Louisiana Archives - The Race Card Project

Acceptable, only after identified as Hawaiian

December 5, 2023January 20, 2024 1970's, acceptable, Creole, Hawaiian, Hispanic/Mexican, identofy, Inuit, Louisiana, MD, minority status, Nedra De Lima, offensive, polite, White Plains

Nedra De Lima,
White Plains, MD.

Experienced “minority status” when we moved stateside from Hawaii in the 70s. I was most often identified as Hispanic/Mexican. Was also identified as generic Native American or African American. Also Inuit or Louisiana Creole. Too many times, I only became acceptable after I identified as Hawaiian Chinese. Then I became exotic and welcome. People would break out into a relieved smile which I found offensive because it was always the folks who thought I was Mexican or Black. Most of the time they would pat my back or arm and want to engage in a conversation. I was safe enough to touch and interesting enough to talk to now. I was always polite but in my mind and in my heart they sickened me.

People use pigment to write stories.

December 1, 2022December 1, 2022 body count, Corazon Johnston New Orleans, criminal, ink, LA Aspen X, Louisiana, New Orleans, People, plot, pugment, stories, story, strategy, USA

Corazon Johnston

New Orleans, LA
Aspen X

Beyond the fact that ink is pigment we use to write on paper, skin color creates circumstances of people’s lives. Some try to use other’s pigment count, like body count, the darker, the more criminal. Others who are the victims of such persecution make the best story or the worst story out of the circumstances they’ve been given. As a writer I see how circumstances and character drives dictate the outcome of stories. Pigment is a circumstantial “strategy” that drives plot.

People of Quality Respect Race Equality

September 12, 2022September 12, 2022 Aspen X, barrier, Color, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/aspenx-new-orleans/, job, LA, Louisiana, New Orleans, racial barrier, respect, Saheba Cuccia, skin, social, South, standing, USA

Saheba Cuccia,
New Orleans, LA.
Aspen X

Adopted and raised in the South, I have seen and heard of the racial barriers that some people use to divide us. The color of your skin should not determine anything such as relationships, jobs, and social standing in society.

We have to get it together.

March 12, 2019March 12, 2019 cultural identity, education, get it together, Houston, identity, interfere, LA, Louisiana, Moreauville, NIK BANNISTER, School USA, Texas, TX, upward mobility, USA

NIK BANNISTER
Houston, TX

Louisiana epitomizes how race and education interfere with opportunity, cultural identity and upward mobility.

A journey through language and space.

December 26, 2017 Aspen X, Grace Morse, journey, LA, language, Louisiana, New Orleans, reading, space, USA, writing

Grace Morse,
New Orleans, LA.
Aspen X

I chose those six words because reading and writing (within travel) are some of the most important aspects of my life.

Cowards fear difficult conversations and vulnerabilities

March 25, 2016March 25, 2016 Andrew Yaspan, conversation, coward, difficult, LA, Louisiana, New Orleans, New York, Scarsdale, School USA, USA

Andrew Yaspan
New Orleans, LA

I think that we could have so much more progress in this country if we were less afraid of being uncomfortable and discussing issues that are taboo. I honestly do think that Americans try to hold a mirror up to this country often, but it is still through the lens of the “bluest eye” In order to see what we really are, we need to allow ourselves to feel vulnerable, seek discomforting opinions and engage them with a respect for our own and others experiences with revelations about potentially shameful aspects of our culture to understand what circumstances are like for different people in this country, and do our best, confront those aspects and to make the situation better for all.

Don’t profile my future thru racism.

May 6, 2014 Brookline, Deborah Washington, future, Institutional racism, Louisiana, MA, Massachusetts, Patterson, profile, racism, scapegoat, School USA, USA

Deborah Washington
Brookline, MA

Institutional racism still exists. It makes racism anonymous. “nobody’s fault”. Those who carry it out use systems as a scapegoat, like systems don’t represent the thinking of groups of people.

Self segregation leads to continued stereotyping.

April 22, 2014April 22, 2014 black friends, Color, Germantown, Louisiana, MD, Monica Mingo, Port Allen, School USA, Self segregation, skin, stereotyping, USA

Monica Mingo
Germantown, MD

Whenever I meet someone who doesn’t have friends who share different skin colors, I challenge it. How can you live in the world we live in and not have White friends if you are Black and Black friends if you are White? If you live in the United States, the melting pot of the world, you have the opportunity to meet and share interests with people of every ethnicity. Why would you only spend your leisure time with people who share your skin color? Some of whom you might not have a single thing in common with other than the color of your skin? When you give in to self segregation, you’re, in essence, denouncing the work of all the brave people before us who fought for desegregation. You’re limiting your own world and limiting experiences which could enhance your quality of life.

Join the Newsletter

Info

Join our community