You do not look Puerto Rican.
Beatriz McConnie Zapater, Jamaica Plain, MA. I am Puerto Rican with white, indigenous, Spanish, and African ancestry. When I hear that I do not look...
Puertorriqueño. Americano. Two identities. One country.
Daniel A. Ramos Columbus, OH The story ran about Alisha on 5/23/13 really struck accord with me. I was born in Ohio to a family...
Russian? You’re improving the race Amiga!
Mayra Velez Buffalo, NY Picture of us, a Belarussian and Puerto Rican, soon-to-be-married, couple. When we started dating, every time I said he is belarussian...
Latina raised in the suburbs….Wepa
Brenda Enid Mejias, Honeybrook, PA. True Puerto Rican girl….. I am the one with all the family recipes… And I love being her. Wepa– According...
You’re not Swedish you’re too dark
Paulina Persson, San Clemente, CA. People love to make assumptions by skin color. I love to see people’s facial expressions when they find out I...
Who am I supposed to be?
Cascada Blanca, Troy, NY For over half my life, I thought I was Puerto Rican. My grandparents lived in Puerto Rico, they spoke Spanish, they...
White/Hispanic looks/is all white not sorry
Ruby Marlowe, Brooklyn, NY. Italian-Irish mom, Puerto Rican-Mestizo dad, never met dad’s family as his side was pretty bad along with dad who was never...
I’m not from the country ‘White’.
Matthew Palavido Beaumont, CA My family’s background is Polish and Swedish and the town I grew up in in New Jersey was predominantly “white”. Like...
That’s weird, your kids are blonde.
Brian Parra, Oxnard, CA. Without fail, the first thing a person remarks on, upon seeing my kids, is that they are blonde and I am...
Is Puerto Rican a separate race?
Diana Gonzalez, Franklin Square, NY. I am an adopted person. I’ve been searching for my past all my life. I’m 60 now. One of my...
“Are you Asian? Are you Caucasian?”
Santana O., Philadelphia, PA. I’m asked by new people commonly, “Wow, you look so Asian! Are you Asian?” I’m also asked, “You’re really pale, are...
More than “just a Black girl”
Jolie Anne Chevalier, San Jose, CA. This is me at eight years old back in 1979, the daughter of an African-American/Seminole Indian mother, and a...
But where are you really from?
Christopher Lee-Rodriguez, Boston, MA. We don’t live in a post-racial society. We live in a post-race society. We live in a country where in a...
Family Trying to Erase my Identity
Yaz, Chicago, IL Growing up, my parents separated and with that came two different homes. In one home I was “too” Puerto Rican and the...
