No one else chooses my identity.
Natalie, Seattle, WA. My grandmother never got to pass for white. She was sent to indian boarding school. 50 years later, I grew up in...
“You can pass.” Lifetime identity struggle.
Erica Jameson, Ashland, OR. My parents adopted five muti-racial children, something unheard of in the rural mountain town we lived in. Between being confused about...
Tennerican Asian passes on only Asian
Rosita Gonzalez, Madison, WI. I am not who I seem. Roads converged to make me a person of three races, of which only one sticks....
I pass. What is my place?
Jennifer Ward, Denver, CO. As discussions have proliferated in Denver and online about race, the Black Lives Matter movement, and how change should be implemented,...
Privileged quadroon not passing for white.
Kailey Irene Kaes, Englewood, CO My mixed family of color and the white folk who married into it gave me the only culture I know....
Light Bright, Pass for White
Treysea, Tacoma, WA. I grew up in San Diego, CA in a predominantly blue-collar, working class, relatively ethnically and racially mixed community. Most of my...
But you don’t look Puerto Rican
Natalia de Cuba Romero. Massapequa Park, NY. IN my heart and in my head I have always thought of myself as Puerto Rican, Born in...
“So… I should just check ‘Other’?”
Hannah Killen, Lubbock, TX I’ve been called racially ambiguous more times than I can count. The thing is, just because I’m mixed doesn’t mean I...
I pass, but I can understand.
Kira Henstenburg, Washington, DC. Mixed race Russian-Kazakh. Adopted. I’m not considered “asian enough” to be invited to anime conventions. I’m not comfortable taking a strong...
Your experience does not invalidate mine
Elya, Chevy Chase, MD. I grew up very privileged, and when I realized that I was being bullied by my white peers because of race,...
Standing on the shoulders of my forebears
Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins, MD, MSc, New York City, NY. Manhattan. Collected from The Race Card Project, On Location: The Brooklyn Museum My grandmother came from Grenada...
He shot at us, but missed.
Evelyn Ingram, Leesburg, VA. Yesterday, I cried typing these words and I couldn’t click Submit. I think I’m stronger today. I can’t wait to pass...
You are what you pass for.
Amber, New York, NY. I had an interesting experience at a Family Health Center today. I was experiencing trouble at home with applying for health...
