Simone Archives - The Race Card Project

Too white to be Native American

May 12, 2024May 12, 2024 brown eyes, Cherokee, Chicago, green eyes, IL, italian, light skin, mom, Native American, Simone, stereotype, too white

Simone,
Chicago, IL.

A lot of people say I look too white to be Native American. It’s tiring that my mom is full Cherokee while my dad was full blown Italian, all my other bothers came out darker than me and had brown eyes, I am the only girl int he family. As far as having light skin, but tan in the summer, dark hair with green eyes. I tell people that i am mixed but seem not to believe based on soley the skin color. To me skin color doesn’t matter on a base of streotyping people, but that’s what you get on people who choose to live inside the box rather than out.

Stopping myself from hating white people

January 24, 2024January 24, 2024 Asian, camel, Canada, Childhood, Chinese, difference, masks, Simone, Vancouver, Xenophobia

Simone,
Canada.

I’m Asian-Canadian, and honestly, it’s kind of hard not to feel just plain alienated right now. It’s just gotten bad lately.
The level of xenophobia towards Chinese, or anyone assumed Chinese, is seriously tiring. It’s maybe the straw on the camel’s back here. It reminds me of my early childhood in Vancouver seeing stuff like “Chinese go home” graffiti etc.
If it’s not me- because I have a very decidedly Canadian accent and don’t even speak my native language- it’s targeted at people who look like me, the kinds of people who honestly have no difference from my ama, from my relatives, from my parents.
I’m becoming self-conscious when people go out of their way to avoid me when I’m out. I don’t think I’ve seen any fellow Asians without masks, most people who aren’t white tbh wear masks. I wear masks. But the focus is on my community all the same.
I don’t hate white people, and I know there’s a lot of amazing people. But saying I feel alienated is an understatement. There’s a serious feeling that I should just stick to my own and maybe eventually leave though Canada’s where I was raised since I was 2.

Although it divides, I find beauty

July 5, 2020July 15, 2020 actiing, acting black, African American, although, beauty, black music, Brooklyn, divides, find, fraternity, multicultural, multiculturalism, NY, Simone, Simone Pratt, sorority, talking black, white

Simone Pratt
Brooklyn, NY

I can talk about race all day… I work in multicultural advertising so it’s what I do, but outside of work as well… Some context on my 6 words: Race is something that puts us in boxes in our society (“talking Black”… “Acting White”… “Black music”… on and on), however race and our differences are so beautiful to me. I LOVE my culture. I grew up on Long Island, went to boarding school in Virginia, attended Hampton University (as my parents and step father and grandfather before me). Although my parents live in CT, I live in a brownstone in Brooklyn (Bed Stuy), I attend a large predominantly African American Baptist church, I am an active member of my sorority, married a man active in his fraternity, we have two small sons one who goes to our local Stuyvesant Heights Montessori (predominantly Black unlike the one I attended), I have been working for African American or multicultural ad agencies for over 10 years… I live in a VERY Black world and I love it. My husband has challenged me with the fact I have no close White friends (as he does – he is in banking and golfs and still plays lacrosse with his friends). It is not that I don’t like other cultures, in fact I do and make friends easily with other moms on playgrounds or wading in water with our kids at beaches… I just love love love my culture so much there isn’t much room for others. Does that makes sense?

I was at the Amistad Book Brunch. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing you read excerpts from your book and I started it already J I love reading about our history, our personal stories rivet me. My bookclub read “The Warmth of Other Suns” and loved it…

Simone Pratt
Planning & Strategy Director

Join the Newsletter

Info

Join our community