Mary F. Howard,
Stockbridge, GA.

I discovered I am one-fourth Native American. My paternal grandfather is full blood Cherokee. I just learned several months ago by eavesdropping on a conversation about race between my paternal uncle and aunt. They had just learned of additional children by their father outside of the marriage. It has often been the joke my mother had relations with a white man who fathered my brother. Now it is obvious why my brother skin looks white. Our father is fifty percent Cherokee Indian and fifty percent black. Both my father and brother Native American genes are dominant. As a child, I grew up wondering why my brother looked different. If we had the same father, why was my skin darker? My experience of race as a child is very different. Growing up my best friend name Rebecca was white. I could sleep over her house, but she could never sleep over my house. We lived four houses from each other and yet we lived in different worlds. I am proud of my life experience. It represents who I am has a person.