shoes Archives - The Race Card Project

Let me walk in your shoes

August 15, 2023August 15, 2023 atlanta, CA, connect, HI, Renee Poselski, Riverside, Russia, shoes, SoCal, tear, together, walk, wall

Renee Poselski,
Riverside, CA.

So Cal – Atlanta – Hawaii – Russia: No matter where I have lived, my heart yearns to connect and understand. Writing this, I am hesitating because I don’t want you to think that I can’t understand because I am white. My whiteness is a wall between you and me. I don’t know how to tear it down. Can we do it together?

Walk a mile in their shoes

November 15, 2022 Beck, NE, Papillion, shoes, walk a mile

Beck,
Papillion, NE

Did you grow up wearing shoes?

September 21, 2020September 21, 2020 accent, ambassador, Appalachian mountains, CO, Denver, East Tennessean, grow up, Home, Jessica Anderson, middle class, overalls, shoes, stereotype, white

Jessica Anderson,
Denver, CO.

I grew up in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee, but I now live in Colorado. People always ask ridiculous questions when they find out where I’m from, including, “Did you wear shoes?” and “Where are your overalls?” Being a white, M.A. holding, middle-class woman doesn’t shield me from these stereotypes. As a result, I have made my accent a little bit stronger; I want to be an ambassador for our beautiful, multidimensional region of the United States. East Tennessee will always be home.

No moccasins. You’ll wear real shoes.

July 21, 2020July 21, 2020 boots, CO, Denver, Elizabeth, Indian, mixed, moccasins, Native American, real shoes, shoes, stereotype, White girl

Elizabeth,
Denver, CO.

My mother is mixed race, Indian and white. She grew up pretty poor, but she told me once that she always had two pairs of shoes: one pair of moccasins and one pair of boots. Depending on who her father was trading with she would either have to pull on her boots, or her moccasins to go into town. My mother never allowed me to wear moccasins growing up, not even the mass produced ones from Target. She would say, “My children will wear real shoes.” Last year she bought be a $200 pair of cowgirl boots for Christmas. So it’s official now, I’m a white girl (who just so happens to tan really easily-ha!).

I will never be able to walk in another person’s shoes and fully understand their life. But I think that being educated about other races besides my own is a step towards greater equality.