Freda NC I am African American. Growing up I was often asked this question in some form or another “are you mixed, what are you, what are you mixed with, what’s your nationality, are you Indian, where are you from?” As I got older, the question began to offend me more, especially when the person […]
Why don’t Afro Americans row?
Felix Muhlebach, Chapel Hill, NC. I was at the Head of the Hooch, 2nd biggest rowing event in the US. More than 1600 crews. More than 5000 athletes. I saw only one Afro American crew. No mixed race boats. Check on attached event picture file. Statistically, one out of 5 athletes should be Afro American. […]
Would All My Ancestors Love Me?
Melissa U., Charlotte, NC. My Taino people would love me, from my plump lips to my curly hair. My African people would love me from the rhythm in my hips to the powerful thoughts in my mind. My Spanish people, they might deny me, but I can’t deny them. They are in my language, they […]
WOW your english is really good.
Mireya, Sparta, NC Why is it so surprising?
The plantation haunts my gay marriage.
Erik Shawn Frampton, Charlotte, NC. I am the descendant of a line of plantation owners in South Carolina. As a gay man, my upcoming marriage will finally occur on our 20th anniversary together. My larger southern family struggles to see my identity as sacred, just as they struggle still to see minority life as sacred. […]
Southern farm raised, doesn’t mean hate
Leah Ray, Roaring River, NC With current events, people assume white people are racist, especially southern white people. Don’t get me wrong, some people are full of hate and racism but that is only a small majority. I do not want people to look at me and see a young southern white woman and assume […]
But do they know he’s black?
Bree Mahoney, Camp Lejeune, NC A diary entry of conversations with my family about dating black men.
But, why must you judge me?
Sara Marie Crowell, Saxapahaw, NC I feel that I am assumed to have privilege being that I am white when I have struggled along side the rest of them. We shouldn’t judge anyone based on skin color. We are all humans.
Adopted but am I still Mexican
Kasey Nichols, Clemmons, NC. I’ve known I’ve been adopted since I can remember and never questioned my ethnicity until I reached middle school age because we had to fill out cards with “check yes if Latino, African American, white or other.” Biologically I’m Mexican and Italian, but I was raised white with my dad being […]
God does not have white skin.
Sue Monk Kidd, Chapel Hill, NC
Deeper than skin. History’s evolving mistress
Anonymous, NC.
Covid-19 is not killing just blacks
Tiffany Holland, Concord, NC African Americans are complaining that Covid19 is being used to kill their race. It’s not! I’m seeing people die every week from this. First, it was we were slaves so it’s all your fault then it was now copping are only killing blacks to black lives matter and now it’s you’re […]
Variety is the Spice of Life
Kevin Crowe, Thomasville, NC In this world, there are those that will try to lessen others because these “others” don’t fit a mold. Whether it’s due to your skin being too dark or too light, because of who you date or love, or even something as trivial as the clothes you wear. There are some […]
I’m brown but, I’m not hispanic.
Vaniza Bailey, Wilkes Community College, Wilkesboro, NC Don’t Assume, Get acquainted! Not all brown people with dark hair are Hispanics, they could be Filipino, that girl beside me is Hispanic and she’s my best friend. Yes, we seem to look alike its because Filipinos were colonized by Spain for a long time, long enough to […]
African American woman who loves people.
Imani A Coleman, Concord, NC I am an African American woman who loves people. However, I understand that there is a lot of work the world has to do to bring more understanding of all people. Race is…
“You really aren’t a real Mexican.”
Ai Lee Blankenship, Lexington, NC I come from a home that consists of a Deaf mother and father. My father is Italian/white while my mother is Mexican. Instead of learning both English and Spanish, I have learned English and American Sign Language in order to effectively communicate with my parents. I have always heard the […]
You are stronger than you think
Deitra Dowdy, Thomasville, NC Life will come with many difficulties and inconveniences. Just push through them and you will be amazed at what you can overcome.
Not every white (person) has white privilege
Kayla Miles, Lexington, NC I don’t believe anything else needs to be said.
I am a United States Citizen
Kinyata, Greensboro, NC I’m a student at Davidson County Community College and this post was an assignment. I chose I am a United States Citizen because so often people hear my name and ask what country am I from. Sometimes it’s frustrating when people assume my origin-based off of my name.
Don’t turn your back to it
Hollie Hill, Denton, NC
The skin I’m in is resilient
Temeka Robinson, Thomasville, NC
Every Life Matters, Every Single One
Cameron Hunter Duncan, Salisbury, NC
Everyone is unique, embrace your difference
Aaron Williams, Davie County High School NC/Davidson County Community College, Mocksville, NC Everyone is different, instead of fighting our differences we should all work together to embrace them. Each difference sets us apart and makes us unique. When we accept these differences and encourage others, we will all be more successful.
Change is uncomfortable but desperately needed
Kim Hill, Wilkes Community College, Crumpler, NC We all need to lean into the discomfort and make the changes needed to be better people for our own sake and others.
Everyone is more beautiful on the inside
Christina H Beltrami, Community College, Wilkesboro Stony Point, NC This race card project could open many doors to those who are trying to have an open mind. I hope the words I chose reflect how I act toward others. It’s true that everyone should be beautiful on the inside more than the outside. There are […]
We Aren’t Here to Take Your Jobs
Erica Jaimes, Wilkes Community College, North Wilkesboro, NC I chose these words because it is known that immigrants, Hispanics in particular, take away jobs from American workers. However, we create new jobs by forming new businesses, spending our incomes on American goods and services, paying taxes and raising the productivity of U.S. businesses. Immigrants are […]
Everyone’s unique in their own way
Kelsey Call, Wilkes Community College, Wilkesboro, NC Wilkes Community College I feel like everyone has their own strengths and no one should be judged for being who they are.
We could do so much more.
Kaitlyn Eller, Wilkes Community College, NC We are at a standstill right now when we should be taking action to spread love, kindness, and encourage unity. We have the whole world at our fingertips through our phones and yet we continue to sit back while discrimination impacts so many. Change begins with just one person. […]
Life’s boring if everybody’s the same
Joanna Benitez, Wilkes Community College, Yadkinville, NC I chose those six words because I have realized that many people are judged based on their religion or race, etc. I believe that its good that everyone is unique. It would be better if we all just got along and instead of judging or discriminating other, we […]
Looks Do not Define Intelligence
Tatayana T. North Wilkesboro, NC
Connection is what brings us together
HOPE CRAWFORD, PURLEAR, NC I believe touching each other in deep meaningful connections; relating to one another in life’s joys, hardships, and life experiences are what help bring us together as one.
Be Stronger Than Your Strongest Excuse
Drew Sink, Lexington, NC
The “Inside” is what is important!
Jennifer Blevins, West Jefferson, NC I am a student at Wilkes Community College and I believe that what is on the inside of a person is more important than what their appearance is on the outside.
Continuing struggle of mind and soul
Anonymous, Raleigh, NC
“You’re black? But you act white.”
Veronica, Hickory, NC
YES, I AM A SALTY CRACKER.
CATHERINE LINEBERRY, LEXINGTON, NC I can be very moody.
I’m White, from the south, have a truck
Tayler Shepherd, Glade Valley, NC I chose this race card because it stereotypes all white men from the south drive a truck and are considered “white trash”.
Coronavirus: Not Opportunity for Blatant Racism
Anonymous, Southern, NC Using disease origins to stereotype/profile people is just blatant racism, and it is extremely insensitive (and racist) when you “cover your face with your shirt” just for being near someone of Asian descent in public spaces.
Nobody talks about oppressed Hawaiian Natives.
KSt.C Charlotte, NC
I Am More Than My Hair!
Ja’Leia Etheredge, Durham, NC
I know my own worth
Zada Mitchell, Durham, NC As a young African American woman, I know that I have my worth as an artist. As a student. As a daughter, and as a human being.
Color Doesn’t defined Who You Are
Abigahil Garcia Trejo, Durham, NC
I descend from first American colonizers.
Kim Looby, Charlotte, NC I thought I was Irish and came here during the 1850s. But I’m actually 16th generation American. My family is responsible for settling America and colonizing it. I’m equally disconnected from any ancestral culture and distinctly American? I have a few German relatives left in Germany but they’re over a hundred […]
Ashamed to Acknowledge the Black Side
Heartbroken Grandmother, Durham, NC My granddaughter was never allowed to have contact with her father or us when she was a young child. He fought to see her but the court system in Indiana never held up the court orders for his ex-girlfriend to allow him visitation. This lasted well into her teen years. Though […]
You know why they chose you?
Alan Smith, Angier, NC. This was said to me by an instructor, as an 18-year old US Navy sailor, having just completed submarine training in Groton, CT in 1978. I graduated 14th of 98 in my class, and was presented with an award for excellence by the Eastern Connecticut Council Navy League of the US. […]
How is your last name Sanchez?
Chelsea, Burlington, NC I am constantly referred to as white, and I do not speak Spanish. I am mostly Puerto Rican and Italian and have the least amount caucasian in me in comparison to my other heritages.
JUDGMENTAL EYES ON 9/11 ANNIVERSARY -HIJABI
Reem Saed Charlotte, NC
Our tears aren’t for your consumption
Adrienne Davis, Durham, NC. I feel like white folks want to consume our pain and oppression but don’t want to commit to be accomplices in the work. Our pain is suppose to “help them grow”. No. That’s not how this works.
Why’d you invite the white guy
Mike Rockingham, NC
So was she born in Africa?
Anneliese, Mooresville, NC I am a sister to three black siblings that my family adopted a few years ago. One time while walking through the mall with one of my sisters, she was only about 2 years old, we were stopped and asked if she was from Africa? It is so surprising how some people […]
My Swahili children: chai ya maziwa
Paula Gormley Greensboro, NC I am white. My children are from two separate worlds: United States and Tanzania. We are living in the US, but I am grooming them for lives in which they, children of privilege, will have an obligation to help their African brothers and sisters. I always tell people that they have […]
Taught all wrong, now teaching others
Steve Jones, Durham, NC. I grew up in a segregated community and the concept that African-Americans (of course, not the word that was used) were inferior. It took a long time to get out of that mindset and even longer to acknowledge the privilege that comes with my white skin. It’s a privilege to be […]
White and raised by a man.
Roger Tryone Williams, Huntersville, NC. My name is Roger Tyrone Williams and I’m white. Additionally, I was raised by a black man. If you want to learn more, just ask.
Code-switching: an asset, not a crime.
Molly Wanless Chapel Hill, NC To develop and maintain respect in my middle school English classroom, I teach that there are many “right ways” to talk and write. With technology and society being what they are today, no one owns or “rules” the conventions of our language. My students understand that their language and mine […]
Grateful for Painful Cultureshock Down South
Audrey A Fischer, Wilson, NC. When I lived in Virginia Beach, I didn’t notice race. Up north, it was so institutionalized that I barely knew any People of Colour. When I came down south in the eighth grade, I suddenly was the largest group, but our school was 60 or so percent minority. I was […]
Do I look like a Twinkie?
Jacob Tanes, Durham, NC. A stereotype that people call the Asian race is Twinkie because Twinkies are yellow on the outside and white on the inside.
Bleach your skin to be white
Walker Perry, Mooresville, NC
Oblivious to white privilege until educated.
Haley Perryman, Mooresville, NC
No big honker? You no Jew
Ilana Israel, Elon, NC. Elon University
Not Blind, Just Free of Hate.
Sarah M. Rebillard, Wilmington, NC I will never say that I am blind to the skin color of others, nor that I don’t see them as different from myself. A person’s perceived race is a fact of their existence and their reality and is a trait to be loved not ignored. People of color deserve […]
I’m Appalachian–it’s an invisible ethnicity
Catherine Vance Agrella, Asheville, NC. I’m white, and by definition am associated with some of the worst perpetrators of racism. But I also come from deep Appalachian Scots-Irish roots and have a clear ethnic identity. I do know what it feels like to be mocked for my speech, or thought of as a dumb hillbilly, […]
Hair: Long–I’m Cherokee. Short–European.
The Rev. Dr. Laura Mae Johnson New Bern, NC [stumble]
Some Dogs Just Don’t Have Names
Glenn Richardson Wilmington, NC Every spring we would travel from Washington DC to Oktoc Mississippi to help my Dad work the cows. He had about 200 head to push through the mucky shoot to the cattle squeeze where they were tested for brucelllosis, wormed, weighed, pregnancy checked by an arm length plastic disposable glove to […]
You aren’t gonna make it anywhere
Jaylyn, Charlotte, NC.
White, Korean, southern, AND atheist
Melanie Mills, NC. I am 1/4 Korean, but I only look caucasian. I live in the “Bible Belt”, but I am an atheist. I am so much more than what I seem. I am so much more than just WHITE.
My history is only slavery! Why!
King Kellz, Fayetteville, NC. We only learn what America has taught us about our specific race.
Don’t assume I’m White, or Straight.
Jim Downey, Wilmington, NC.
Black Vietnamese. Speak spanish. Eat rice.
Hao Nguyen, Durham, NC. I wanted to say… Black Vietnamese. Speak english, spanish, vietnamese. Eat suong kho, pho, and corn dogs. Words that describe my mixed race/heritage children. Having to choose only 6 words, I had to put them in order of words that most describe them. Having to choose what comes first — black […]
He stood. She sat. For equality.
Linda Leigh Hargrove, Concord, NC. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the Lincoln Memorial and made a game-changing speech. More than 250,000 people stood in the audience that August day, including Rosa Parks who sat her way into civil rights history. It is because of their work that I have the freedom, as a […]
Sadly frustrated at the backward slide.
Pam Lepley, High Point, NC.
Race, the easiest way to discriminate.
AnnAdèle Lloyd, Asheville, NC. Appearance is always how we make our initial judgement of someone on first meeting.
Your family’s not inbred…are you?
Katie R. Phillips, Green Mountain, NC. I might be white, but growing up in the Southern Applachians is definitely its own ethnic identity. I didn’t truly understand this until I went to college, and brought friends home with me for the first time. One of my friends actually asked me if my family was inbred […]
Being Hispanic is not a crime
Navarro, Charlotte, NC.
Not from here, not from there.
Adriana Caicedo Hart , Indian Trail, NC. I was born in Colombia, I came to USA in 2003. My physical features, my accent and my skin color say I am not born in American, they say I belong to a different culture; but when I go back to my home country for a visit, I […]
Why’d you invite the white guy
Mike, Rockingham, NC.
God created race people created racism
Eric Evans, Tarboro, NC. Our God-given differences are meant to be appreciated not to keep us separated. As a Native American man I live in a world that doesn’t know what to think of me outside of a reservation or the pages of a history book.
Just like a ‘lectric clock ticking
Jimmy Hair, Charlotte, NC. A hard working black man I worked construction with 44 years ago used to say this. He meant it about his steady and prodigious work output, but I think of it now in terms of the slow but steady progress of improved race relations.
What’s the point when color fades
Spencer, Wilmington, NC. Everyone dies. And when we do die, there will be no color, just bones and dirt. It’s funny that race is so important when it doesn’t last forever. We only have a short time on the earth and yet we spend so much time dividing ourselves based on something superficial, that no […]
Look, another stupid white guy commercial
Gary D Patterson Gastonia, NC Here comes the stupid husband, boyfriend, tradesman, etc. in a commercial. He is almost always white. Why?
Didn’t process my privilege affects EVERYTHING
Mattie L, NC.
All races should be treated equally.
Marci Russell, Durham, NC. I don’t think people understand how serious the racist comments they say are. Even if they’re just joking, It’s hurtful. I wish people would just think before they act. If people just thought about what they are going to say before they say it, I believe the world would change one […]
Ashamed and embarrassed to be black.
Nobody, Durham, NC. I would change my race to anything non-black if I could. I don’t think white people understand how limiting it is to only be seen as a color and not as a person. When you’re black you can be the Scary Black Person, the Angry Black Man/Woman, the Thug, the Smart/Articulate Black […]
Black, Female, Spiritual, Dynamic, Resilient, Thankful
Pamela Bivens, M.A., Durham, NC. Awesome project!!
Asian-Indian, I cherish the American Dream
Vipin Gupta, Charlotte, NC.
I’m a bridge between two worlds.
Jazmin Whitmore, Asheville, NC. I am the result of two worlds but I was only raised in one. My father was Jamaican and my mother was European/Native American mix. My mother raised me. Although it was not her intention she raised me to be “white”. I did not realize how devoid I was of my […]
I thought I knew, but didn’t.
Erica Tjelta, Spartanburg, SC. After growing up and living in rural and small-town Wisconsin for my first thirty-six years of my life–it was a shocking eye-opener to move to the racially diverse and racism-afflicted major city of Charlotte, North Carolina. My seven years spent there were the catalyst of a change-of-mind that radically altered the […]
I am scared to drive alone
Ariel Foreman, Raleigh, NC. I just moved to North Carolina from Virginia. I’m scared to travel on highway 14 between Home and Raleigh especially at night…because it’s heavily monitored by police. I should not be scared of a group that’s suppose to protect me.
Empathy, we are all from Africa
Tiara McCall, Greensboro, NC.
Being brown doesn’t always equal Mexican
Cristal Alanis, Greensboro, NC. Based on the color of our skin does not determine our background. Central and South America have other countries too, not just Mexico.
Privileged whites must start the conversation
Marcia Ladd, Chapel Hill, NC. A group from my Presbyterian Church has been studying and talking about the black experience, white privilege and what we can do to make changes. We have learned the hard way we cannot go into a group of black folks, church or otherwise and tell them what to do. We […]
Sequence: Negro. Colored. Afro-American. Black. African-American
Alonzo Felder, Durham, NC. Called by many names over the years.
Yes, you are all my family!
Hillora Lang, Burgaw, NC. As a person with Asperger Syndrome I have always felt estranged from the human race. In high school I began working on my family tree, and it really helped to ground me and allow me to feel a connection to past generations. When doing genealogy research last year I discovered a […]
Stop pairing my ancestry with race.
Journey Brown-Saintel, Charlotte, NC. The system of checking off boxes to indicate my heritage is flawed.
I owe you nothing, I’m not responsible
Tony Concorde, NC I am tired seeing white people feeling guilty or responsible for the misfortune of minorities.
Why is this still so hard?
Kaye Saunders, Chapel Hill, NC.
School integration enriched my white life.
Cynthia Waszak Geary, Baltimore, MD. I grew up in Durham, NC and attended Hillside High School as part of the first court ordered desegregation plan to achieve racial balance. I am heart broken that since that time there has been a steady and deliberate re-segregation of schools in the US. I am hoping for leadership […]
Beautiful kids, did you adopt them
Amy Hueitt, Gastonia, NC. I am a single mother of two children, one who is 8 with Autism, ADHD, and developmental delays. My daughter is almost 6 and typical. My son is black, white, and Mexican. He appears to be just Mexican. My daughter is black and white, she looks white. I am black and […]
For tradition’s sake, we mock others.
Kyle McDonald NC A couple of weeks ago, a friend and I got in an argument about race and sensitivity that started from watching football, of all things. I mentioned something about the fact that, if you think about it, the team the Washington Redskins is pretty offensive. His thought was “who cares?”. “People these […]
White Males discriminated against at work.
Mary Fruin, Charlotte, NC. I think that Rev . Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Dream is nowhere near being fulfilled when our big corporations are illegally paying big bonuses to managers to hire & promote minorities and women (read: not white men) and giving soft metric well paying jobs to minorities while chasing White males […]
Glad of being an Army brat.
Rhonda Nottingham Durham, NC My father was in the US Army when I was born. We lived in many places among many types of people. We moved to nowhere WV when my father left the Army in order to care for my ailing grandfather. I went to an all white high school, as there were […]
It’s okay to be black, Promise
Maureen Shaw, Durham, NC. Thank you for doing this. This is a photo of my mother’s family, this is the reason why I wrote it’s okay to be black. I look at it an feel so proud of this photo. We let ourselves believe we are a people are people with shattered history. I’ve discovered […]
Whitey guilt do-gooders destroyed black family
Anon Ymous Charlotte, NC “Replaced slavery chains with entitlement chains” As a white with guilt, all I can say is: I’m so sorry, twice…
I am not your model minority.
Jennifer Ho, Carrboro, NC. I’m an Asian American woman and often times in my daily life I’m the only Asian American person in the room, sometimes the only person of color. And it’s exhausting to deal with the stereotypes people have, especially because they think Asian Americans are a successful “Model Minority.” And so I […]
We’re one family divided by fear.
Andrew Kerbs, Asheville, NC.
Continually frustrated by America’s racial hangups
Whitney, Durham, NC. More 6-word offerings… – Life was less racial in Europe – Look black, more than half white – Ticked one box, denied one parent – Forced to deny half my heritage – Why should I pick just one? It’s not that race isn’t an issue in Europe, more that after nearly 8 […]
Skin not prison, come touch heart?
Linden Gibson Raleigh, NC I will never get used to being looked at by total strangers as a threat to their safety just by walking down the street. I see the fear in the averted looks, how they step aside or suddenly have something important to say to a companion, or seem to need to […]
We are all one human race
Susheela Chandrasekaran, Cary, NC.
55 mph means you black man.
Gregory McGriff, Rutherfordton, NC. I am an Ivy-league graduate and a board-certified medical doctor. The subject of race comes up all the time but the conversation that should follow is usually very short. When I see the speed sign on the road announcing 55 mph (or whatever the legal limit is). I know that posting […]
No, I don’t tan or perm.
Daniela Charlotte, NC Some people look puzzled when I say I am half Japanese. They tend to ask me if I perm my hair or go tanning because typically Japanese females have pin straight hair and fair skin. However they don/t seem to pay attention when I say HALF Japanese (I am also half Peruvian).
My race is a safety issue
Lauren Belton, Charlotte, NC.
Life is better without skin tone
Ger Xiong, Charlotte, NC.
Growing up “black” in “white” America
Aaliyah Ballard, Charlotte, NC.
We are not all from Mexico
Katia Pérez Amaya, Charlotte, NC. Everyone that is not open minded see ALL Hispanic/Latinos that they are from Mexico and well of course that is not true because I am a Latina but from El Salvador.
What do you think my ancestry is?
Daniel, Charlotte, NC. I do not want to say what country I am from, because I want you all to guesstimate my ancestry? Where would you say I am from? What part of the world do my features reflect? Please explain your responses! Please share your thoughts with me. I am NOT from the U.S.A. […]
No Heroes for Poor, White Males
Francis Lafayette, NC. Much like modern Germans, lower class white males in America have been granted a shame about their past. We’ve been told the History we learn in school is Eurocentric, but as a former social studies teacher, I can tell you that most Americans cannot tell you who Louis IV was. Or John […]
Light skin is the right skin.
Michael, Raleigh, NC.
My Ancestors Bones Not For Museum
Sonya Williams, Baltimore, MD. I grew up in a unique area of North Carolina in what is referred to as a ti-racial community. My Indian family are the Cheroenhaka Nottoway and Meherrin Indians of Southeast, VA & North Eastern, NC. When I went to college, during a lecture in my anthropology class, the professor was […]
Bless Black Skin and Blue Uniforms
Tanya Adams, Durham, NC. Will my sons come to know a time when we are in a United State as Americans??? My heart grieves!
The Art and Racket of Passing
Raven Cincinnati, OH In parts of Eastern North Carolina the lines between black, bi-racial and Native American is blurry and sometimes nonexistent. I went to school with the great(x3) grandchildren of my family’s slaveholders. Our families share the same last name. Upon leaving I learned that my green eyes, light skin and curly hair were […]
Don’t ever call me a bigot.
Meredith S. Gwaltney, Elon, NC. Elon University
An arbitrary system of color judgement
Emily Buehler, Elon, NC. Elon University
Sometimes, I can’t feel guilty anymore.
Allison Hren, Elon, NC. Elon University Recognizing the problems that exist in our divided world are very important, but there’s a part of me that gets fed up with the idea that expressing pride in my ancestry, mostly European, is racist. And although it’s true that issues, like slavery, were not actually that long ago, […]
Being White Does Not Equal Racist
Caitie Rudd, Burlingotn, NC. Elon University
Recognize the differences, accept the person
Alisha Carter, Charlotte, NC. Elon University
Stop shooting, hands up, guns down
Shelby Benfield, Lincolnton, NC.
Jim Crow Paper Genocide Native AmerIndians
Paper Genocide, Pinnacle, NC. Pictured: Monacan Indian Children at Recess How Jim Crow Practiced Paper Genocide Against Native American Indians. Jim Crow laws were a set of oppressive laws that reclassified Native American Indians into the category of Colored. Jim Crow reached their greatest influence during the decades of 1910, 1920, and 1930. Among them […]
Social construct separates, creates “better than”
Linda Block, Leicester, NC.
Sad I learned. Sad and hopeful.
Anonymous NC
See me for who I am
Rob McCollough, Asheville, NC. Interfaith; Vietnamese & “Other”. Because I am told that I am ‘lucky I can pass for white’
Yes, I’m white. Inside and Out.
Hayley Burgette, Durham, NC. Some people say I don’t act like I’m white but I’m just an ordinary country girl. Sometimes I can be as southern as it gets and you can tell in my voice but other times I’m out of control.
One man. Indivisible. Black. Gay. American.
Alva Jones Jr. Greensboro, NC I’m a bit of a focal point of discrimination in this country. As a Black man I’m viewed as a threat. As a gay man I’m viewed as an abomination. These views have by no means been universal in my travels, but the reality of their existence is no less […]
Cute when thin, angry when fat
Nicole McFarlane, Fayetteville, NC. I’m a 43 year old black woman who has spent most of her adult life living and working in the South. I notice that when my weight fluctuates I’m perceived differently — as different stereotypes associated with my race, gender and sexuality. At times when I’m heavier, many assume me to […]
Oh she’s black? Must be ghetto.
Crystal Parks, NC.
Black girl attitude, but sounds white.
Khuwailah Beyah, Durham, NC. For as long as I can remember people have said to me, and sometimes to my mother, the I “talk white” or that I’m trying to be white because of the way I speak and some of the things that interest me. I have never quite gotten this. I don’t have […]
Recognize Racism In Every Single Sector
Tia Cunningham, Charlotte, NC. I love people & our world. I hate corrupt systems. Due to my love of humanity, I am compelled to speak up against injustices throughput the world.
All Beings Certainly Deserve Education Freedom
Janice D. Stone, Graham, NC. Equality and equity are two different dimensions. We are all of the Human Being race!
Would All My Ancestors Love Me?
Melissa U., Charlotte, NC. My Taino people would love me, from my plump lips to my curly hair. My African people would love me from the rhythm in my hips to the powerful thoughts in my mind. My Spanish people, they might deny me, but I can’t deny them. They are in my language, they […]
No race at the dinner table
Anonymous Raleigh, NC
I am NOT addicted to Starbucks!
Elise Trexler, NC. I acknowledge the fact that I am a white female, but that does not automatically mean that I go to Starbucks every day after school to get a pumpkin spice latte.
Will you still talk to me?
Susan Duncan, Bristol, NH. When I was in the fourth grade, my family moved from Concord, North Carolina, to Leaksville (now Eden), North Carolina. Our street, Patrick Street, was parallel to Henry Street and the dividing line between the “white” neighborhood and the black/African-American neighborhood. Our next door neighbor, Miss Mary, had a large yard […]
I’m afraid I’ll hurt your feelings
Eileen Morgan, Durham, NC. #afterferguson I’m part of the “dominant” race with privileges that I did not earn. I’ve been listening and learning about racism a long time, but many times I still “goof up” and say stupid things that hurt the feelings of people of color. I’m really tired of this separation and am […]
White women came here as property.
Cathy Briggs, Randleman, NC.
WHITE feminism. I live with contradiction.
Danielle Nelson Winston Salem, NC I’m proud to be a feminist, but I’m not proud of the unspoken privilege that comes with being a white feminist. Fighting privilege with privilege? It’s so contradictory, yet I cannot ignore both these parts of my identity. WHITENESS consumes me every day, every minute, but because it’s so ingrained […]
Lose business because of Pakistani Muslim.
Amjad Saleem Wilson, NC I am gas station owner in Wilson, NC. My business was good last 3 years, My business became down day by day after my interview posted on -air at WRAL in Tar Heel Traveler, on Jan.29th 2013, about my art work, which is my part time hobby. http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/travel/video/12050477/#/vid12050477 After that instead […]
A basis or pride for some.
Anonymous, NC.
You’re not asian,You’re White.
Kristine Ratanaphruks Durham, NC I look ethnically ambiguous and, at times, I pass for white. I grew up watching white men call my father “boy” — I’ve heard countless racist remarks made by people who don’t realize my heritage — I’ve heard the question ” What are you? ” too many times to count and […]
Black good samaritans, or would-be robbers?
Samuel C. Johnson, Keezletown, VA. I am a white man now 67 years of age. In May, 1968 (a month after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) I had just completed basic training in the Army in North Carolina, and was on my way to my home area near Philadelphia. I got off […]
Does it matter if I’m mixed?
Rebecca Tester Lenoir, NC What does it mean to be “mixed” anyway? Does it even matter? I’ll never forget that first day of school when everyone wanted to know the colors of my parents.
You’re not from these parts, huh?
Steven N. Pembroke Pines, FL I am Hispanic, born and raised in New York. I served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 1992 and was stationed in Jacksonville, NC. I was on my way to Fayetteville to visit some friends and got lost on the way. I stopped at some convenience store to ask […]
Black Dad White Mom Golden Me
Azariah Solomon, Wilmington, NC. My brilliant mother always used to say, “One day, there will be no black or white … everyone will look just like you and your sister: golden!
God, shatter chains in our minds.
Chris Cottingham, Dunn, NC. Isolation breeds ignorance, fear. Come together.
When’s the next bus for Lobeco?
Joe Fournelle, Stuarts Draft, VA. Spring 1969. I was a 20-year-old Marine at the Greyhound bus station in Beaufort, SC waiting for transportation to Cherry Point, NC via commercial bus. An “old” (older than me anyway) black man approached me and asked me to find out when the next bus bus for Lobeco was. I […]
Sexism: worse than racism. It’s complicated.
Woman, Raleigh, NC. Yes, racism exists and at times, thrives, but if you’re a woman of color, you’re more likely to be affected than your male counterparts. Sexism, an outworking of centuries of patriarchal systems – systems that allowed for racism in the first place – makes every “ism” it’s present in worse. So, when […]
Black guy kept US Moving Forward
Tamara Henderson, Lewisville, NC. We all bleed the same way!
White Parents Raise Beautifully Diverse Children
Louise Bannon, Holly Springs, NC. Raising, playing, growing and living as a diverse family is an extraordinary experience. It brings both good days and tough days – obstacles and disappointments, laughter and lightheartedness. The journey is full of stares – stares full of curiosity, stares full of love and stares of hatefulness from the people […]
Experiencing reverse discrimination, sexism, ageism, (is) insightful.
Pat, Charlotte, NC. As a young white girl of 9, my family moved to a NYC housing project. I was greeted with “white cracker”. A term I had never heard previously, and didn’t know why I was disliked. I was not raised to focus on skin color – my mother told me we all had […]
Finally realizing it’s my problem too
S. Li Durham, NC
Don’t Bring Home That White Boy
Scotsia Daniels, Durham, NC. I have always heard people that look like me say to young black females, “don’t bring home that white boy.”
Yellow: Neither White Nor Black Enough
Yuri Yamamoto, Raleigh, NC. I am a Japanese immigrant. I sometimes feel lost in this society where race is all about black and white. I often feel that I am neither white nor black enough to contribute significantly to a diversity conversation, most of which seems to be about reconciliation and healing from the slavery. […]
My Black Is Beautiful, Is Yours?
Brea Miles, High Point, NC.
Failed to befriend first black student.
Lynn Scott Cochrane, Washington DC. I grew up in a deeply segregated Charlotte, NC in the 1950s and 60s. When my high school, North Mecklenburg, was finally integrated in about 1963, there was one black girl who always sat alone in the cafeteria. She may have been the only black girl in the school that […]
I don’t hear any banjo music here.
Kim Conner, Rutherfordton, NC. I always have to defend myself when people learn I am from the South. I’m a 42 year old white woman, married with kids, and I was born and raised in Upstate South Carolina. I am a first generation college graduate, as in my husband. I have an accent. I’m proud […]
Not All Mixed People Are Biracial.
Ashley L., Durham, NC. For much of my life, people have asked and assumed that because of the way my sister and I look that we have one black parent and one white parent. While it’s true that we technically have mixed ancestry, both of our parents identify as black, as did their parents before […]
This biracial guy is tuned in
David Swerdlick Submitted via Twitter: @Swerdlick NC, DC, CA, NYC
Born to this… Die leaving it.
A. Tineo Raleigh, NC
I am unique, beautiful, and gifted.
Ciara Chavis, Greensboro, NC. I am proud of me, who I’ve become and I will continue to grow. I am also proud of where I come from and grateful for the path my ancestors has paved for me. I am beautiful, unique, and gifted . This will forever be true, and my race does not […]
Not White Enough, Not Hispanic Enough
Eliana Rodriguez, Winston Salem, NC. I hate the feeling of rejection from the Caucasians I grew up with and the Hispanics that come from my culture. Ive always felt alienated from the white students in my schools but it hurt even more to find out that people from my own culture didn’t accept me cause […]
I wish I was more white
Lynn P., Raleigh, NC. My mother is white and my father is black. I am light skinned and proper speaking but not white enough in skin tone. I do not think I should have to choose a side, so why as me to? I wish I was more white skinned, then I would feel accepted. […]
Jew is not Race, it’s religion
Joseph Ratner, Morrisville, NC. This is interesting because as a child friends would ask me what I was nationality and I always said Jewish. As I got older I had to evaluate the reasons and now at half a century old I think I get it now Being Jewish is an identity. we have Jewish […]
Black boyfriend? We disown you. – Mom
Jennifer Jin, Chapel Hill, NC.
Mirrors reminded me I am Asian.
Mandy Padgett, Durham, NC.
Studying slavery makes me feel ashamed.
Sam Henry, Ashville, NC. As a white male Social Studies teacher I always have a difficult time teaching slavery. From what I know about my family tree I don’t have any family members that owned slaves but that is hardly the point. It is a shameful period in our history but one worth studying. I […]
YOU OWE ME EQUALS FOREVER VICTIM
James W. Smith, Southport, NC. UNTIL BLACKS STOP BELIEVING THE VICTIM INDUSTRY MESSAGE, CHAMPIONED BY MILLIONARE SPOKESMEN AS JESSIE JACKSON AND AL SHARPTON THEY WILL ALWAYS LAG BEHIND OTHER MINORITIES WHO KNOW THAT ADVANCEMENT DEPENDS ON PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND HARD WORK.
Am I Hispanic enough to ‘count’?
Alix Sotomayor, Boone, NC. I have always felt suspended between two worlds, since my ethnicity is widely varied (like that of most Americans). I am mostly (~70%) white, of Scots-Irish and English descent, but also have a chunk (25%) of Puerto Rican heritage (the missing ~5% comes from smidges of Native American and German ancestry). […]
Couldn’t convince grandmother slavery was immoral
Denise Pierce, Sterling, VA. My grandmother who was born in NC in 1901 and lived to be 105 tried to instill in me a love for my land-owning ancestors who also owned slaves. At 99 she was still quoting from the KKK playbook that taught slaves were lucky to have been brought to America and […]
People ask, are my children adopted?
Amy Hueitt Gastonia, NC I am black and white. My children are black and white! Genetics play an important role in how we appear. My son looks Mexican because his dad was Mexican! My daughter looks Mexican white because her dad was white! God truly has a sense of humor and He makes no mistakes, […]
Race DOES NOT define you.
Destiny Baker Raeford, NC The only thing that defines how you are as a person is you, not your past, culture, and especially not race.
I’m white so I’m automatically privileged
Josh Leake Cullowhee, NC It’s very aggravating to be judged because Im white. I come from a very rural area with a poor background. I have killed myself to support myself and be able to put myself through college.
I am an immigrant, and white
Tom Dierolf Brevard, NC If you saw a photo of me among asian, black and latino faces, and asked to pick the immigrants to the U.S., you would probably not pick me. But I immigrated from Germany in 1960, and I know that all of the others in the photo could have had family living […]
You are pretty for dark-skinned girl
Amber Chapel HIll, NC
I don’t want to be racist
P Morehead City, NC I am a white female and I am not racist at all. But sometimes I find myself with thoughts or fears that feel a little racist. Where is this coming from? I don’t want to have those thoughts or fears about other people because of their race. That is wrong.
Native Americans swept dead under rug.
April & Bill Ledford Carrboro, NC Native Americans and their contributions to US history, heritage, music, culture, food, customs — along with the often ignored, horrible American Holocaust — are still swept under the rug on a continuous basis in the media, history books, and everyday American society. The fact we have an NFL team […]
Why me, I’m not a slave owner??
Jo Pembroke, NC Why call me racist because im white and believe in traditional values… i feel its not fair I can help what people did before my time. if so shouldn’t black Americans hate Africans for selling them to European traders also??
I’m part white, Cant prove it
Justice Littlejohn Cherokee, NC Being Cherokee and living on a reservation you don’t grow up white, even if you are only half cherokee and half white. Tourists that come to the reservation always claim they are part cherokee. They are so proud of it. I don’t understand why they kinda get offended when I say […]
Forcing diversity is what causes neo-segregation.
Ted Willis, Jr. Cary, NC As a teacher, I have seen how, with each passing generation, race is becoming less of an issue with my students. Most of the racial tension is bred from their parents and the time frame most of then grew up in (however, the parents are become the generation in which […]
White privilege is power. Listen. Act.
Stephen Wollentin Asheville, NC In the words of French philosopher Voltaire, ”with great power comes great responsibility.” I believe it is my responsibility, as one with power, to listen to and validate the experiences of those for whom discrimination is a daily reality and to exercise my privilege in support of equality and appreciation for […]
“If you’re Puerto Rican, I’m white!”
Casey Creech Pinehurst, NC My mother was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and my grandmother was raised in San Juan. All of my cousins have dark hair and eyes and tan so easily, but I don’t. I am snow white with green eyes and freckles but thick, thick spanish curls. When I bring up my […]
Personhood comes first; race comes second.
Jarrod Bennett Bennett Hunterville, NC I’m a heterosexual white Christian male. Every day, this notion that I’m more privileged than everyone else, and that I have to “level the playing field” in the name of “equality” is shoved down my throat. Helping and caring about people shouldn’t even involve race. It should involve who the […]
Separate but equal was the goal.
Glennette Clark Washington DC Integration did a great disservice to black people in that we thought that we achieved a dream that turned out to be a nightmare. Teachers stopped caring about students and students stopped caring about achieving. Instead, we became “affirmative action’ed” because we lowered our expectations of ourselves along with everyone else. […]
Have a long way to go
Charles W Smith Little Rock, AR Strive to be color blind every day!
Unidentified as gifted, left to languish.
Jenifer Daniels Charlotte, NC As child, I was labeled ‘talkative’ and a ‘trouble maker’…when all along I was really gifted and left to languish.
When will the whippings stop forever?
Michael Mullenix Hillsborough, NC
We’ve a long way to go
Vix Walker Greensboro, NC We’ve come a long way, but there is yet a long way left to go.
You speak well for your color
M. Rene Arnold, Charlotte, NC.
People judge me because I’m black
Devika Lee Chapel Hill, NC I see your expression. When I say the first three words, and your eyebrows go up because I don’t speak in ebonics. I’m sick and tired of people watching me closely when I walk into a store. I hate when the media makes my entire race look stupid. I’m black. […]
Place change in my hand, please.
Gwendolyn Simmins Hope Mills, NC There are customer service people who give change by placing it on the counter instead of placing the change into the customer’s hand. My response to this is not silence. I say: I handed you my money. Place my change in my hand, please.
Am I smart because I’m white
Derek Kendall Cullowhee, NC Why Is it when people see a African American student going to college they automatically assume that he must be here on a to play sports. On the other hand when white people are at college its only because they are smart and their parents have a good amount of money […]
I teach to leverage my privilege.
Christine Magee Brooklyn, NC
Native American, but always called white.
Lateshia Locklear-Theroux Rock Hill, SC All my life I have called white. Even growing up in my tribal community (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina) I was teased because I was lighter than most of the other kids. My parents (both of whom are Lumbee) always told me that it doesn’t matter what color my skin […]
Daughter biracial, father pushed us away.
Dawn E Josiah Landis, NC My daughter is Hawaiian American. I’m the white part of her, her dad is the Hawaiian part of her. After 25 years of marriage, he pushes us out of his life and returns to his roots. I’m the one that deals with the anger and pain from my daughter because […]
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