Oprah Archives - The Race Card Project

Ni de aquí, ni de allá

August 9, 2024August 9, 2024 Ana Rodríguez, anglos, Antioch, aqui, both, exhausting, food, IL, Mexican-American, not from here, Oprah, Salena, Sinatra, Wayne State

Ana Rodríguez,
Wayne State,
Antioch, IL

Selena’s dad explained it best in his monologue where he talks about how tough it is to be Mexican-American. He goes on to explain that, “Anglos jump all over you if you don’t speak English perfectly and Mexicans jump all over you if you don’t speak Spanish perfectly…We have to be twice as perfect as anyone else…We have to know about John Wayne and Pedro Infante…We have to know about Frank Sinatra AND Agustin Lara…We have to know about Oprah AND Cristina…Anglo food is too bland and yet we go to Mexico and we get the runs…Japanese-Americans, Italian-Americans, German-Americans, their homeland is on the other side of the ocean…OURS is right next door. Right over there…And we gotta prove the Americans how American we are… And we gotta prove to the Mexicans how Mexican we are… We gotta be more American than the Americans and more Mexican than the Mexicans…BOTH at the same time! Its EXHAUSTING!”

Blue eye, brown eye, eye opening.

January 20, 2024January 20, 2024 assume, blue eye, brown eye, Confederate flag, flag, growing up, liberal, Minority, neighborhood, opened eyes, Oprah

Keith F Thompson,
Brookline, NH.

Growing up as a white male in generally liberal surroundings, I assumed so much. I assumed I knew what racism looked like, and I assumed I would never witness it firsthand.Seeing the Oprah Winfrey Show do the Blue Eye/Brown Eye experiment on their audience was very revealng to me. Overt racism may be dying, but subtle, everyday slights have flooded into the vacuum
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Then I moved from all-white New Hampshire to greater Los Angeles, and I saw minorities treated differently all the time. By police, by banks, by retail personnel, by landlords.

It’s not always about Confederate Flags and hoods. It’s about the pettiness required to denh even the smallest courtesy, to make the slightest accomodation.

As demonstrated by the Blue Eye/Brown Eye Experiment, minorities endure a thousand small cuts every day, with a general grace and strength. Subjected to the same slights, people used to privelage notice their abscence quickly and will not stand for it.

It’s not about demonizing people,it’s about asking everyone to be thoughtful, to be kind, and to consider others in our actions.