NC Archives - The Race Card Project

Meredith S. Gwaltney, Elon, NC. Elon University

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

Nappy hair is good hair too

Dana Griffin Durham, NC

Who are we now? All human.

Charlene Bowling, Fuquay-Varina, NC Listening, learning, loving.

Never complete, white skin, African soul

H. Allan White, Huntersville, NC My earliest and formative years were spent in an era of segregation and the early trials of desegregation. Despite an upbringing in the U.S. southend, I developed a keen interest in different cultures, different people…anything different. It was that interest that help instill in me wanderlust…a desire to go see […]

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!

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

My history is only slavery! Why!

King Kellz, Fayetteville, NC. We only learn what America has taught us about our specific race.

Judge people with closed eyes.

J. William (Bill) Batey, Burlington, NC This is a picture of my wife, white Granddaughter, black Grandson and my two bi-racial great grandchildren. I am so lucky to have them and I love and adore all of them.

Undocumented immigrants need representation in court

Marty Rosenbluth Hillsborough, NC It is a little known fact, but people in deportation proceedings are not entitled to an attorney if they can’t afford one. Spend a day in any immigration court in the country and you can see the effects. Even though the consequences are very serious, in that people can be deported, […]

Difference between staying alive or dying

Isaiah Borders, Kannapolis, NC p>Race in America can be a life or death situation during some occasions. Racial injustice is 100% real and there’s a chance you could get racially profiled from the color of your skin. I chose to say “Difference between staying alive or dying” because, depending on what race you are is […]

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.

White and Quite Oblivious Growing Up

Anna Fox, Goldsboro, NC I am a white women, and growing up, I did not really realize how much privilege I had. I went to a small private Christian school starting in seventh grade and eventually graduating as a senior in high school there. The whole time I attended this school, I think there were […]

Race is imaginary but impacts everyone.

Shonnie, Asheville, NC

Cannot White Males Change Discrimination?

Richard Holmes, Durham, NC As racism and hate-crimes have proliferated and reversed so much progress in the last few years, I despise that the haters are overwhelmingly the same race and gender as me — white males. This is especially pronounced here in the south. Those who are harmed are rightfully fighting their treatment and […]

Categorization by appearance, fallacy then sticks

Hannah Heal, Asheville, NC

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 […]

I choose to love and persevere

Johna Speller, Laurinburg, NC p>I chose the words “I choose to love and persevere” because I believe that it best represents my standpoint on racism and racial inequalities that I face and see others face within our society. I stated that I “choose” because I feel that at the end of the day we all […]

Greed invented Race for economic gain.

Mark Ritchie, Salisbury, 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 […]

With great privilege comes great responsibility.

Faith Hendricks, Lexington, NC I have been born into a lot of privilege. I am healthy, relatively good looking white female. While my family has gone through periods of struggle, we have always been secure financially. We have lived in safe neighborhoods, had good houses, and I’ve been able to attend private schools. I have […]

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 […]

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 […]

Being mixed is sometimes worse here.

April Sapp, Durham, NC “What a mutt”, “How disgraceful”, “You should kill yourself for existing”. I’ve heard it all. Don’t even get me started on the adoption/kidnapping jokes. Or the colorism I experience within my family. I’m not white enough. I’m not black enough. I’m not Mexican enough. The only thing I’m enough of is […]

I am not what you assume

Andrew Boggs, North Wilkesboro, NC People assume I am just another Caucasian, another white person with privileges without knowing who I am. My skin, like yours, doesn’t reveal everything about me. I am also part Cherokee. I am also part German. I am also part Irish.

Don’t fake equality for your convenience.

Meah, Raleigh, NC I see too many times, people faking their support for minority groups when they want to come across inclusive. Once they are surrounded by people, they are “comfortable” around; they reveal their true identity as racist and noninclusive. It is convenient for them to be able to hide in a place they […]

Be A Voice For Other People

Sydney Turnmire, Fleetwood, NC Wilkes Community College. Be a voice for other people. Stand up for others. Be kind to others. Help others out. Be a voice for them and stand up for them when they can not for themselves.

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 never tanned, I only burned. Till this day now all I do is burn and then peel.

You’re Mexican, but not really

Cecilia Torres, Sparta, NC I am a full Mexican, but I was not born in Mexico. I grew up in a Mexican household following my Mexican culture. People believe that just because I was not born in Mexico I do not experience racism and I don’t get stared at in certain places because of the […]

Not all cops are bad cops

Abby, Sparta, NC Everybody thinks that just because there are a couple of crooked cops out there, that all cops are bad. My dad happens to be a cop and everybody loves him. He does his job very clean and keeps everybody safe. He’s not biased and treats everybody fair. Along with the rest of […]

I’m part white, Can’t 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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

I don’t know where I belong.

Daisy Carranza, Sparta, NC The question of belonging is something I have always struggled with. I am a hispanic who was born in the U.S. However, people like me are stuck between being American or Mexican (or wherever their parent’s origin is). I am too Mexican to fit into the American category and I am […]

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 […]

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 […]

You’re just a whitewashed privileged Mexican

Mikaela Vera, Greensboro, NC I have always struggled with the color of my skin and the fact that I am a mixed child with an immigrant father who I am proud of however I have to limit my voice sometimes due to also being white and not wanting to offend anyone for being the voice […]

I’m not the angry black women.

Taylor Berry, Charlotte, NC There’s not much to say. I’m not about to write a novel on a topic that isn’t rocket science. All I have to say is normalize women being able to communicate their feelings without writing them off as “emotional” or “whiney.” Specifically, normalize black women communicating their feelings without being perceived […]

White Girl Trying To Be Ally

Lynsey Owen, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC I recognize my privilege. I choose to educate myself on how to help in addition to correcting any inherently racist tendencies I witness. I just want to be the best ally that I can be.

It is called hijab not towel.

Tasmia, High Point, NC As a new immigrant I love to wear my ethnic outfit that includes a headpiece called a hijab. I was called out multiple times that “what’s up with the towel on your head?” A piece of clothing should never define a person, in a free society everyone has a right to […]

So, what are you mixed with?

Ashley Butler, Wilkesboro, NC This is such an odd question to ask someone. However, as someone who is bi-racial, this is a question I get a lot. It’s actually one of the first things that people ask when getting to know me, especially growing up in the South. I will never understand why it matters, […]

A Struggle I Will Never Understand

Sara Pardo, Millers Creek, NC I am a white woman. I occasionally hear a comment that is stereotypical or discriminatory against white people. However, I have never been pulled over because of my race. I have never been denied a job because of my race. I have never experienced institutionalized racism. I will never understand […]

You are pretty, are you Indian?

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. […]

WOW your english is really good.

Mireya, Sparta, NC Why is it so surprising?

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. […]

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 […]

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.

Don’t assume I’m White, or Straight.

Jim Downey, Wilmington, NC.

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.

Being Hispanic is not a crime

Navarro, Charlotte, NC.

Why’d you invite the white guy

Mike, Rockingham, NC.

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

5 Comments

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.

14 Comments

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 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.

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 and feel so proud of this photo. We let ourselves believe we are people with shattered history. I’ve discovered this not always […]

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…

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.

21 Comments

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

7 Comments

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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.

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.

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?

7 Comments

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.

5 Comments

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

20 Comments

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.

3 Comments

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