When your blueprint is pretty funny
Jilly Bean, Houston, TX The blueprint for my life was etched from a very young age. I was told constantly by everyone that I was...
You’re too pretty to be black.
Brandi N. Scarlett, Lansing, MI. When people ask me what ethnicity I am, I get excited. I am so proud to be mixed race. My...
Enough to make you look pretty
Adrienne Zimiga, Minneapolis, MN. I was born and raised on the Pine Ridge reservation my first 12 years. Upon moving from Batesland, SD to Castlewood,...
RACE isn’t culture or beauty. Brains are.
Aida Verri, New Orleans, LA. You are not ugly, pretty, stupid, smart, strong, weak, violent or calm because of your “race”. Your skin color isn’t...
You’re Too Pretty To Be Black
Akira Lee, Virginia Beach, VA I once had a woman approach me in a restaurant and tell me that I was really pretty. It was...
Left Crying in the Bathroom Floor
Charlie, USA. I brought my car in for an oil change (in the predominantly black area I live in) and they told me that it’d...
You are pretty, are you Indian?
Freda NC I am African American. Growing up I was often asked this question in some form or another “are you mixed, what are you,...
I’m not prettier because I’m white.
Rhiannon Watkins, Centennial, CO. Why are magazines always filled with white and light-skinned women? I have never in my life had a shortage of skinny,...
Who is your daughter’s father?
Itoko Richardson, Daly City, CA. I am Japanese and my husband is Black (he extremely dislikes to be called African-American). Our experience alone was interesting...
Your hair’s pretty. What are you?
Renee Bracey Sherman. Oakland, CA. “Can I touch your hair?” they ask, hand already extended, a mere inch from my thick brown curls. I feel...
“No offense, but you’re so pretty!”
K.E. Broadnax, Cleveland, OH. This was said to me while attending college. I am black, and went to a predominantly white, upper-class university (as many...
“You’re to pretty too be African”
Hadja Diallo, Philadelphia, PA. People always say that I don’t look African!? But I ask myself how is someone supposed to look African? Are we...
