The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
Tiffany,
San Francisco, CA.
People who ask me this question aren’t convinced by my response that I was born and raised in Chicago, IL.
“Go back to China!” when I don’t respond to male strangers hitting on me.
#AnitaEllenSpeak
Dionyves Martin,
The United Kingdom
Growing up mixed race is confusing. All too often you are expected to choose sides as if part of a childish game of goodies and baddies. The country you were born in and identify with comes second to the colour of your skin. ‘Where were your parents born then?’, is often a follow-up question. They were both also born in the UK if you were wondering.
‘Aren’t you lucky for having such exotic colouring!’ has begun to sound like a really nice way to say, ‘oh goodie, your diluted Blackness fits more comfortably into my ideology of beauty, your racial ambiguity feels easier to define as I can now call your skin ‘tanned’ and your hair ‘curly’, terms holding familiarity in my white-washed culture.’
I definitely benefit from white privilege. Not a card I enjoy carrying. It ‘helps’ that I received a good education and financial support. But it’s funny, as soon as it comes down to it I am still expected to choose. Am I black or white? Why can’t I be both? Why can’t I be more?
Beth Curren,
Bethesda, MD
We are a bi-racial family and have experienced the comments of others since the day we brought our child home from the hospital. Most comments and questions have been kind, or at least well-intentioned; many others have not: people have been rude, intrusive, scornful, misinformed and self-righteous. Often the hardest moments have been when other adults have insistently questioned us, in front of our child (and often in front of their own), and clearly want to know very personal information. When we’ve tried to deflect their comments, they often say they are just curious or their children are curious, or they are trying to teach their children to be inclusive. We get it; we really do. But standing in a check-out line is not an invitation for questions and comments, especially since the only reason we are being asked, is because the composition of our family is different from theirs. Sometimes we just want to get through the produce section or the cereal aisle without this unwanted attention. And so when people persisted, often self-righteously, in plying us with questions and comments, I learned to say, “My child’s not your Learning Experience.”
Kristin Maerke,
Springfield, MO.
When I was younger I was very annoyed by the question, “What are you?” Which were usually the first three words spoken to me. I have since learned to embrace my cultural diversity, and sometimes even enjoy making people guess (it tends to make them quite uncomfortable).
Daisy Reyes,
Rialto, CA.
Even as a little girl in Mexico I was the “Chinita” (little Chinese). When I came to the U.S., I was either confused with Filipino or just Asian when people couldn’t figure out which race. My now husband, has been confused with a Hindu. We are both Mexican-born. But the thing I always get when I talk in Spanish to him or my son is “You know Spanish!?” follow by “I thought you were Filipino or Asian” Even Filipinos have confused me as Filipino. Funny thing my husband calls me “My Chinita” and friends of him asked him if I was really Chinese. Now with my son, I wonder if he would encounter any racial questions once he grows up. It has never bothered me that I get confused, I am proud to be Mexican-American and we are going to pass down our heritage to our son. Shout out CBU HIS311!
Adrienne Adams,
Indianapolis, IN
I thought it was a battle my children would never have to fight in the 21st century. I was wrong.
Varshana Trudgian,
Great Britain
I’m white and have typical Celtic colouring of pale skin, dark hair and blue eyes. But, my parents were Hare Krishnas and I have a Sanskrit Indian name. I am never sure whether getting in touch with certain elements of my childhood are seen as cultural appropriation or not.
Dan Kelly
San Francisco, CA
I was in a Brooklyn HS in the early 60s and the images coming from the south inspired me to question the social conventions that supported segregation, From that, it was a short jump to questioning foreign policies that justified invading 3rd world countries. College seemed irrelevant and I left it in 1967 to join the anti-war movement as a pacifist, inspired by MLK, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day. I worked with the farmworkers from Delano when they came to NYC for the first grape boycott. I resisted the draft and spent 2 years in prison. Afterward, I joined with 1199 to organize workers at the hospital I worked in. Eventually, I returned to school, became a physician, and was elected to the Board of Education in SF, where I have lived for more than 30 years. None of this would have occurred without the inspiring leadership of King, Bond, Liuzzo, Schwerner, Goodman, Chaney and so many others. Brotherhood is possible and individuals CAN change the world.
Salina,
Los Angeles, CA.
Demetrios Pathammavong,
Sanger, CA.
I am an American, although my grandparents are from Laos. It is often a repeated questions of where I am from. When I answer that I am from America, people then ask the same question. Sometimes I say ”Oh, I am from Laos.” in reality I was born in California. This is an on going matter that needs to be stopped. If we were born an America we are American. I can not stress to the fact of an isolation feeling when people ask where I am from.
Jenn O,
Los Angeles, CA.
This is the dreadful question that I get almost all the time… I find myself always having to explain my background to people before they’re able to get past my appearance, and actually engage in an intellectual conversation.
Tiffany,
San Francisco, CA.
People who ask me this question aren’t convinced by my response that I was born and raised in Chicago, IL.
“Go back to China!” when I don’t respond to male strangers hitting on me.
#AnitaEllenSpeak
R.E.A.L. Talk,
High Tech Middle Media Arts,
7th Grade Trailblazer
I wrote this six word memoir because people should know that no one should assume someone else’s ethnicity. I also wrote this six word memoir because most people that I encounter think of my ´race´ and tend to assume what ´race´ I am and sometimes question me about it or ask me about my ethnicity. I haven’t experienced much racism in my life but I have seen some people say racist comments at school or on the internet. I think that some people are racist because they don’t know what they are talking about so they assume things that they think are true. It is everyone’s job to make sure that people know that stereotyping is wrong and it needs to stop.
´There is only one race, The human race´
Race is not scientifically real, it is a social construct. One of the first people to categorize people with ´race´ was Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1776. He was a German scientist who categorized people into five different groups by their physical appearance, by where they were born, and their lifestyle.The five categories he put people into were Caucasian, Mongolian, Malayan, Ethiopian, And American.The American Anthropological Association says that during the 19th century people were put into a hierarchy and sorted people into categories by their ethnicity and were given different ranks on the hierarchy by their physical traits. This evidence shows that race is not real and that it is a man made idea. This proves that race is a manmade concept used to discriminate people and put them into groups. In conclusion, race is a completely wrong concept that has no scientific evidence of being real.
Yochanan Kushnir
New York City, NY
Manhattan
The answer is drowned in silence and pain.
Yasmin Igal,
Seattle, WA.
Africa is a huge continent made of 1000s of languages and assuming I speak African because I’m Somali doesn’t makes no sense whats-ever. Born in America and being raised here, children use to ask me that and i thought it was a joke, but sadly it was a legit question for them.
Sunil Yapa,
New York, NY.
I’m biracial and grew up in rural Pennsylvania. The question where are you from has always hounded and haunted me. I’m from the US. I’m from Sri Lanka. The only two places in the world where they are certain I don’t belong.
Jordan Beuch,
Riverside, CA.
A common question that I have been used to getting is, “Ok but really, What race are you?” It has always kind of irked me because often it times it seems as if people are trying to put me away into a category based of those simple words. BUT, none of us can be put into a category, there are so many components of us that resemble who we are. To make preconceived notions bases off of a few words is ridiculous. We are more then what we do on the weekends, our political parties and surely our skin colors!
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