Nam Nguyen Olmsted Falls, OH
Successful, Black, Gay, a family’s shame…
Karim Ali, Columbus, OH. I suppose I have been pondering my Race Card (TM) entry for a few months. When I read the comments of Michael Sam’s father (Michael Sam Sr.) about his disappointment in his son for being gay, I was nearly in tears, as it reminded me of my own coming out with […]
Racism thrives because we let it.
Dick Hougardy, Cleveland, OH.
“It’s okay; I’ll go this way”
Erica Campagnaro Cleveland, OH I heard these words as I was briskly walking down a main aisle at a market, looking over my right shoulder as I crossed each side-aisle, trying to find the shampoo. At first, I didn’t process that the words were spoken to me. Then, bit by bit, like when your brain […]
They kept asking “were they black?”
David B. Berenson, Cleveland, OH. All but one person with whom I shared the story of getting “mugged” asked of their race, and it began to pi** me off. I had to find a way to put the whole experience into perspective.
Not fully White, not fully Black
Anonymous, Columbus, OH. I am mixed race and have always felt in the middle in terms of race. “Legally” I am Black and more often than not experience the same benefits and determents as the Black side of my family. I have also had the misfortune of being mistreated by both races for being “light […]
Was all the suffering worth it?
Tamara G. Cincinnati, OH When thinking of which six words I would use for The Race Card Project I had to ponder for a bit. I automatically thought of the fact that I am Jewish. Being so, I often get questioned about what holidays I celebrate or why we do certain things. Going to BGSU […]
I worked hard to get here
Michael Toth Columbus, OH I get that yes in theory as a white male I have a head start in life, but I most certainly did not have it handed to me on a silver platter. I worked hard to get into college and am still working hard to make the massive student loan debt […]
Why I Choose To Use Other
Malcolm X. Mosely, Lorain, OH. I started using “Other long ago when they first started putting it on an option and I could start filling out forms when I started entering college in the early 90’s and there after. The reason I have done this is because I am not only Black and White, I […]
Whites have much to answer for.
Paul Burnam, Westerville, OH. I am a 68-year-old white male. I am so, so tired of hearing about whites who think they are being persecuted such as those who posted to The Race Card Project about the mistreatment of whites. I heard all this again on “All Things Considered” on March 13 when Michele Norris […]
I’m black; I didn’t experience that.
Terri Davis, Cleveland, OH. I don’t discount the experiences of other black people, I just haven’t had the same encounters. Why do people think that I should have? I suppose I avoid confrontations by not doing things to draw attention to myself. I don’t pay attention to others who may be watching me and waiting […]
Yeah, but you don’t look white.
Seth Skaggs, Marion, OH. Four months out of the year, I get to be white. Well, white-ish. My parents always told me that my tanned skin came from being part Native American on both sides, but beyond that I was raised white. I never thought about it growing up because “it was just a tan”, […]
Hard to Summarize in Six Words
Nicholas Herndon, Antwerp, OH.
Why can’t we see white privilege?
Miriam Mayteson, Columbus, OH. White privilege is everywhere, but so many of us white people can’t or won’t see it. How can we change that?
Doctor asked, “What is your race?”
Leslie Lannan, Cincinnati, OH. It’s amazing how desperate we are in America to racially categorize our citizens based on how they look. My six words are a reference to a recent doctor’s visit. After discussing my ailments and general health, the doctor had one more question for me. “What is your race?” she asked. I […]
Retired white woman wants to change hearts.
Nancy Foye-Cox, Akron, OH.
Spanish is not my first language!
Valeria, Cincinnati, OH. Whenever I say I am from Brazil (most of the time) people instantly start to speak in Spanish as it is my first language. It does not offend me however I think it is very ignorant to believe everyone from South American speaks Spanish.
You look too foriegn for me.
Danielle Silver Forest Park, OH A white guy I liked told me this. I am white( German, Irish, Penn. Dutch), Hispanic, Native American. I used to get asked where I was from in school. I said, “I’m an American.” My ancestors have been here for generations. My full brother has never been asked where he […]
What race are you? JUST HUMAN!
Mika Derifield, Wadsworth, OH. It’s so sad that we live in a world that requires labels. Applying for a job, home, or even a social media account? In the first few questions you will be asked race, gender, age? WHY? I AM JUST A HUMAN.. aren’t we all?
Privilege cripples; step out, run naked.
Tannya Forcone, Akron, OH. My truck isn’t allowed to go faster on the freeway because it’s yellow. Why should my skin color allow me any other benefit? Privilege is embarrassing. Inequality causes our society to stagger in a circle, never moving forward toward justice.
Red head mother angry unbroken strong
Erica Stone, Perrysburg, OH. The process I went through to get these words where things that I’m going through right now in my life or what people notice about me first. Some of the words I thought of came naturally while others I had to put more thought into them. The reason I decided to […]
It’s ok, you don’t act white.
Katy Carpenter, OH. I recognize that we don’t live in a color blind society, but race is never something I felt was central to my identity, and has no biological base. It never came up until I moved to the Bay Area and people started associating this idea of whiteness as a central component of […]
Coaches, cheerleaders white. Players all black?
Elaine Hostetler Columbus, OH
Metis: but you don’t know that.
Victoria McCord, Cincinnati, OH. Describing myself is always a challenge (in a USA context). I can’t check one simple box of who I am. I’m white. I’m also Metis – an indigenous tribe in Canada. Most people can’t recognize this, and I am flattered when some people can. It is uncomfortable when I tell someone […]
We all have the same opportunities!
Amanda Caraballo, Cleveland, OH. I’m so sick of “African American’s” always using the excuse “The white folk are privileged, and we can’t have this or do the because IM BLACK”…. WRONG! Slavery has been over for at least 149 year’s. I do not own a slave nor do I know one who has. A matter […]
Dwayne Fries; the other white Dwayne.
Dwayne Lee Fries, Columbus, OH. My name is Dwayne, and I’m white. Hi Dwayne! I was unwittingly named Dwayne. Two weeks before my taking over an inner city restaurant as a General Manager, my name was on a schedule. I heard all the stories of how everyone was like, “finally, we got a brother in […]
Immigrants, we get the job done.
Cameron Endly, Cambridge, OH.
Race is socially constructed to oppress
Carla Corroto, Columbus, OH. Race is a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that DOMINANT members of a society consider important, because it benefits them in some way to do so
We are all of the human race.
Tommy Edward Sarmiento, Columbus, OH. Don’t wash anything, with color, with darkness nor with white light. All human beings have a right to express and interpret and grow within themselves ideas; ideas of love, of what we fear, what makes us think “isn’t that strange?” Freedom and equity should belong to each human. We should […]
Only you can command today’s change!
Alexxus Sidney, Kent, OH. In order to alter the way in which our society operates, WE have to step up and allow ourselves to be heard. WE can no longer talk about these matters, WE have to act. More importantly, WE have to work together. Change cannot truly take place until WE come together as […]
My past didn’t define my future
Bernard Roberts, Akron, OH. p>I have failed many times but I continue to be better.
Every education leads to another future
Daisha Taylor Cleveland, OH Every time an African American graduates is another way we prove society wrong. But it is another future persued and created.
I’m surprised you speak so well.
E.C. Boyd, Canton, OH. I was not born, but I was raised in a predominantly white neighborhood because the school system was better in Perry Township than the low-income, mostly black Canton City Schools. As the only black person on my school’s debate team, I dealt with a lot of people surprised that I could […]
I don’t know if I understand
Zach Perrin, Cincinnati, OH. I don’t think I’m racist, in my day to day life I interact with black people a lot actually and have never once had a problem. I also know that we have systematic problems, stemming from slavery, Jim Crow, etc. that still need to be dealt with. But are these the […]
The one with the brown skin.
Jeremy Martin, Cincinnati, OH. My 7-year-old daughter about the only African American girl on her cheer team. How do we move past skin color as an identity, even for children?
You’re just as racist as them
Kelsey Milinkovich, Akron, OH. People always say I am just ass racist as “everyone else”. They think that I won’t have friends of another race as I and that I will not associate myself with them. One of my best friends just happens to be of another race as I. I don’t judge people based […]
White Jewish girl in a bubble
Emily Einhorn, Beachwood, OH. Whenever there is talk about racism, a part of me feels guilty. I have lived in a small suburb my entire life. In this town, people joke you’re either black, Jewish, or Asian. I have never witnessed a racist act and I feel as if I’ve missed out on being a […]
What do you mean “White Latino?”
Andrea Fabiola Vazquez, Ridgefield, CT. I grew up in Ohio, but both of my parents are from Mexico. I speak Spanish, most of my extended family lives in Mexico, and I identify very much as a Mexican American. Still, when people ask me where my family is from—and people as me this a lot—they are […]
I don’t know what I am.
Jasmine Perry, Cleveland, OH. When it comes to race I honestly don’t know what I am. My families backdrop is kind of patchy, no one in my family knows, my grandma recently found out she was adopted she found out that she wasn’t related to anybody she grew up with. Which means the only clue […]
Stereotypes are informative but desperately incomplete
Erin Molden, Kettering, OH. Stereotypes are like population genetics. Useful to see large groups but don’t necessarily apply to individuals. I try to help my students understand this so they can meet new people!
Black men obsessed with white girls
Andy Anglin, Cleveland, OH. Not really. Just that black men would sooner spit on a black woman and step on her throat if it meant getting near a white girl. They hate white men but they are obsessed with white girls and place all of them on a pedestal.
A world without color? No thanks!
Melannie, Mentor, OH.
It just isn’t done. Why Not?
Catherine, Beach City, OH. I have always been told by my father that ” I better not catch you with some black kid!” or by my grandmother “that just was never done in our church” or “I don’t know why. we just didn’t have that”. I could never grasp why my family was so discriminating […]
Why does my color bother you?
Claudia Davis, Akron, OH. I have traveled several places in my lifetime. However, this pass weekend after the Presidential election I experience a shift in the atmosphere. People think and feel they have a license to say and do what they want toward people of color. The disrespect is hitting a different level prior to […]
Terrified of driving because I’m black
Andre Conway, Beachwood, OH. I am an 18 year old`African American man. Even though I am happy about being black, at the same time I am terrified of getting pulled over because of who I am. All the killings that are going on in our country just by police officers are crazy. Black people are […]
“What is your ethnicity?” I’m human.
Sabrina Perrin, Delaware, OH. As I started growing up, I started getting more and more questions about what ethnicity I was. Although these questions weren’t typically offensive, I find it a little bothersome that people look to depict others for their ethnicity or race. I don’t want to label people based on these things, as […]
I feel guilty of my skin color
Elisha Lowery, Delaware, OH. At times I feel guilty for being white. I feel people look at me and say “she has it easy she is white”. I feel guilty of how certain people still today treat colored people and they should’t treat them badly because we are all human.
No person is better than you
Tessa Schultz, Wickliffe, OH.
I will burn the house down.
Eric Chesapeake Beach, MD 1974, I was 14 years old; my dad was in the Army, we were moving to Ohio from Weaver, Alabama. The house we lived in we rented. The owner was selling the house and the realtor was in the driveway talking to my dad one day. The neighbor came over to […]
We do this to ourselves – why?
Michal Elias-Bachrach, Columbus, OH.
I’m still learning about white privilege.
Steve Hammond, Oberlin, OH. The first time I heard the phrase white privilege was at our dining room table. The kids were catching us up with their day at school and I was a bit surprised by something one of the kids had done that involved managing to never go to one of her classes […]
Racism created unjust determinants of health
Richard Stacklin, North Ridgeville, OH. Most white Americans do not realize the impact that structural racism has had on America’s landscape as to where, how and why people live in the conditions, situations, and locations some people are forced to endure. It’s time to wake up!
I’m tan, but I’m not Mexican
Gabriella, Delaware, OH. Just because my skin is naturally olive, everyone thinks im foreign, I have gotten many different ethnicity such as, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Moroccan, Brazilian, and Latino, and Hispanic. But I’m white.
I don’t like to talk about it.
Paige Nicole Malcuit, Wadsworth, OH.
Not magical or mythical, just human
Marsha Lynn Bragg Myhand, South Euclid, OH. I’m curious to know if the state of race relations in America has gotten worse or if the same percentage of people still harbor racist views. Very hard to gauge as the reporting isn’t balanced. This project sheds light and as many people have said, still more work […]
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 […]
All I’ve got is the food.
Kelsey, Cleveland, OH. I’m Lebanese/Irish but grew up solely around my Lebanese family. However they rarely acknowledged where we came from. The closest I’ve gotten to my heritage is through food: being taught how to make baklava, seeing big bowls of hummus, baba ghanouj, and tabbouleh surrounded by stacks of fresh pita bread at parties, […]
Was known “The Whitest Black Girl”
Andrea Vonstein, Akron, OH. During high school, I was considered the whitest black girl because I got along with them so much.
Trapped Brown Girl with Red Blood
Michele George, Author, Columbus, OH. The struggle of being born in a brown body is heavy. Society treats ‘us’ as though we choose to have brown skin, choose to be persecuted, choose to be who we are created to be. The irony is my red is blood. The blood of those that kill me and […]
Being Called White Is Extremely Offensive
Stephen Yarger, Reynoldsburg, OH.
Trying to understand the derivation racism
Melissa Lush, Dayton, OH. Can we learn to recognize the racism that lives within us even when we swear it does not? How to reach inside our being to find that spot that requires one to be a hate filled racist?
I am more than African American
Lisa Latten, Richmond Heights, OH. I am more than African American. I am tired of being passed over for positions that I more than qualified to hold. I am tired of working twice as hard to prove my worth when my white counterparts who are less qualified laugh.
We are Americans not a race
Richard, Canton, OH.
Not just African-American, Jamaican-American.
Nicole H., Canton, OH.
I’m American, but where is home?
Abby Mercier, Canton, OH. Although I was born in America it can be very hard to feel like I belong here. Our views on race, Sexual orientation, laws that we’ve passed. Even what we have decided to conciser Social norms.
Race is, unfortunately, a deal breaker!
Diana E. Hafely, Warren, OH.
I pray for my son everyday
J Hill, Canton, OH. I am the proud mother of three children, two girls and a boy. They are all adults now. Every mother worries about her children. But I feel especially concerned for my son. He has done everything well so far in his life, entering his senior year in college, no kids, hardworking, […]
You are what you portray outwardly
Rebecca Eakins Jamestown, OH
Act equal and you are equal.
Clay Terry, Cincinnati, OH. I just want to put it out there that I have a multitude of African American friends, not all black people are ignorant. However, most of them are. I did not grow up racist nor are my parents racist. I developed my way of thinking from observing the black community around […]
Transman Interracial Couple Is Not Easy!
J. McCalla, Canton, OH. People are very judgmental forgetting the things which matter the most.
Always the perfect little girl scout
Megan Woods, Wooster, OH.
Heritage not hate? Heritage of hate.
Ava Chamberlain, Dayton, OH. I don’t understand the phrase “heritage not hate.” It suggests the two are mutually exclusive categories. In reality, the heritage of the Confederate battle flag cannot be separated from a deeply entrenched hatred of people of color.
Discovering others judgments after finding love.
Lauren Bing, North Canton, OH. A little over two years ago, my eyes were opened to the unspoken opinions of the people closest to me. I met a guy who had such a great personality, we got along so well and he treated me like I deserved nothing less than being treated right. I couldn’t […]
The “haves” have not a clue.
Daniel A Palmer, Kettering, OH.
Are we not all human beings?
Tyler, Buckeye Lake, OH.
“No offense, but you’re so pretty!”
K.E. Broadnax, Cleveland, OH. This was said to me while attending college. I am black, and went to a predominantly white, upper-class university (as many are, to be fair). His statement was prefaced by the question, “What nationality are you?” If I was me now, back then, I would’ve replied “American.” But I knew what […]
Are there any other seats?
Samantha, Cincinnati, OH. I work in Planet Snoopy at Kings Island, and it horrifies me how many times parents will ask this or have their children wait, just so that they will not sit by someone of another race. I hate seeing how the children are being conditioned to hate others because of their skin.
No black kids in my school
Howard T. Uhal, Mentor, OH. I attended twelve years of public school in the town of Mentor, Ohio, birthplace of President James A. Garfield. To the best of my knowledge, there was not a single black kid in the school system, and perhaps none in the entire town. This was in the 1954-1966 time frame. […]
I still cry 51 years later.
Dana, Cincinnati, OH. I still cry 51 years later after segregation. I still cry for the 300 years of slavery.
Your soul is deeper than skin color
Melissa Pierce, Bowling Green, OH. As people, we need to start seeing each other for who they are rather than what they are. People have personalities, souls, and feelings that we are not taking account of when we only see skin color.
Giant hole in America’s collective soul.
Henry Phillips, Anytown, OH.
Start and End with…the Heart
Susan Hunter Akron, OH
Disabled Combat veterans also face discrimination
Stan Lightner, Elyria, OH. As a disabled combat vet I have been a target of discrimination on numerous occasions by “Christian” conservatives. Imagine how it feels to be called lazy, welfare queen, worth less than an Iraq POW just for starters. BTW I have an earned doctorate in Occupational & Adult Education from Oklahoma State […]
Racism is not about color.
Darrell James, Canal Winchester, OH. Racism is about hatred and ignorance!!!
MY GOLDEN BABIES ARE AMERICA’S FUTURE
Karen Dahn, Athens, OH. I went to Liberia as a Peace Corps Volunteer right out of college in the late 60’s, after having grown up in Montana and gone to school in Colorado with very little exposure to non white people. Being in Africa was a life changing experience. I did not intend to do […]
I am black; I am white
Nauticah, Barberton, OH.
I’m only human, as are you.
Allie Herb, Akron, OH. Living in the area that I do, I have experienced a lot of racism. Whether it be in Akron, or have heard about it in the Cleveland area. It’s a never ending battle.
Joy is the armor of truth
Judith Angelo Cleveland Heights, OH I began with six words from Alice Walker’s novel about FGM, Possessing the Secret of Joy : “The secret of joy is resistance.” I’m a white radical lesbian feminist, and I associate them with my primary teachers about race in America: Audre Lorde (Sister Outsider) and Derrick Bell (Faces at […]
Racism definitely exists for a reason
Johnson, USA. I am sick to death of people trying to pretend like there aren’t legitimate reasons for racism. Not always, but they are there. I was raised not to be racist and people say racism is a learned behavior…yeah…I learned it myself from being around blacks. Black people can’t see it like everyone else […]
I am who I am
Ashlie Cox, Bowling Green, OH.
Flying car? Where is racial harmony?
Bruce Landwaster Cleveland, OH In the 70s sci-fi promised us many things, one of those things was racial harmony.
That glance they give me; Why?
Jelani Dayton, OH
Please stop staring at us. Please.
Jacqueline Trudeau Brecksville, OH My boyfriend and I discuss our different backgrounds a lot. He’s Hindu, I’m Catholic. His parents came to America after he was born; you can trace part of my family back to the Mayflower. His parents still speak Tamil; mine occasionally break out their rusty college-level German.But despite all this discussion […]
Black woman misunderstood in White America
Ms. Toni, Cleveland, OH.
Be you and don’t judge
Sonja Beckner, Akron, OH.
White: Walk Free, Black: We’ll See
Braylen Thomas, Newark, OH.
I am who I’ll always be
Cassandra, Cleveland, OH. The process I went through to identify those six words is by realizing the six words that mean the most to me. What I mean by this is that those words explain who I am in short for everyone. I thought about what I felt was most important to me and, what […]
Who turns knobs on closed doors?
Rachel P., Akron, OH. If you never open your mind, how will you change? As a white person growing up in the Bible Belt, I was taught that any color other than white was inferior. I moved to a school in Dallas, where there were only 10 white students in a school of 800. I […]
Privileged enough to be in-between.
Eli Shively, OH.
Is this all on one check?
Mary Henry Oxford, OH I am white, my husband is black, our daughter is biracial. If I’m out with just my husband or just my teenaged daughter, wait staff usually ask if our order is on one check, suggesting they don’t realize that we’re related (my daughter is not very dark-skinned, but looks more like […]
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