Age 5 They don’t serve Mexicans
Mario Lopez, Chicago, IL Our family was on vacation on the way to visit family in Mexico and we went to some restaurant in Texas...
Benefit and burden with being biracial
Ryann Williams, Trinity University In a lot of ways, having two parents of different racial/ethnic backgrounds allows a unique insight into both cultures. It can...
He put pickles in my pancakes.
Jeannette Chavez Albuquerque, NM It was the early 70′s in the Texas panhandle. On a road trip we stopped at a diner to eat. He...
I was always already right here
Marta Elena Muñoz, Austin, Tejas (TX) Go back to where you came from. Imagine telling an American citizen of Mexican heritage (indigenous and Spanish mix)...
Bicultural and Bilingual should be enough.
Megan Medrano, Houston, TX. Growing up Latina in south Texas, I have always been surrounded with rich culture. My home was filled with both the...
Biracial woman: strength, confidence, confusion, pain.
Melissa Flowers, Trinity University My mother is caucasian and my father is black. I have immense privilege in my life, and I feel that being...
Jew girl raised in Bible Belt
Caren Klein York, ME During 1970 my family lived in Texas with prayer in school. My teacher would walk over to me place my head...
My father endearingly calls us “Cottonpicker.”
Thais TX My father, age 83, born in a small town in northern Louisiana, has always called my siblings, cousins, and I “Cottonpicker.” My father...
Biologically baseless with immesurable social impact
Ta-Nehisi Coates writes in his book Between the World in Me that “racism is the father of race.” I teach that to my students every...
Being “colorblind” is not the answer.
L. A. Elliott, Rockwall, TX. Submission collected from Pro Publica: Segregation Now Series Every person has a story, a culture, a past and especially a...
Really? Are both your parents Indian?
Shevon Desai Ann Arbor, MI My parents emigrated from India to the US over 50 years ago. In terms of ethnicity, I think of myself...
We have to get it together.
NIK BANNISTER Houston, TX Louisiana epitomizes how race and education interfere with opportunity, cultural identity and upward mobility.
Segregation and inequity; the struggle continues
Dr. Deneese L. Jones, San Antonio, TX. Trinity University Race still matters! Even after sixty years past the Brown v. Board decision where the courts...
Human diversity improves studying biological diversity.
Michele Johnson, Trinity University. My research lab studies the evolution of lizard behavior, and we need a diversity of perspectives to do our best work....
Irish, Italian, German, Finnish, my daughters.
Diane Smith, San Antonio, TX. Trinity University My daughters great-grandparents were immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Germany and Finland. We are all immigrants.
Treat others as you’d be treated.
Kindness and the Golden Rule are so impactful when applied to any situation. I remember hearing the Aesop’s story (many years ago) about the North...
