comfy, constrained, psychic silos. My mission as a teacher educator is to create opportunities for my...
Silas couldn’t come to my party!
Nancy Harris Cadwell, Mulvane, KS. As a small child in the early 1950s, I really loved the black man that worked at the local drugstore....
“When she sings, she sounds black!”
Shaley White Hays, KS This is something I’ve heard many times. I like to sing and I sing often for several different occasions and many...
Tired of being guilty for being white
Brian Wackerly, Andover, KS. Black, white, blue, green, or yellow. It’s 2015 folks- why can’t we just all be Americans? The LEFT wants to label...
