PA Archives - The Race Card Project

Justin Stewart, Pittsburgh, PA Growing up, I thought I had a pretty good upbringing. I lived in a decent house while receiving a decent education. Heck, the term racism really wasn’t a thing for me until middle school. I never really grasped the harsh conditions my ancestors most likely went through coming to America along […]

I was there, so were friends.

Daniel Cohen Stroudsburg, PA I am so grateful that you have this exhibit. The sixties and the political movements of that time were so exciting to be part of. We could sure use that passion and commitment today. In spite of King, would anything have happened without blood? Is that what it will take today?

Damn Yankees don’t go back home

Patty Reed, Greenville, SC. Originally from Pennsylvania, I’ve lived here the majority of my life but I cannot say I’m a native South Carolinian. While it seems to be more widely acceptable now, during my high school years in a small town it wasn’t okay to be from “up north somewhere”. A foreigner in my […]

Italian and Greek but no freak.

Alex, Pittsburgh, PA

I’m a minority where I’m from

Charlotte Nevins, Pittsburgh, PA. I am originally from The Bahamas and I think I have a unique experience as a dual citizen of there and the US. Back home, I was always assumed to be a tourist and often felt like I didn’t quite fit in in a lot of social circles. The population is […]

They say we care. Then shoot.

Reef Dancer, Pittsburgh, PA It’s not always bullets. It’s not always on purpose. People say that they support equality for everyone. They say that all people should Have the Same rights no matter what color your skin is. They say that love is love, that you should be able to be whoever you want to […]

Contrived for power, superiority, riches – dehumanizing.

Carol Wenger, New Holland, PA. As a white woman, I’ve been learning, relating, and waking up to an understanding that I’ve been complacent in my ignorance of white privilege. I seek transformation in repentance,forgiveness, and relationship building. My current questions are: what else don’t I know? What else should I do? Is forgiveness possible? Is […]

I wasn’t Asian. I became one.

Kasumi H University Park, PA I came to the USA to attend Penn State as an undergraduate student in 2010. I was born in Saitama, Japan and grew up in Shanghai, China. When I arrived, it felt like I was turned into a spokesperson for all Asians. Before, I was just a person, a girl, […]

Why Are We The Only White People?

Maureen Forster Philadelphia, PA I was maybe 6 yrs old when My Dad, Stepmother, older sister and older brother were in Baltimore on a little family trip. We stayed at a Holiday Inn or something along those lines and were out in the pool. I grew up in a small city with much diversity but […]

Whitefish Bay white school white Church

Mark Brandfass. Pittsburgh, PA. In the summer of ’63 my family had just moved to Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. My father was a salesman for Westinghouse Electric and we moved as his work demanded. I would be entering the diocesan Catholic seminary the next year, my brothers and sisters attended the local Catholic schools. I don’t […]

Let’s Find a Way to Love

Megan Nasche, Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA The world is full of too much hate. Compassion is what we need. We don’t need to point out color, or any other identifying factors as anything other than something to celebrate. Be You… and be proud of you.

Newspaper says ‘Black youths’ not ‘kids.’

Elizabeth Cook Pittsburgh, PA A white female with all minority students and friends, I am saddened and disgusted that race bias permeates every facet of our culture. What we think of as American culture is actually white culture, and others who challenge it are seen as complainers. Why is BET the only place on TV […]

Born a crime ; Black and alive.

Bankole, West Chester, PA. Why? Why do you hate me? Why is my existence considered a pestilence in your eyes? Why do you kill me? Why do you murder my sons and tarnish my reputation? Why do you rape my wives and daughters? Why do you take from me and call it emancipation? “You hate […]

I am the lone black parent….

Rackley Love, Mars, PA. The alienation that I have experienced as a parent is an enigma. Like them, I am a stay at home mom. Like them, my husband has a white collar job. Like them we chose this community because of its highly rated schools and safe streets. And like them, my passion and […]

They don’t believe racial injustice exists.

Dannielle Kerstetter, Elizabethtown, PA. I come from a white, middle-class family in rural Pennsylvania. My family does not believe that people of color do not need to fight for equality because they already have rights, and they are being greedy because they want to be equal.

Is human not enough for us?

Julia Formicola, Warrington, PA.

I AM NO BETTER THAN ANYONE

6 Comments

Graham Davis, Malvern, PA. I am a white Anglo-Saxon protestant male. I am 5’4 with dirty-blond hair. I am a heterosexual. I am no better than anyone. I was created an equal to you. I will die an equal to you. I am proud of my heritage, but it does not define me. I should […]

I’m a white Hindu. We exist.

Jeffery D. Long, Elizabethtown, PA.

You’ll find your real parents someday.

Alessa Abruzzo Philadelphia, PA Biologically I’m Korean. Ethnically I’m Irish-German-Italian. I was adopted at 4.5 months old, at which point I flew from South Korea to the USA and into the loving arms of my parents who happen to be white. To put it plainly, I was raised by white people – My entire immediate […]

Puerto Ricans are legal US citizens

Ivette Schumacher, York, PA.

Hey Do You Need an Interpreter?

Rebeca Cruz-Esteves, Philadelphia, PA. I was born in Puerto Rico and raised in both the U.S. Although my first language is Spanish it’s hard to tell since I have no accent. Growing up it was hard to immediately blend in as I spent my childhood in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood. As a teenager my family […]

Interculturalist. Asian-American. Woman. Mother. Writer.

Jennifer Ghymn, Wyomissing, PA. The individual filters of race, ethnicity, society and family impact the way we interact and engage with the world to shape a personal cultural identity. I believe people should follow their curiosity, be open to new concepts and challenge themselves by looking at things from a different perspective. Race is a […]

Good fences make good neighbors.

Edward Helmig, Harleysville, PA. Undocumented = illegal. Respecting boundaries and the laws of other nations is fundamental to civil society. Illegal immigrants steal tax dollars from hard working US residents to subsidize their own healthcare, education and welfare. In doing so they are disrespecting US laws and citizens. Support Donald Trump and stop the invasion!

Race sees race. Love sees love.

Naette Lee, Philadelphia, PA. The nature of humans is that what we see is what matters. What we see has little to do with what is, or what is important. Maybe one day that will change.

Witnessing humanity’s evolution: hate to love (?).

Carol Mowen, Greencastle, PA. When I first wrote this “race card” in 2014, I had firmly placed a period at its end. In 2016, I am moved to revise it slightly – to add the question mark in parentheses because I am not as sure we’re on the trajectory from hate to love as clearly […]

I’m caramel, you’re peach, we’re sweet!

Leah Turner Lancaster, PA One time, a little girl ask me what color I was. At the time my snippy come-back was “Choca-mocha-latte!”, but I figured that was a little much for a six year old who was honestly curious. So I looked at my skin and said “Caramel”. She said “Oh,” Looked at her […]

Entire countries meld in this body.

Isabella Thomas, Philadelphia, PA. My name is Isabella Thomas, and I’m a student currently attending Central High School in Philadelphia. The concept of ‘race’, to me has always correlated with ‘color’. Or perhaps an erasure of identity. I am not simply white, just as my peers- my friends- are not simply black, or Asian. I […]

You’re Invited! You’re not a minority?

Rafael Rosato, Berwyn, PA. This is my college graduation picture from 1988. I received a bachelor of arts degree from an Ivy League University and a short while later was traveling to New York to join a management training program at a prestigious Wall Street Bank. There were 34 of us in that class and […]

Our silence will not protect us.

Allison G. Hawthorne, York, PA. We all have to get up walk out our front doors and stand up and speak out, so our voices are heard. We have to vote. We have to stop being complacent. Sometimes I feel weary of struggling, when are we all going to be just human?

Don’t waste your time on college

Patricia L. Gadsden, Central, PA. As an African American female in the 1960’s, I was discouraged from attending college. It was explained to me that I wasn’t college material. I’m not sure what they really meant since I graduated with straight A’s from high school.

Diversity is enriching but also frightening.

Elizabeth A. Leeper, Dubuque, IA. I am a 62 year old, single, white female. I was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in Asia, and now live in Iowa. Education level: Ph.D. I appreciate racial and ethnic diversity and experiencing different cultures, but I also understand the fear of the “other.”

“Protect” sister from favorite childhood movies.

Emmy Corey, Harrisburg, PA. I’m a white Alabama native from an all-white town with a black sister who is 17 years younger than I. I love passing down the things that I enjoyed at her age- dolls, movies, books. For the most part, she likes receiving them too. The problem is that before she came […]

Biker gangs have love for me

Richard Haynie, Oakland, CA. I walked into a roadside tavern near Allentown PA that had several motorcycles parked outside. Loving bikes, I thought nothing of it. Inside, a motorcycle “club” were the only patrons on that Sunday morning. I ordered some food and, despite a warning from the proprietor, decided to stay and eat there. […]

The baby mama drama can stop.

5 Comments

SHANIQUA JONES Philadelphia, PA Stereotypes are mean and not needed.

Little brown girl, white man’s world

Beatriz Mallory Newfoundland, PA My father was one of the first black men to work at IBM in the late 50’s; my mother a Puerto Rican who migrated to NY to go to college. My father embedded this mantra in my head from a very age. I was a “little brown girl” in a world […]

Too white for my own good.

Lauren Qualters, West Chester, PA. For my race card project I chose the phrase “Too white for my own good” which is most certainly a true statement, in both humerous and negative ways. I am certainly very sterotypically “white” but not in an intentional or discriminatory way. My traits are my own and they embody […]

China, Yellow, hardworking, dream, versatile, active

Yilan Miao, Selinsgrove, PA. Maybe we should improved the inaccurate term “racism” with the much more accurate and potentially productive term “stereotype”. As American people always think, I am really good at math and this is the beginning of the third month for me to study in a small town of America. As you can […]

Man, that white boy got soul.

Michael Doran, Selinsgrove, PA. I am a student of music, and I love with the genre of soul/blues music like The Temptations or John Legend. Once, at an audition for the Voice, I was approached by a group of black guys who told me the six words above. It amazes how these barriers of white […]

Octoroon. Daughter of traders and traitors.

7 Comments

Allison M, Philadelphia, PA.

I was a white tobacco farmer

Helen Nelson, Saxonburg, PA. I grew up working in the tobacco fields. Cutting tobacco with an ax. Piling the plants. Stringing plants on a wooden lathe with a spear. I was a dying breed, is what they told me in college. No one believes me now that this is who I was and who I […]

Terrified, we watched them set fires

Sarah Martinez-Helfman, Philadelphia, PA Every key decision I made in my life seems to go back to that defining moment, when I walked away from a racist joke. That triggered years of violence from my neighbors. Marybeth beat me with the stick of a rake and chipped my tailbone of which I’m reminded every time […]

Race is fictional; racism is not.

Aisha White, Pittsburgh, PA I’m honored to participate in this project.

The confederacy did not raise me.

Emily, Philadelphia, PA. I am a white American. My family is here because the Turkish government was committing genocide against Anatolian Greeks in the early 1920s. My grandmother lost her family and came to NY, and when Smyrna was burned she had no home to go back to. The confederacy does not serve my family. […]

Henry is seen, Enrique is invisible

Enrique Marquez, Philadelpia, PA. I changed my name on my resume to Henry after rarely getting responses when I would write my actualy name, Enrique. Henry is the English version of Enrique. Henry received many more callbacks in one week than Enrique did in months. Nothing else was different.

Leave grace space when talking race

Jon Stuckey, Mechanicsburg, PA. I learned my 6 words based on your lovely presentation this evening at Messiah College. Thank you for coming. And thank you for your important work.

When did borders start defining ‘race’?

Sarah Naomi Burnett, Norristown, PA. Being a ‘white’ girl raised on the border of Mexico the ‘race-card’ issue was raised daily. I always felt that if I was a color, and they were a nationality, those two identifiers didn’t quantify either of us equally. I had a culture at home that was Irish/Italian but where […]

Who in your family is Korean?

Sameese Smith, Philadelphia, PA.

Please stop trying to justify racism.

Harper Grey, Philadelphia, PA I see too many white people saying being white makes them a scapegoat, and complaining that everyone calls them racist “just for speaking the truth”… all while publicly espousing racist views & white-supremacist opinions that are as far from “truth” as it gets. Almost without exception, these are white conservatives. I’m […]

Earth uses race as a weapon

Jay, Philadelphia, PA

African American Veteran. Never been incarcerated.

Brian Easterling, Paoli, PA.

You are still someone without it.

Clarence Butler, Canonsburg, PA. Humans are humans are humans. Race does not exist. I think that people will not let go of this idea, because it gives their ego something easy to cling to, that helps to buttress their esteem.

My students don’t care I’m white.

Chris B, Landenberg, PA. I am white and teach art in an inner city school. I get hugs from children of color every day! I have the best job in the world! What are society does to these children tomorrow and in the days that follow is inexcusable and reprehensible. The inequality must stop if […]

Does My Voice Count At All?

Samantha Zrada, Plymouth Meeting, PA Does my voice really count on this topic? I am a white female who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, went to school with mainly white children, and never experienced any racism directed toward me or my family. I am thankful to say that I am fortunate. And yet, […]

So many racists look like me

Robert Goffeney, Pittsburgh, PA At first, I thought it would be difficult to come up with six words to encapsulate my experience of race as a middle-aged, middle class suburban white man. Immediately after that thought, my six words bubbled up out of – somewhere. People will never cross the street to avoid passing me […]

Not just a little white girl

Nicolette Vogelman, West Chester, PA Most people see me as a quiet, little blonde girl. Honestly, I’ve heard people refer to me as a little white girl. In large crowds, I have heard people say “there she is, the little white girl.” I hate being referred to that. Yes I am small and your typical […]

Grandpa, ‘white’, sits @ back of bus

T Storm Heter, Stroudsburg, PA.

Human race…for invented self-supremacy.

Aimee Firmani, Pittsburgh, PA

Haitian-Irish mix? That’s a first!

8 Comments

Josh Benjamin, Philadelphia, PA. Almost nobody ever guesses me to be a black-white mix. This has led to numerous identity issues for me in the past. Now, however, I feel blessed and enjoy my background without calling attention to it.

I want to be color blind

Marilyn Toby Drucker, Washington Crossing, PA. We are all part of the family on Earth. I do not want race and culture to separate us, but to instead enhance our well being.

My creativity eludes definition by color

Jay Fluellen Philadelphia, PA I am an African American male who teaches in the public school system in Philadelphia. I constantly defy the comprehension of my predominately African American students by talking without cursing, listening to classical music, using words they don’t understand and by dressing professionally. I push passed all of this to teach […]

No eye contact because I’m white.

Cynthia Flynn Bryn Mawr, PA This was mostly not true where I grew up in inner city Seattle, but when I went to the South in 1968, that was my universal experience of African-Americans. It still happens today, even in professional settings.

Infertility Opens Your Eyes To Acceptance

Erika Barker Mansfield, PA Nothing about infertility is easy.. My husband and I want a family so much but so far we can’t have one. We would love to adopt, and race is not an issue. It makes us see there are deeper and more important things to think about than the color of the […]

Why does race matter? It shouldn’t.

Patrick, Philadelphia, PA. This was thought provoking.

My great grandfather changed his name

Bob, Philadelphia, PA.

Just a stay-at-home mom.

Melissa, Springfield, PA.

I’m the sum of my parts

Nicole Betton, Audubon, PA.

Ashamed of American Black culture today

Keville Bowen, Chester, PA. I’m a Black man of three countries. Born in Trinidad, moved Canada and ended in America. Though I have little memory of Trinidad, my recollection of Canada and America are vastly different. I was only know as a Trini in Toronto and as I gained friends, I referred to them as […]

Ask WHO I am, not WHAT.

13 Comments

Jessica Hong, Philadelphia, PA. As an Asian American, people often ask “what” I am within the first 20 minutes (or sometimes 20 seconds!) of meeting me. Others feel self-conscious about asking but are visibly relieved when/if I happen to mention my ethnicity myself. I think the question of my ethnicity wouldn’t bother me so much […]

We have a future you see

Cash’e Chapman, Philadelphia, PA.

You graduated in four years? Really?

Michael Tackie, Pittsburgh, PA. Upon graduation from college with a B.S.in Chemical Engineering, I got this from someone I had known for three years, someone I regarded as a friend. He was white, and majored in History or English, I forget which. I was initially amused, not understanding the subtext to what he was saying. […]

An angry and privileged white woman

Iwantperfection, Coatesville, PA.

Much progress; much more to do

Robert Markel, Charlestown, MA. Raised in a very white town in Chester County Pennsylvania, I had little consciousness of race issues until high school. We had one black student in my class, and he was the Salutatorian. At the end of our senior year at Archmere Academy, several members of the class went to lunch […]

Everyday she sees my race matters.

Carniesha Kwashie, Philadelphia, PA. This is in response to my white staffer and the racism she sees I endure as we work on an project that states Racial Equity is a priority.

What percent Native American are you?

Aiyana Pellegrino, Philadelphia, PA.

We identify as “Red Sox fans.”

Rachel Gonzales Pottstown, PA I’m the whitest woman who ever lived (except in the summer, when I’m the sunburniest woman who ever lived). He’s half-Mexican by way of California and half-German by way of WWII. Our adopted daughter is part African American, part Italian, part “Caucasian mix” (that’s what it ACTUALLY SAYS in her medical […]

She’s so basic, typical white girl.

Marryn Hilliker, Strasburg, PA. I chose these words that are jokingly spoken towards me very frequently. I’m a 20 year old white girl, blue eyes, red hair (although my “basic-ness” was worse when I was a blonde) attending college, who just happens to be apart of a sorority, loves Starbucks coffee, participates in the Netflix […]

America has “White-Privilege Withdrawal Syndrome”

Robert Alan Gustafson II, Butler, PA. Donald Trump is an enabler of the White-Privilege addiction. We need to elect someone who’ll transition us white folk into the new reality where no one race, ethnicity, or religion dominates America. It’ll be painful, but we’ll survive. And, despite what many Trumpers think, America’ll be better off in […]

We built this country, not them.

Anonymous, PA.

I’m racist but fight the tendency.

Mark Donaldson, Edgewater, CO. I’m white, grew up in rural PA in a mostly white school. I live in CO now and work in tech industry where you’re probably either white or Indian. I know I’m racist but try hard to fight against that tendency. I want to be better than I know I am.

No, my children are not adopted.

Beth Schumacher, Collegeville, PA.

Conservative Christian girl, liberal arts college.

A. Jones Selinsgrove, PA Coming from a very small, rural town in Southern Pennsylvania, I was thrown into what seems to me like a melting pot when I came to Susquehanna University. If I had had any idea of what it meant to attend a “liberal arts” college when I was looking at schools as […]

We’ll stop traveling to Florida now.

Carolyn Anderson Allentown, PA Why would anyone want to visit any state having the “stand your ground” law?

No one knows unless I tell

Natasha Smith, Philadelphia, PA. I am white. I look white. I am white? Pale skin, red frizzy hair, littered with freckles. Often I am asked “Are you Irish?” The answer is “No…” and I wonder if it is the time to go into my family’s racial identity or my own struggles with my racial identity. […]

Colorblindness will not fix societal issues

Gabrielle Elling, Philadelphia, PA. You may not see color, but the police and government do.

Flower child eye contact kindness hope

Sharon Neumane, Mehoopany, PA. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s I truly believed that we had moved beyond racial conflicts. My greatest heroes, my most beloved singers and song writers, actors, activists and poets are people who’s skin is a different color than mine. I have never in my life filled out a race […]

Dealing with race is difficult, yes

Rilajah, Philadelphia, PA.

I don’t plan on changing ever.

Zahnyah, Philadelphia, PA. I am me, I act the way I act because that’s just me, I am going to be me forever so if people don’t like it they need not talk to me or they might as well as just get used to it. I’m not going to change unless I feel as […]

“My Blood is Red, What’s Yours”

Ralanda King, Philadelphia, PA. Born and raised in the city of brotherly love, but I’m full of sisterly affection, I not black but brown and beautiful. the heart can see what our eyes can’t or refuse too. but, don’t charge it to my skin, but to my heart.

MLK Shot — White 5th graders sent home

Anita Stabile PA

I am glad they fear me.

Ernest Leon Tyree Jr Dravosburg, PA After spending 12 years in the military I learned a lot about fear and the power it holds. One the most powerful motivators is fear which is unfortunate, that being said the person who holds the power has a great responsibility to know that people fear them and to […]

Not accountable for ancestors actions

Noah McDonald, Warren, PA It’s time to get over it! Before you point your finger at me, and call me a racist! Don’t forget there are three of your own pointing back at you! I won’t be held responsible for my ancestors actions! Educate yourself! Look at history. Every race, religion, and creed has been […]

Not a Race, Still a Human

Cameron Warren, Downingtown, PA. I’m a very Irish child, and being proud of that has always been hard due to the fact I have red hair and freckles. While most say, “oh but you’re white, whats the problem” the problem is just that. I have been bullied and teased almost my whole life and not […]

My nose makes me look Jewish

Allyson Enelow, Yardley, PA.

A Mississippi secret – not “accidental drowning.”

David Morath, Wrightsville, PA. On August 14, 1973 three black children from Atlanta, GA drowned in Waveland, Mississippi. Eyewitnesses reported that the children had been harassed by white boaters, The coroner’s jury closed the case without investigation the following day. Because of Jim Crow mortuary policies, locating a funeral director who would deal with African-Americans […]

Trying to be a good ally

Carolyn Beranek, Villanova, PA.

We are all descendants from Africa.

Alexander Trick, Pittsburg, PA.

I’m tall, but don’t play basketball.

Alexis Fink, Altoona, PA. I’m a 6′ female and the most frequent question I’m asked is if I play basketball.

I stare longingly at others like me

Mary Ann Paris Philadelphia, PA Except for my brother, there were never any children who looked like me. I am black and white, more specifically black, jewish, german, irish, italian and polish and my brother and I have European features. We grew up in a segregated part of Philadelphia among black children. They never wanted […]

Must we forget our Confederate ancestors?