Living In Rural America, Seeking Inclusion
Emma, IA I am a white woman that just moved to a town in Iowa from Denver. I have really enjoyed the transition to a...
Proudly hispanic, only viewed as Caucasian
Rohyn Contreras-Schofield, Fitzwilliam, NH I grew up in rural NH surrounded by a white community which didn’t allow me to embrace my hispanic/latino side, I...
Can Anyone Believe I Love Everyone?
Lisa Johnson, Holden, MO. I am, unfortunately, from very rural America. There was a short period in my life (approximately 1/4 of it) that was...
Rural Alaska, six blacks, my family.
Lydia Taylor Memphis, TN I was born and raised in Alaska. When I was 4, my father got out of the Air Force and accepted...
I can see and hear you
Hailey, Tioga, PA As a white woman in the United States I have learned to recognize my privilege. Growing up in a rural area has...
Why not love one another daily?
Jim Schneider, Long Grove, IA Despite being a 58 yr old, white male raised in an all white, rural community in central Illinois, nothing will...
I am scared to practice Hindu.
Tasha, Shermans Dale, PA Mostly because I live in rural Pennsylvania which is full of closed-minded hicks. Also because I don’t know how acceptable it...
They don’t believe racial injustice exists.
Dannielle Kerstetter, Elizabethtown, PA. I come from a white, middle-class family in rural Pennsylvania. My family does not believe that people of color do not...
I’m not allowed to be country.
Rhonda Gilbert, Crowley, TX. I’m black and grew up in the rural south. My experience was very much small town, and I interacted primarily with...
I’m racist but fight the tendency.
Mark Donaldson, Edgewater, CO. I’m white, grew up in rural PA in a mostly white school. I live in CO now and work in tech...
Complicated, a foot in two worlds.
Javiera, San Diego, CA. My husband often jokes that I’m not “brown” because my light skin makes me look like an average white person. But...
I thought I knew, but didn’t.
Erica Tjelta, Spartanburg, SC. After growing up and living in rural and small-town Wisconsin for my first thirty-six years of my life–it was a shocking...
Conservative Christian girl, liberal arts college.
A. Jones Selinsgrove, PA Coming from a very small, rural town in Southern Pennsylvania, I was thrown into what seems to me like a melting...
I’m genuinely sorry about my family.
Katy Wilkerson, Houston, TX. In the deep South, in my experience, racism is pervasive, especially when you talk about poorer and poorer white people (not...
I Never Know How to Feel
Anonymous Plattsburgh, NY I grew up in a rural upstate NY town–hating everything that seemed bigoted or prejudiced. I loathed a lot of the people...
Poor White Kid, Wheres My Privilege?
Chris, Redlands, CA. Growing up on welfare, to a single mother in rural Michigan, I learned not to expect help from anyone. However, my whole...
White denial of privilege hurts all
Karen Randolph Rogers, Kansas City, MO. I’m a civil rights attorney who grew up in a predominantly white rural area and left for the city....
