I hate South Korean beauty standards.
Ally, USA. I know that in the past, it was better to have lighter skin because that meant you weren’t poor, but now, with all...
Too tan but not tan enough
Madison Tounsley, Pleasant Hill, IA I am a 19 year old woman who has battled with my ethnicity/race growing up. I am part Asian and...
Too white to be Native American
Simone, Chicago, IL. A lot of people say I look too white to be Native American. It’s tiring that my mom is full Cherokee while...
Blacker the Berry, Sweeter the Juice
Brailynn Billingsley, Opelika, AL People judge me because I’m darker toned than my peers. If they were to talk to me, they would understand I...
Mom said brown girls are ugly.
Anna, Santa Maria, CA. I am a 47 year old Filipina. I remember being constantly compared to my lighter skinned cousins and feeling awkward to...
“But you’re not ‘really’ black, right?”
Danielle Petterson, Tampa, FL. I have light brown skin and I consider myself to be mixed. Most people have a simple-minded belief that “mixed” means...
The privilege of being white while black
Joseph Benjamin, San Antonio, TX. I’m a light skinned black man who grew up poor and black in the south, but because of my skin...
Mom said brown girls are ugly.
Anna, Santa Maria, CA. I am a 47 year old Filipina. I remember being constantly compared to my lighter skinned cousins and feeling awkward to...
I’m Hispanic, stop thinking I’m White
Leslya Chavez, Houston, TX Born and raised on the East coast of Virginia, though was raised in a Hispanic household. Grew up only Spanish till...
Just because I’m brown, I’m different
Jessica Hernandez, San Juan Capistrano, CA. My little sister were born light skinned versus me who was born brown. My parents like to bring that...
I don’t know where I fit
Nina, Marina, CA I’m light skinned, half white, but I don’t feel white. My other half is Hispanic. I ever know what race to put...
You’re lucky; you have good hair
Aminah Columbia, SC Being a light-skinned African-American has afforded me the ability to kind of live on multiple sides of the race coin in terms...
Too Light, Too Dark…Who Cares
Wilhelmina Street, Baltimore, MD. Actually, more people of our very own race seem to struggle with the idea of an extremely light person marrying someone...
African American but not black
Rewan, New York, NY. I’m 15 years old, and I live in New York. My parents were both born and raised in Egypt and moved...
They thought I was too light
Aaron Noel Segovia, Berwyn, IL Meeting my second family was quite disappointing to say the most, they didn’t seem to think I was apart of...
Outside I’m White. Inside I’m Hispanic
Adrianna, Yarmouth, IA I have been privileged with white skin and what would be considered mundane ‘caucasian features’. For this I never had to experience...
You need to get a tan
Malena, Sparta, NC Growing up, I was always the child that would stay outside from morning to night. Even though I was always outside I...
