The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
Erik Shawn Frampton,
Charlotte, NC.
I am the descendant of a line of plantation owners in South Carolina. As a gay man, my upcoming marriage will finally occur on our 20th anniversary together. My larger southern family struggles to see my identity as sacred, just as they struggle still to see minority life as sacred. But what progress. From chains to wedding bells with a gay Asian man.
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 together at the Charcoal Pit in Wilmington, Delaware. Shortly after we sat down, the manager, whom I knew very well, came up and asked me to step away for a talk. He informed me that the restaurant which I had patronized dozens of times did not serve “Negroes.” We were shocked. As it happened, V.P. Joe Biden who was one of our classmates was with us at the restaurant. I relayed the message to the group; we sat there embarrassed looking at each other; and Joe said, “let’s get out of here.” We left. I did not return for many years.
In the summer of 1963, I had a summer job at the DuPont Company’s Chestnut Run plant outside Wilmington. I worked as a laborer in shipping and receiving brooming floors and breaking down packages. The Black man who worked with me had two years of college and was a minister in Wilmington. I wondered why he was working as a laborer when he seemed educated and qualified for a better job. One day he told me that DuPont had a policy of not allowing Blacks to take the exam for a white collar “desk job.” I was astonished.
That summer, DuPont changed its policies and liberalized employment practices. My friend was allowed to take the test, and he moved up to a better job in the main offices. In August, DuPont excused any employee who wanted to attend the March on Washington. I called my friend Pete McLaughlin, and we decided to go.
We made our way to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and sat there to hear Dr. King and other speakers. There is a film that I saw at the Kennedy Library in Boston that shows a sea of Black people on the steps and two white boys sitting on the steps. Pete and I did not pay much attention to most of the speakers, but when Dr. King began to speak, we were transfixed by his words and his magnificent speaking style.
Unforgettable experience.
Martín De Greiff,
Winchester, MA.
Just because I am hispanic, does not mean I should be working on your lawn… I was walking one day early in the morning after a run and I noticed some hispanic guys working on a lawn on a house with an odd machine. So I stopped and asked what they were doing. I finished the conversation with these very nice gentlemen from Guatemala. And I started walking away when the owner of the house came out supposedly to “check on the progress” and said “get back to work!” in a very aggressive way… First of all, I am 16 years old I don’t even look like I should be working anyways… REALLY? And you can’t just assume because I look like what YOU think is hispanic, that I should be working, making all your flowers pretty.
Christina H.
Washinton, DC
Too often this summer (2014), I’ve felt like we’re reliving the events and emotions of ’65, ’68, and ’69. I cannot believe we still have to protest the killings of unarmed black people. Progress on race? Some days it feels like this nation has just been running in place.
Sara Lachance,
Springdale, AR.
Seeing Confederate flags on the back of trucks and outside people’s houses makes my stomach hurt. I once encountered a person with the confederate flag on their sunglasses right between the lens, like it was staring me down. I am forced to be associated with those people because A. I am also white. and B. I am also from the South. The truth is, they represent hate and stall progress within America. It’s not a heritage thing, it’s a race thing and it’s discriminatory.
Roxanne Darling,
Haiku, HI.
It’s my personal belief that it’s incredibly challenging to not be racist, regardless of one’s race. Not wanting to be, think, or act racist is not the same as not being racist. So I hereby present myself as a work in progress, as I unplug decades (centuries?) of neurological programming that I no longer support.
Jay Tee,
New York, NY.
Seeing as many careers have been derailed, some high profile other less so, because of a hypersensitivity around candidly discussing race, the nation is going to have tough road ahead. “Oppression olympics”, wherein arguments are weight in proportion to the professed suffering of the speaker, fueled by the mob power of the Internet, has Critical Race Theory in preposterous proportions to dominate mainstream conversation. When we have to fear blacklisting and social stigma for speaking our mind, there can be no fair examination of ideas, which makes our chances at finding truth remote, and hope for progress slim.
Jamira Burley,
Submitted via Twitter: @JamiraBurley
#ShiningALight #TheRaceCardProject
The Race Card Project and A&E will facilitate and archive the conversation during “Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America” a once-in-a-lifetime event airing on A+E Networks, Nov. 20th – 8pm ET / PT, followed by the town hall special event.
John Legend and Pharrell share their thoughts on Shining a Light to the Associated Press here.
Some of the country’s top recording artists including John Legend, Bruce Springsteen, Pharrell, Jill Scott, Big Sean, Sting, Tori Kelly, Pink and many more will sing songs related to racial justice and reconciliation. We’ll also hear powerful conversations on race in America from Charleston, Baltimore, and Ferguson and more.
Immediately following the concert, watch John Legend, Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams take extraordinary journeys to Baltimore, Ferguson and Charleston, where they meet with a diverse group of residents in communities at the center of the national conversation on racial inequality and violence. NPR’s Michele Norris joined John Legend in Ferguson, award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien accompanied Pharrell Williams in Charleston and ABC News’ Byron Pitts visited Baltimore with Alicia Keyes. These visits included intimate discussions and special private performances by each for those most effected.
Learn more about Shining a Light at: shiningalightconcert.com
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Kathy Gips,
Boston, MA.
65 year old. White suburba. Removed, but remember.
65 year old, white, witness from a distance.
Candace Ewing,
Lansing, MI.
As much as I would love to see race as a topic discussed sole to embrace differences (in a positive fashion) as opposed to still working on tearing them all apart (negatively,) I think the battle is one that will be fought for a very long time. We are moving closer to the finish line (evident by the progression throughout the last few decades) but negativity still exists. Until every person on this planet can learn to be open minded and accepting without judgement, the finish line will may never be reached. At this point, we can deem it to be non-existent. The fight may be fought forever.
Saira
New York City, NY
Brooklyn
An immature nation is still afraid of racial tolerance and hesitant to move on to a state of love and acceptance. With time, the nation learns and grows. The result is a community in which all are free to contribute to its progress and maturity is thus reached.
Brian Phillips
San Jose, CA
Could I be that ignorant of the nature of race in this country that I don’t see color? Or perhaps it is a sign of progress. Or maybe I’m just kidding myself and oblivious to my own surroundings.
Robin Bass
Brooklyn, NY
I’m glad for the progress made…but frustrated that we still have so far to go
Glenn Schwitter
Simsbury, CT
I live in CT, am socially more liberal and financially more conservative, and I do not know any white people who are overtly racist. That would be zero, nada, none. I have also rarely/never seen a problem solved by others. All progress is made by you. The world may not be perfect, but there are mostly good people out there. We all also have prejudices, make assumptions, and create stereotypes (both positive and negative) to help explain life. I lived in NYC for many years. All street crimes and attempted robberies directed towards me were committed by young black males. This is sad, but true. Every black person I know also profiles young black males. Again, this is sad, but true. Also, at night, especially in the city, I profile anyone near me who I do not know, whether they are male, female, large, small, black, white, Asian, etc. I think this is all just common sense. So, how do we change things? How do we reduce the number of crimes committed by black males? How do we get less black males killed in the cities? How do we get people to stop blaming each other? The President is black, many who we admire and worship are black, what am I not getting? There may be fewer opportunities for black males, but there are opportunities. Clearly, I simply do not understand something? But, I know things are better than when my grandmother grew up…so I am hopeful for all people.
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