Passing so well that Jewish friends forget.
J Okowita, Los Angeles, CA As the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I find it strange sometimes that I am so not Jewish looking...
Passing under streetlights… shouldn’t we nod?
Tom Capuano Kirksville, MO In the Midwest, in small and mid-sized towns at least, people who are strangers to each other sometimes acknowledge each other...
Oh, I expected a Black woman.
Jamila Wolters, Portland, OR I am a White-passing, Mexican woman with an Arabic name and have heard this statement from people of all races. The...
Why do you have hazel eyes?
Jonscott Williams, Gilbert, AZ. This is the question either asked, or thought but unasked, by people both Black and White. This is connected to the...
Passing off white, hearing the truth
Anonymous, USA I am a light-skinned Hispanic woman. I straddle between the white world and the brown world. White people don’t realize I’m brown,...
I am white. Not a racist.
Heather Fisk. Growing up as the ‘white girl’ in a predominately African American neighborhood was very difficult for me. I received constant bullying from the...
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....
Double standards and mutual racial fragility
Lily, UK I don’t understand why people on all sides of the racial debate, despite wanting equality, suddenly splutter and get defensive when people criticize...
Oh, I thought you were white
Alison Montes, Dallas, TX Puerto Ricans are multiracial. We are mixed with Spanish, African, and Indigenous races so we are more than likely able to...
Blacks won’t let me be friendly
Randa New, Hillsboro, OR. While passing blacks walking on the sidewalk black adult looks away while their child will smile back at me. How can...
“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...
Running Shouldn’t Lead To My Death
Dmitri Julius, Austin, TX We really appreciate the work being done here. Keep it up. It’s incredibly important and so impactful when we are able...
You’re too white to be Native.
Erica Kirk, Cassopolis, MI I am a very white-passing Native American. People are always surprised to find out that I am a citizen of the...
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...
I want to be like Mom
Susan, Boulder, CO. I’ve been going through something of an identity crisis recently. I’m 31, of mixed race (1/2 Mexican and 1/2 a mix of...
Confederate re-enactor chose intimidation as spoils
Lillian J. Hall, Dallas, TX. I was a freshman in college. I was sitting in the dining hall with a friend, near a window. It...
Wrong race, Wrong day for fun
Reginald Leroy Johnson, Randallstown, MD. On my birthday in June 1963 my mother decided to take me to Gwynn Oak Amusement Park as birthday gift…...
