Listen First. Pray Next. Speak Last.
Eric Nykamp, Grand Rapids, MI. My sense is that as white people, we too often choose to react or retreat from conversations about race because...
I CAN speak English and Spanish!
Fernando Martinez, McAllen, TX. Some people assume I don’t speak Spanish because I have light skin. But others assume I don’t speak English when they...
Well educated Asian-Americans asked, speak English?
Christine Thai-Pappa Fairfax, VA I was at a National Convention for my sorority, which is an Asian- American Interest sorority. A number of us had...
Otosan, please teach us your language.
Jaimie Scanlon, Brattleboro, VT. My husband is bilingual Japanese-American. His mother, raising three boys in Iowa in the 1960s, made sure her sons grew up...
But Elizabeth, you’re not really black…
Elizabeth D Atlanta, GA But I’m sure not white either. You think because I speak a certain way and dress a certain way, because I...
Soul Surfer is Light without color
NanJo Carter, Richmond, CA. I grew up in the fifties and sixties. We moved to Japan when I was 2. We moved to Montgomery, AL...
Speak English We Are In America
Amanda Denise Ballantyne New York City, NY The Bronx I was at a dinner when a group ,mid 60s/early70s (age), of Caucasians were eating their...
My German accent creates a wall.
Annette Baran Katonah, NY I´ve been living in the U.S. for 9 years and was recently naturalized. My kids are truly bilingual. Although, I have...
Why is your English so good?
Basundhara Mukherjee South Burlington, VT I was born in India, lived in Saudi Arabia, and grew up mostly in a small town in Vermont. English...
Speaking Proper Doesn’t Mean “Speaking White”
Messiah Toure, Philadelphia, PA. All my life, I’ve felt empowered by vocabulary and being educated. However, there seems to be a correlation between being educated...
I know I’m well spoken, surprised?
Carrington Anderson, Indianapolis, IN. Never sure why I get “You’re so well spoken” so often. Not sure why people look at me and expect me...
intimidated by black men’s physical superiority
FessunUp Cracka, San Francisco, CA. My father never said n*****, but the multitude of subtleties…assumptions…these are mine to deal with. When I was a teenager,...
Don’t speak Spanish, I’m still Hispanic
Victor Santana-Melgoza, El Paso, TX. For most of my life I have been rejected by many people in the Hispanic/Chican@/Latin@ community for not learning and...
Wow, so you speak African right?
Yasmin Igal, Seattle, WA. Africa is a huge continent made of 1000s of languages and assuming I speak African because I’m Somali doesn’t makes no...
I speak proper so I’m whitewashed
Jewell Barnes, Chesapeake, VA. I can’t even keep track of the amount of times I was called whitewashed….. I’m sorry, I went to school and...
