Born here, questioned like an outsider.
Tufani Mayfield,
Boulder, CO
I have always been a fan of haiku and the literary condensing abilities it cultivates. Last yesr I taught my chat gpt to generate inspirational and metaphysical haikus from various sources including astrological sabian symbols, spiritual affirmations et al.
This morning upon reading about your project in an early NatGeo magazine , I was inspired to make a chat gpt prompt to generate a list of over 60 6-word stories about race. Here is a link to the chat prompt and conversation that you inspired:
https://chatgpt.com/share/66f8327d-a870-8005-b306-99771b9caf31
“This list could continue endlessly, as the experience of race touches every aspect of life in varied, unique ways. These phrases attempt to capture the spectrum of emotions, struggles, and triumphs that arise from navigating race and identity.”
Best regards
Mr. Tufani Mayfield
Boulder, CO USA




Wherever I may go, my sister and I are always questioned about our ethnicity, we apparently look Native or Brazilian or Indian. I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered. I hate when people think of all maids as Mexican or Latina, it’s just rude. No one should be put under a generalization by ignorant people who are most of the time just confused. This is what is aggravating me the most, being on the dividing line, I am Mexican and White, listening to both ends talk about the other in devastating ways. When some of my friends ask me if I speak Spanish I say, “Does it look like I do?” The fact being that I am tan and like some Mexican food, shouldn’t make me a stereotype. I used to think I was just American or white. But now I know I’m also all of these wonderful ethnicities too, German, Irish, Mexican. I guess this is what makes me… Me.