People never guess my race correctly
Lara Jean DeShayes, Oakland, CA. I was born in Olongapo Philippines to a Filipina mom and French-American Naval seaman. In Oakland, I’m often assumed to...
Race is a story we tell
Charles McCoy, Los Gatos, CA. I grew up being steeped in the folklore of Irish and Italian cultural heritage, thinking I was “half Irish”and “half...
We are treated how we look.
Kimberly Dorsey, Detroit, MI. I am bi-racial and have been raised in a white family inside Detroit. I have suffered many racially motivated injustices in...
Race in America, what a mess.
Ellen Finch, San Jose, CA. My heart breaks for those with skin of the “wrong” color who are treated so poorly in so many ways....
Don’t Classify Sports for a Race
Jaer Medina, 8th Grade Holland New Tech High School, Holland, MI Tennis has been considered a “white” people sport the same as how soccer is...
I am not the exchange student.
Mellini Kantayya, Brooklyn, NY. I am an actor and writer who currently has a book out (humor essays) about the entertainment industry. I include a...
AMERICAN DISGRACE: SLAVERY? GENOCIDE, AMERICAN INDIAN
John Austin, Park Hill, OK. We always seem to begin every discussion of race and race relations in America with some mention or reference to...
Your color doesn’t make you better.
Sasha Dee, Richmond, VA. It drives me crazy that people think something as arbitrary as the color of their skin makes them inherently worth more...
Race: no reason to be afraid.
Sam Kadish, Newton, MA. Race is incredibly important to our history. It should be a sidebar in our future. America is the great melting pot;...
Neither This or That, but Also
Rena Joy Dunbar, Eugene, OR. Our Black and White bi-racial identity was questioned even before we emerged from the womb. What ‘race’ would we turn...
Is Jew a religion or race?
Hannah Herzog St. Louis, MO Guess what? It’s both (sort of). You may be of “Jewish” ethnicity without being of Jewish faith (non practicing), or...
Race stolen when ancestors abused enslaved.
Janie Hill Hatton, Milwaukee, WI First National Principal of the Year 1994 I value this project and hope it will prompt conversations to unite the...
There are good ones out there
Jeremy J., Denton, TX. I hate when people are talking crap about a race or group of people and they feel like they have to...
On the internet, nobody has race
Clayton, CA. I spent a lot of my misguided youth playing video games into the late hours of the night. It was how I found...
Race should not be that hard.
Gabriel Rouse, Madison, WI. I’ve always felt like race is a simpler issue than we as humans like to make it. Why can’t everybody love...
