The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
Kelly O’Brien,
Carmel Valley, CA.
Muhammad Ali used to say that this is the shortest poem in the world… He stood at the microphone and turn both hands first to himself, and he’d say “Me”. Then he reverse his gesture toward the audience and say “We”. I’ve always loved this incredibly astute and simple act of his.
That’s my grandson, Liam, in the picture, by the way.
Peter Denzin,
Greeley, CO.
Since retirement, I’ve taught English as a Second Language classes for 11 years. My classes are made up of immigrants and refugees of all colors and faiths from all parts of the globe speaking a variety of native languages. In my classroom, we are a learning community of love and mutual respect. My students are more my family than my real family. Today’s immigrants are just like my European grandparents were. People are people. It’s as simple as that.
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 everybody? Have you ever seen a real young kid discriminate? The picture is my best friend of all time and I when he visited me this summer; he lives in Chicago and that’s the only time I get to see him. Race has never meant anything to us, we’re just brothers.
Anonymous,
San Antonio, TX.
Look, I’ll keep it real simple. My family is from Texas. Now we’ve had a French Texas, a Spanish Texas, a Mexican Texas, a Republic of Texas, a Confederate Texas, and finally Texas, USA. Am I Mexican? Hell no. I’m from Texas, and this is the United States of America. My olive complexion and Spanish last name have been common around these parts for hundreds of years. Real Texans know where they come from. We’re not gonna let a bunch of carpetbagger descendants and racists rewrite our history.
Lisandra,
Boston, MA.
Race is not something simple but complex issues with opinion and facts.
Vince Darcangelo,
Flort Collins, CO.
“Sadly, I believe that underlying the race issue is a deeper human need (perhaps fear- or anxiety-driven) to label and discount those different from us. I don’t believe it’s as simple as skin color. Skin color is simply the signifier that facilitates easy division or grouping. If we were all one color, we’d find some other feature on which to discriminate (e.g. Jane Elliott’s eye color discrimination test in the 1960s).
That’s why we will likely never eliminate racism, but also why we must never stop pushing back and educating against it. I like to think that the drive for justice is equally innate.
Also, Michele Norris’ talk at CSU on Tuesday was amazing. Thanks for coming to our town. It was great. Thanks.”
Unique Martin,
Murrieta, CA.
I say I’m black because that is how I identify myself. It’s just that simple. I say I’m beautiful because for many years in my childhood, I thought I was ugly. No one ever said I was, but how I was treated, discriminated against because of my skin color, the diversity of my hair, even the scar on my forehead, made me feel that way. I say that I’m proud because I now has self pride, not in a conceited way but in a healthy, respectful toward others of all different cultures, way. I don’t hold myself above anyone, but I won’t be put down by anyone either. I love who I am, who God made me to be. I want to enjoy every minute of it.
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