old Archives - The Race Card Project

Old White Lady, aspiring anti-racist

June 10, 2024 anti-racist, NY, old, Pat Williams, Syracuse, White lady

Pat Williams,
Syracuse, NY

I was born in Syracuse, New York in 1958 to a lower middle class white family. I attended integrated city schools during the late 1960’s racial unrest. Interestingly, the older we students became the more we self segregated. In the lunch room there were the white tables, the black tables, and the Native American table (pretty much an invisible table). As I age, and with the death of George Floyd in 2020 as an impetus, I began to open my ears, eyes, and mind to white supremacy and systemic racism. I have read and read and read to discover the experiences of other people. I am appalled at all we did not learn in school. I have now learned about tragedies such as the Tulsa massacre and the “Indian Boarding Schools” along with the racial discrimination issues of redlining, loss of generational wealth, unjust incarceration, and on and on and on. Please read Equal Justice by Bryan Stevenson. Please read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Read the several wonderful young adult books out there that give people a view of society as it stands today. I try to uncover my racial bias. I see my white privilege. I am an aspiring anti-racist. Please join me.

Jenny has made you a pie

January 28, 2024January 28, 2024 AL, Black, first experience, friend chicken, hatred, nanny, old, pie, Seale, small, Trey Willy, white

Trey Willy
Seale, AL

I was small and white. Jenny was old and black. She took care of me when I was little when my great aunts that I lived with were away at work. I played with her grandchildren at our home there in the country. Together we would climb the high magnolias, explore the woods and play all day. On hot afternoons we would take our baths in the yard in big galvanized buckets. Jenny would call us in and their would be fried chicken on the table. Together we would eat in the kitchen. And I remember noticing how her grandson cleaned his chicken bone clean and wasted none. I began to do that too. Some time later I moved away to live with my mother. And when I would return Jenny had gotten older and was no longer working. But my aunt would say “call Jenny. She wants to make a pie for you”. And I would go to see her and sometimes the pie would be cooked already. Other times we would go out and pick the blackberries together. Jenny always said it was good to include a few that were red. Sheafs the best pies I ever tasted, so I guess she knew what she was taking about. I learned a lot from Jenny. I learned that a black woman could love me and that I in turn could love her. It was a special kind of love that stood in sharp contrast to the hatred I saw around me. That hatred I so detested. I knew it was wrong. That was her gift to me.

Old, white, but beginning to understand

June 9, 2021 Blackula, MO, old, Rayalonzo, Shaft, St. Louis, understand, white

Ray Alonzo,
St. Louis, MO

I am 70, white, and a retired educator of college and high school-age students. During my years in the classroom, (1982-2014), I watched amazing fluidity in attitudes, beliefs and actions with my students. They taught me so very much.

When I first approached my college podium, “Shaft” “Blackula” and other black exploitation films were all the rage. Afros had pretty much been abandoned for dreadlocks and “fades” with my black students, my white students had begun accepting any length of hair for anyone, and for a long time, I didn’t have Latino or Chinese students. I mean, they were in my classroom but I saw them as “white”, just a part of the two cultures I recognized at the time. What a dope.

So now, I understand some things. All people are different. People that look the same may have different cultures. Some cultures have had great trouble even being recognized.
And most chilling of all, I realize that if I were a black high school student today, I would be angry ~ ALL the time. Over the years I made many well-intentioned but misguided attempts to demonstrate my inclusiveness. I’m sorry. I don’t believe understanding is ever something you “get”. It’s a life long process and you’re only as good as your last interaction with anyone who isn’t you.
My students knew I cared for each of them as individuals. There were many I couldn’t reach, but I tried. I wish I knew then what I know now. I’m still learning everyday and sometimes I can see both sides of a confrontation. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you try not to judge, but when you must, do so slowly.
Thanks for listening.

Old white woman, get away with anything.

March 15, 2018March 15, 2018 brown, CO, Kadi Johnson, male, middle aged, middle class, not fair, old, overweight, police, Pueblo, sick, white, white woman

Kadi Johnson,
Pueblo, CO.

As a middle aged, middle class, overweight, white woman, I know that the police etc. cut me a lot more slack than a young, brown male. It makes me sick. It is not fair!!!!

Am I “that” old white guy?

December 1, 2015December 1, 2015 Brian N. Neilson, factor, IN, Indianapolis, old, white guy

Brian N. Neilson
Indianapolis, IN

I grew up in racially mixed atmosphere in California, where there were always “those” old white guys who couldn’t be called racist, but the undertones, comments, and lifestyle left little to the imagination. I moved to Indiana to find a completely different situation 25 years ago…then it hit me, was it really that different? I’ve held a fairly naïve position, rarely finding race or skin color a factor in my thinking… yet everyone around me looks very white….

I smile at young black men.

September 22, 2014 black men, face value, MN, Nena Clark, old, Rochester, smile, white woman, young

Nena Clark
Rochester, MN

I am an old, white woman. I work in the govt center and I see all kinds of folks there who probably aren’t having their best day. I try to be pleasant to everyone, but I make a point of being friendly toward young black men. I know that in my not-very-diverse community, they have to feel judged, feared and scrutinized by a lot of people who look just like me. They are invariably friendly and pleasant in return. Bless their hearts – I think I’d be more skeptical of me if I were them, but they’re willing to take me at face value.

Racism : Old is not so Gold

September 4, 2014 Anurag Roongta, Gold, India, interracial dating, old

Anurag Roongta,
India.

In India, though a developing country, there are still communities that don’t allow marrying outside one’s race, including my own. And those who don’t hold these views personally, are afraid of saying it loud in society. I am not afraid of presenting my views, but my parents and their views weigh me down in front of others. Don’t know when people will rise above this discrimination and let the younger generation live its life.

Why does racial prejudice still exist?

June 29, 2014 NY, Obama, old, prejudice, president, racial, Roslyn, Susan Benjamin, white men

Susan Benjamin
Roslyn, NY

I think so highly of President Obama and have been overwhelmed at the depth of fear and nastiness that has surfaced from the old white guard still in elected office and surfacing in those that voted for those old white men.

Never too old to be profiled

July 17, 2013July 17, 2013 america, FL, high-end, old, Ollie Daniels, Pembroke Pines, professor, profiled, whote hair

Ollie Daniels
Pembroke Pines, FL

I am a sixty-nine year old black college professor with all white hair. From time-to-time I am stopped by police officers and questioned. It’s never about speeding, but rather it’s about, “Is this car yours?” I drive, what I call, a rather “high-end” car and I believe that they think that it is a stolen car. I would think that after all of my years as a law-abiding citizen, I would not be subjected to such treatment. Race still matters in America!