north Carolina Archives - The Race Card Project

Code-switching: an asset, not a crime.

May 29, 2019April 26, 2021 #codeswitching, asset, Chapel Hill, classroom, crime, Molly Wanless, NC, north Carolina, School USA, USA

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 are adaptive, and that it’s an asset if you know how to talk to different people in different settings for different purposes, rather than a curse or something to be ashamed of.

Can’t take you home to momma.

May 14, 2015May 14, 2015 Black, CA, Home, love, mama, mom, north Carolina, San Jose, tammy Medell Gardner, white

Tammy Medell Gardner
San Jose, CA

I am white. The man with whom I fell in love in 1982 was black. We met in Fort Worth, Texas working at the same company. He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, while I was from northern Michigan. Our romance, so new and full of hope, soon faltered with these words: “I can never take you home to meet my momma.” This young man’s proud, traditional, black, North Carolina momma could not accept a blonde, green-eyed, white girl as someone her son should be with. This was the first time in my life that I became aware of racism. Up to this point, I had somehow managed to live in a color-blind world. I was hurt and disappointed that someone could make a judgement about me without ever meeting me. The irony of this situation would’ve been comedic if my heart hadn’t been so broken.

KKK crosses even now ~ North Carolina?

September 7, 2013October 21, 2014 Confederate flag, Crosses, fear, IL, KKK, Nancy H Long, NC, north Carolina, Springfield

Nancy H Long
Springfield, IL

I drove through North Carolina over Memorial Day weekend last year and passed a house with its lawn covered in KKK crossed and Confederate flags. I wanted to stop and take a photo, but I was afraid someone would see and object. I actually feared for my life. It may have been an overreaction, but it came from my gut & was very real. How sad is this & just plain wrong! How long will it take to truly eliminate racism?

Found my ancestors and grief too.

June 20, 2013 Ancestors, Belews Vreek, CA, grief, NC, north Carolina, plantation, R.Henry Goins, San Francisco, Saurtown

R.Henry Goins
San Francisco, CA

I am a genealogist. I have been researching my North Carolina family for about ten years now. I found my great grandfather’s family in some notes held at the North Carolina Archives. The family lived in Belews Creek and Sauratown. Sauratown sounds like sorrow. I found a ledger with the name of the overseer of the plantation written in it. When I first read it, it looked like grief. I actually think the overseer’s name was Greif, but I could not help but see it as grief. Grief is here. Grief will not let me go any further until I acknowledge it. Finding grief stopped me in my tracks.

Join the Newsletter

Info

Join our community