Turkish Archives - The Race Card Project

The confederacy did not raise me.

June 19, 2021June 19, 2021 america, Anatolian Greek, confederacy, country, cultural shift, Emily, everyone, Family, father, Genocide, government, PA, Philadelphia, raise, stereotype, Turkish, white, white American, white man

Emily,
Philadelphia, PA.

I am a white American. My family is here because the Turkish government was committing genocide against Anatolian Greeks in the early 1920s. My grandmother lost her family and came to NY, and when Smyrna was burned she had no home to go back to.
The confederacy does not serve my family. To the white Christians we were not white enough to be allowed to assimilate, but at some point we did. My father was born less than white, and because of cultural shifts he became a white man. I was born in 1987 and have always enjoyed the privilege of his whiteness. I actively use language and context to disallow the idea that to be American is to be a middle class white person. I will never accept my country as being primarily for whites. This country is for everyone. Lest we forget.

Happy Turkish girl that celebrates Thanksgiving

October 21, 2020October 21, 2020 Boston, MA, Seyda, thanksgiving, Turkish

Seyda,
Boston, MA

I look white & I’m not racist.

October 14, 2020October 16, 2020 African, Black, British, check the box, Cherokee, Creek, European, German, Great Falls, human, Indian, Iranian, irish, look white, Lynn, Melaneasian, Middle-Eastern, mix, Muskogee, Native American, Racist, Sahara, SC, Seminole, Sexuality, stereotype, Syrian, Turkish, white

Lynn,
Great Falls, SC.

I tend to look white; especially when not in the sun. I’m actually a mix of: European (German, Irish, & British), Native American (Seminole, Cherokee, & Muskogee Creek), Black (African -sub-sahara regions- and Melanesian), and Middle Eastern (Syrian, Turkish, Indian (India) & Iranian)…….Somehow I ended up looking more European instead……I hate being called racist, bigot, and white supremacist…I’m not. Just because my genetics chose to appear more of European than my other ethnicity doesn’t mean I’m against anyone of any race, creed, sexuality, or religion. I’m a human being. I would love if we could have HUMAN to choose as a box for race instead of all the other stuff…..It’s hard to check one box because I’m so mixed…..But I have to go with what I physically look like.

People never guess my race correctly

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 ask, assume, Athens, Barcelona, CA, Catalonian, French-American, Greek, guess, Istanbul, Lara Jean DeShayes, mistaken, mom, multiracial, Naples, Naval, Oakland, odd, Olongapo, Olongapo Philippines to a Filipina, Philippines, Race, seaman, Turkish

Lara Jean DeShayes,
Oakland, CA.

I was born in Olongapo Philippines to a Filipina mom and French-American Naval seaman. In Oakland, I’m often assumed to be Latina or Hispanic but as I’ve travelled around the world, people often mistaken me for someone of their own race: Turkish in Istanbul, Greek in Athens, Italian in Naples, Catalonian in Barcelona. In the world of multiracialness growing, I find it odd for people to assume what race you are by looks. Why not just ask?

Race is a story we tell

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 Armenian, CA, Charles McCoy, DNA, folklore, French, Half, heritage, irish, italian, Lebanase, Los Gatos, mtdna, Palestinian, Race, story, Turkish

Charles McCoy,
Los Gatos, CA.

I grew up being steeped in the folklore of Irish and Italian cultural heritage, thinking I was “half Irish”and “half Italian” and listening to my grandmother crowing about only being Toscana and speaking Toscana ( the received Italian dialect). As I did my DNA testing, I discovered that I am genetically more Scots than Irish and on my mother’s side, which we were taught was 100% Italian, it turns out that I share a “perfect match”on my mtdna with a professor at King Saud University amongst other middle-eastern cousins who are Palestinian, Lebanase, Armenian, Turkish, French, etc. I think you get the picture. . .that is why I say “race”is a story we tell our children and our children’s children and somewhere along the way, these stories become fact for our “cultural”and racial identities. Turns out, the whole world is one big family!

I’m not black, I’m dark brown.

June 7, 2015 Black, brown, Cherokee Nation, colored pencils, crayons, daughter, English, family tree, Indonesia, irish, italian, Kelly M., skin tone, Turkish, TX

Kelly M.,
Indonesia.

My six words were spoken by my daughter when she was seven years old. I am From Texas, my family tree consists of Irish and English immigrants and Cherokee Native Americans. We generally look Caucasian, but all five siblings have slightly different skintones. I now live in Indonesia, I’m a single Mom with an older daughter who’s father is Turkish-Italian-American, she has lovely olive skin, and I have one daughter from Southern India , she has lovely dark chocolate skin. Many years ago, I came across this great set of coloured pencils, made by a German company called Lyra. They make a box of coloured pencils that are all in different skin tones. When my kids were small and had friends over, we used to sit around drawing and I would pass around the box and the kids would try to find the pencil that matched their skin tone. So, one day, when my youngest daughter was confronted by a little boy taunting her, who told her she was black, she simply said, “I’m not black, I’m dark brown” . What he meant as an insult, she thought of as a colour. She was only seven and at the time, I thought, thank goodness she doesnt know what he means. Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I hope my children always think of them selves as just another one of the many colors in the box.

“Excuse Me But What Are You?”

February 8, 2015 American, east African, ethnic ambiguity, FL, human, Lake Mary, Sara Dawit, Turkish, what are you

Sara Dawit,
Lake Mary, FL.

I am bombarded with questions on my racial and ethnic ambiguity almost everyday of my life. Thankfully, I’m able to simplify my ethnicity to East African and Turkish so I’m not stuck repeatedly listing all those East African countries (unless I’m asked to of course, but that, in my experience, is a rare occurrence from non-Africans). The intended question is almost always “what’s your ethnicity?” but people seem to not know how to properly formulate those words. Instead, people resort to ignorant questions like, “where are you from” which usually gets the answer “America” (because I’ve lived in America my entire life) and then the usual follow-up question is “no like where are you really from?” Then there’s the infamous “what are you?” which apparently I wasn’t informed that some people on this planet weren’t human. Of course, my response to people depends on how they approach me. I never really had an issue with people’s curiosity on my ethnic background; in fact, personally, I think it’s nice to be perceived as something out of the ordinary but it’s how the question is asked that makes all difference.

I am not white, I am Turkish

June 8, 2013June 7, 2013 David Pulukchu, PA, Philadelphia, Turkish, white

David Pulukchu
Philadelphia, PA

White, but torn between many cultures.

June 7, 2013 Burmese, cultures, Ethnically, Hispanic, IA, Marshalltown, Riley W., torn, Turkish, white

Riley W.
Marshalltown, IA

I’m ethnically European and Turkish, but raised in a town with influential Hispanic and Burmese influences. I find myself thinking that culture isn’t about where you came from, but instead a blending of the different ways of being an American.

“White,” Turkish husband, speak 2+ languages.

June 1, 2013 ancestry, bilingual, check the box, ESOL, languages, MD, other, PHYLLIS HULL AKTURK, Rockville, speak, Turkish, white

PHYLLIS HULL AKTURK
Rockville, MD

I check “other” for race because we are all just homo sapiens. Although Father was from Norman English+Dutch and Mother from German+English stock (both born and raised in Denver, Colorado), I didn’t know I was a WASP until I got to the dorm, as a junior, at American University, where I got a BA in Anthropology. The Navy posted us to Napoli (where I picked up child’s Italian), Jacksonville, Florida (picked up a southern drawl), then back to Maryland, where, of four girls, only I had been born (in 1950). In public schools, I found American kids boring, always had a book about ancient civilizations in my bag, enjoyed choir and French class the most, and made friends with the rare international student; in community college, began to learn Spanish (and really fun dancing) from Latin-American students; at AU, started teaching ESOL in small schools; while editing ESOL books then working as an English-language secretary in the Turkish Embassy in DC, learned Portuguese from a Brasilian family and their friends; then met my future husband and, in 1979, moved to Turkey to marry, learned Turkish, taught English, and had two children. The Turkish Treasury posted us to Tokyo for three years, where we adults picked up basic Japanese and the kids became fluent in child’s Japanese, then to the World Bank/IMF in DC for four years in 1990. My husband then, wanting our kids to remain in US schools, took an IMF assignment to set up a modern treasury department in Azerbaijan, where he learned Russian (and I only learned some). We live in both the US and Turkey now. Last Christmas, I gave my husband participation in the Genographic Project, so we know his ancestry (my eldest sister also participated). My parents taught me to appreciate other people, cultures and languages as equals, and I continually to strive to carry that on.

Join the Newsletter

Info

Join our community