Dillon Harris, Dallas, TX
Im Just An Ordinary American Girl
Anonymous, Houston, TX I’m Palestinian and Muslim, but I was born and raised in the United States. I’ve bumped into a few people who’d make terrorist jokes towards me but I learned to laugh at the hate.
I’m Pretty For a Black Girl
Kamesha Coleman, Dallas, TX
There’s some Indian blood in me
Joseph Chapman, Forney, TX
I am French with curly hair
Yasmine Derbal, Athens, TX One of my teammates last year told me that I was not French because I have curly hair and and I am tan. People believe that being French means that you are white with long straight hair. However, I have the French nationality even if it doesn’t seem like I have […]
A single race… the human race.
Faride Yamin, Houston, TX A single race, the human race. Jacqueline Novogratz writes in her book The Blue Sweater:”John W Gardner believed humans thrive in relationship to each other, and that communities to which each individual feels a sense of belonging.” I’ve always been different. I sometimes upset people (because they think I’m ) trying […]
I’m Mexican But Nobody Believes Me…
Colin Morrill, Cypress, TX I’m Mexican, but nobody believes me. I grew up in a Mexican culture, and my mom is Mexican. I eat Mexican food, listen to Mexican music, and have Mexican family.
Comfortable because of my privilege
Meghan Holloran, TX
Why Do We Hurt Each Other?
Joshua Dillon, Cypress, TX We are all the same. I have eyes. You have eyes. I have hair. You have hair. I breathe. You breathe. We should be helping each other Not hurting each other because we have more in common than the naked eye can see. We are all the same.
Aren’t you supposed to be smart?
Patrick Tan, Houston, TX Although I wouldn’t argue that the stereotypes associated with being Asian are as bad/worse than stereotypes associated with other races, I feel that positive stereotypes can also become extremely harmful. Positive stereotypes, like Asians being intelligent or hardworking, can place unneeded pressure and expectations on ones who are on the receiving […]
You didn’t think I was Mexican?
Cristina Garcia, Cypress, TX People never guess that I’m Mexican, they say I look white a.k.a American. It’s shocking whenever I speak Spanish fluently as they had no idea I could speak it.
I am not a single story
Geovanni Herrera, Dallas, TX p>I chose these six words after being extremely inspired by a Ted talk called “The dangers of a single story” years ago. Where Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an African American born in Eastern Nigeria faced countless amounts of misinterpretations in her home town before realizing the truth about Americans and their norms. […]
Embrace who you are, love it
Eric D., Houston, TX. While my son was in elementary school, I asked what race dose he tells his schoolmates he was. He quickly responded, “White”. When I asked why, he said that his skin color wasn’t brown or black. As he grew older he learned about both his Spanish and African American heritage. Now […]
The Natives are coming back home.
Lucia Casares, San Antonio, TX I’m glad someone is doing this and Michele Norris is perfectly suited. I’ve been a long time fan of hers and NPR. Thank you.
No, I am Hispanic, not Indian
Melissa Orea, Houston, TX I always get asked if I am Indian. I am not sure why .
Poor white trash, not welcome here.
Tracie Combs-Cantu Austin, TX I was born and raised in Kentucky from an Appalachian family. The stereotypes and the realities of being poor and from Appalachian decent always make you self-conscious of your speech, look and skills. Even when you don’t need to worry about any of it.
Mother of all with endless love
Heather Nardone, Athens, TX I have been the mother to many children over the years. It is hard to walk through the zoo and hear people say mean things about me being a white woman thinking I am better then everyone else, showing of with children of other races. I do not see color in […]
Sorority initiation, we look like KKK
Marilyn Anne Kay Wimberley, TX The year was 1968. We were gathered in the formal dining hall of the sorority house, lit only by candles, for our sorority initiation. All white females dressed in matching white gowns. One of my sorority sisters commented, ‘we look just like the Klan.’ This was at the University of […]
I’m white male. What race problem?
Charles Dibe, Lincoln, TX That was the me of my youth. (I’m now 81.) Almost totally oblivious. I read the news, but I didn’t understand, didn’t connect emotionally to the issue of racism. I now feel a sense of responsibility for the current state of affairs and for being part of a solution. I try […]
A single shadow surrounded by light
Anonymous, Lubbock, TX
Hey, you’re good at math, right?
Quoc Du, Houston, TX Being Asian American, there are certain expectations placed upon me. I’m expected to be smart, I’m expected to have good grades and excel in all my classes, I’m expected to acquire a career as a doctor or a dentist. I’m expected to do this and that, all because I am Asian. […]
Leap Of Faith: Towards Greener Pastures?
“Anon Swagapino”, Spring, TX In the Philippines, it is not uncommon to hear your neighbors planning to go abroad. Persuaded by the stories of their fellow compatriots having better lives overseas or higher pay, it is difficult, especially when leaving family and friends behind. But success isn’t always the story; some will get exploited or […]
I Felt Bad While Writing This.
Mary Catherine Schmitz, Houston, TX I acknowledge that many white people tend to prevaricate over the issue of racism in our society. Some might even try to downplay or avoid talking about it in social settings. I realize that these kinds of behaviors might appear indicative of racist beliefs. However, most of the time, these […]
Speaking Spanish? Your stealing my culture.
Jordan Huff, Athens, TX p>I am white, but I speak Spanish almost fluently. I love Mexican food, and entertainment primarily produced for Latinos, being that I understand it. But when I decided to name my pet turtles after ingredients commonly used in Latino cooking I got called racist, and told I was trying to become […]
I Forget I Am Not White
Dougherty, Outside USA. I was adopted. My Dad is Irish, raised in Texas and then California. Mom is a retired nurse. I was raised around Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews. My friends in elementary school were white. Race was never an issue. Or if it was, I have long since forgot about it. I even […]
2004 before we admitted black roots.
Sarah, Dallas, TX.
Southern Rebel past woven quilt future
Susan Lanford, San Antonio, TX p>I grew up in southern Louisiana where racial slurs were normal yet one of my friends in High school lived in N bend and that was normal too. I’m fascinated with how African Americans out smarted the plantation owners using quilts via the Underground Railroad and so my quilt journey […]
Don’t ask me, “What are you?”
Cecile Nguyen Austin, TX Alternative title could also be “I hate the Asian Guessing Game.” I really don’t mind people being curious about my ethnicity. What I do mind is how people go about finding out my ethnicity. “Are you Chinese? Japanese? Korean?…[list goes on]” Believe me, they’ll keep going until I stop them. And […]
No white woman cooks like that
Meredith Christensen Katy, TX
Don’t Bring Home No White Girls
Anonymous, TX. Said a well travelled Black American female veteran to her biracial, trilingual, and dual citizen son. Behind her, in full agreement, stood her Eastern European Jewish husband. As madly in love as was at first sight, their relationship was taboo, condemned by family and friends alike. Now years later they faced their resultant […]
Two white children in Halloween photo
Dave Parnell, Carrollton, TX. Our kindergarten daughter wanted to go to her friend’s Halloween party. I saw that the address and the protective father in me did not feel safe letting her go. But I called and the black man I spoke to certainly heard the fearful white father on the other end of the […]
I’m not on the color spectrum
Sarah Michael, Houston, TX As an Indian woman in America, I always felt like I never had the privileges of a caucasian person, nor the oppression of an African American. I always felt like people around me were either white or black, no in between. Growing up, I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere.
View perceived differences as valuable opportunity.
Lauren C, TX I wish for my half white, half Mexican children to grow up knowing that perceived differences should be an opportunity to learn about another person or people, and how much they may truly have in common. An opportunity to embrace someone or their culture and traditions, and maybe learn something new about […]
Hispanic doctor. It’s not an oxymoron.
Lynette M. Silva, Dallas, TX. My ethnicity apparently changes depending on the immediate environment. I get followed in stores here in Texas, and asked questions like, “Where are your people from?” But when I go to work–I’m a Ph.D.–I am told, “You’re Hispanic? I just don’t see it.”
South Texas Born, Melting Pot Raised
Jerheme Urban, Trinity University I am very proud of the fact that I was born in south Texas, a location steeped with history and tradition. It is also an area that is a melting pot of race, culture, and economic diversity- with a heavy blue collar, agrarian influence. After traveling/working across the country, I have […]
Product of a migrant workers dream.
Elsa Alonzo, San Antonio, TX.
I’m Hispanic, stop thinking I’m White
Leslya Chavez, Houston, TX Born and raised on the East coast of Virginia, though was raised in a Hispanic household. Grew up only Spanish till I was placed in Kindergarten and had to teach myself English. Coming from a Hispanic background where Spanish is your main language at home and then your second language is […]
You’re from? Hmm your pretty tall.
Aaron, Spring, TX In many occasions I am asked, where I am from. This question could be asked in many ways, either with good intent or bad intent. It usually goes this way, “Hey you look like you’re from the middle east, are you?” I usually respond with, “no, I am actually from Mexico.” Then […]
Go Back To Your Own Country
Aixa Rojas, El Paso, TX I am told by a blonde girl from the opposite team while we leave the locker room at the State competition. I was only 16 and it was my second year in the United States; I was still so ignorant of the prejudices held against me and my culture. I […]
The flag symbolizes hate and racism
April Barney Pouncy, Richardson, TX I am Jewish my husband is black and over the last few years I sincerely felt like we might be in danger. I worry for our adult and teenage children. We have both subconsciously begun to view the American Flag as a symbol to put us on high alert. Now […]
Why aren’t black adoptive parents colorblind?
Ilbersalle Fallon, Austin, TX
Messianic Jew Yogi? Pick one fool!
Signe Wendt, Austin, TX. Jewish by heritage when I began to worship Jesus I was told I was no longer Jewish and I had to pick one.Now I try to connect Christians to their faith as a yoga teacher and I am not sure who is more uncomfortable with that. Yogis (at least in Austin) […]
Ritz Cracker at your service sir
Ike, Midland, TX. If people are going to call me a cracker, which by the way doesn’t bother be at all, at least let me be a Ritz cracker or better yet a cheese cracker.
Not a color, but God’s child
Sabrina Tilley, Hutchins, TX Student at Dallas County Community College District, Eastfield College
Took 21 Years To Be Latina
Yasmin Agudelo, The Colony, TX. I love this project. I’ve seen so many thoughts and statements that reflected my own experiences growing up as a child of immigrants.
Everyone at my church is white.
Cole Chandler Waco, TX It is difficult to stand in solidarity with one another and overcome our fears of one another when we continue to segregate ourselves in our supposedly integrated society. We are not even diverse, much less reconciled. What a tragedy.
Are We Really All That Different?
Leilany Lechuga, El Paso, TX I was born in the United States and my ethnicity is Hispanic I find it weird that some people think that their ethnicity is superior to ours. It’s not our fault that we were born to different places and from other ethnicities, we are all humans. Sometimes when I go […]
Asians are still humans deserving love
Pettida Ratthasamut, Sugar Land, TX
My Tenth Birthday Was Super Awkward
Wilson Sunny, Sunnyvale, TX I was born September 11th, 1991. Ten years later, a great national tragedy happened within the United States that shook the nation to the core. It was the first time, I believe, the term “terrorist” became a mainstream word. Not when Timothy McVeigh decided to blow up a building in Oklahoma […]
Genuinely love thy neighbor as thyself
Rebecca Williams, Dallas, TX If we could take the time think through the process of treating others as we wish to be treated it would make a tremendous difference in our world. A little empathy goes a long way and is a gift to ourselves and others.
Hurry up, lock the car doors
Jakevion Buckley, Shelbyville, TX Tired of being judged by skin color.
Southern white girls aren’t always “proud”
Cecily B, Rusk, TX
I am not a happy ending.
Paula Lin, Houston, TX
You look like you would speak Spanish.
Christopher Sandate, El Paso, TX
You Still Have Value in USA
Berenice Folks, El Paso, TX It’s too weird how people who seem to be the same race as you (Mexican) behave in an aggressive way. I have gone to a same gas station a couple of times where a lady who looks Mexican and speaks Spanish works, she attends people with a bad face but […]
Border life safety, mass murder, lose.
Patricia Valdez-Harrison, El Paso, TX. El Paso Texas for the fourth year in a row as been reported to be the safest city in the country even though it shares borders with one of the deadliest cities in Mexico. I chose to end my sentence with lose not only for the lose of so many […]
She’s nice for a black woman!
Barry Watkins, Santa Rosa, CA. My mother took me back when she told me that. She was loving & guileless. She drove off the road when I told her I had Black roommates in SF, though I grew up in Beaumont, TX. I never thought of my roommates as “Black”, they were individuals – Ron […]
Yo soy Tejano, not “White Washed”
Christopher A Hernández, Corpus Christi, TX. Growing up on the Gulf Coast of Texas, you can always smell the sea; after all: it’s practically in your backyard. But there’s also something else that is constantly in the air that one may not be able to smell, but it’s just as pungent: Stereotypes. I come from […]
Genetically black and white raised hispanic
Veronica Herrera Nacogdoches, TX My daughter currently only 2 months was conceived through a donor who is African American. My wife is Caucasian and I am Mexican/Cuban American. When my wife and I spoke about having kids she wanted to carry the child first because she is older than me. We wanted our child to […]
Black is believed to be dangerous
Deshawn Tiliaia, Fort Worth, TX
I’m not the RIGHT minority.
Brianna Acosta, Leander, TX. All the U.S. is talking about is black and white, but what about the Mexican Americans? Discrimination against us has risen 50% in the last ten years while discrimination against most other races in the U.S. has gone down.
Does my skin color really matter?
Ricardo Quintanilla Jr., Mission, TX. For what I have seen the world to be, skin color makes for a subject of preference or a form of documentation. Skin color shouldn’t define or explain, it should simply be what it is, a skin color.
I’m tired of being called evil.
Jackson Bates, White Oak, TX.
I will not yield to you.
James Michael Rogers Houston, TX I was at my neighborhood park one morning jogging, and I saw three white women walking abreast in one direction, and a black woman coming towards them in the opposite direction. The white women ignored the black woman and no one stepped back to let the black lady pass, and […]
I’m mixed and I accept all
Marcellus Hendricks, San Antonio, TX. My friend in high school said “you talk proper” I said “and?” He said “you’re black” So that told me, that what? I’m supposed to talk Ingorant because I’m mixed with black? No, excuse me for having an open vocabulary.
You talk like a white girl.
Oyinloluwa Akande, Northlake, TX People need to know that eloquence is not a white trait. It is a product of education and education is for everyone.
Yes, those boys are my brothers.
Julia Guerra, Austin, TX. My brothers are very important figures in my life. They were born to a white mom and a white dad. They are blonde and red-haired, with blue and green eyes. When they were little babies, my white mom married my Mexican dad and he adopted both of them as his own. […]
A World With Out A Mirror!
Sherry Chaudhry, San Antonio, TX. Imagine a World without a Mirror Without a reflection to see ourself. There would be no glassy reflection sitting upon the shelf. Without knowing our own image it would be difficult to judge another. For the image we have of ourselves, determines how we see our brothers by Sherry Chaudhry
I am Black, but also Nigerian.
Alimot Tinubu, Houston, TX I know that typically I would just be looked ta as another black girl, but I have deeper roots than that I am actually from Nigeria and so are my parents. It is hard to see the transparency through people when they look the same and you just assume things about […]
White but grew up as minority
Vicki Hohner, Olympia, WA While I am a white midwesterner by origin, I spent most of my formative years as a minority. First as part of the only white family in several Alaska Native villages, where my parents were elementary school teachers for many years; and in my high school years, as part of a […]
Yes I’m Asian, but not smart
Tram Ho, Houston, TX Just because I’m Asian, doesn’t mean that I am naturally smart. It is not something I am born with, it is something I have to work hard for. I spend 40+ hours as an HCC student to keep up with my coursework. Even with my hard work, I sometimes fall behind. […]
Full Filipino, but not quite full
Marsha, TX My name is Marsha, a student at HCC in the US. I am 100 percent Filipino, but there are times when I do not feel full. I was born in the US and my parents were always worried that their children had a proper education. They were scared for us to not be […]
Being Asian doesn’t determine my intelligence.
Vivian Nguyen, Houston, TX
I’m Jewish in an anti-semitic world
Elianna Goldman, Houston, TX Being Jewish in America nowadays can be very scary. There is so much anti-Semitism to the point that when a jew goes to certain places they have to change their appearance so they don’t look Jewish.
I am 0.4% Sub-Saharan African
Mary Jo Latham-Martin, Houston, TX After being diagnosed with Essential Tremor, and being told it was hereditary, I started on a quest to learn about the father I never knew. My mom would never talk about him. I did genealogy and DNA testing and found he was a white boy from Kentucky, who was a […]
That Don’t Count Because You’re White
Lakeesha Graves, Richmond, TX Black and White yet too black for white people and too white for some black people. Where do I belong? Why can’t I be black? Why do I have to be white? Why can’t I be white? Why do I have to be black? Why is my contradictory thinking considered “white […]
My Foreign Land, My Children’s Homeland.
Robert Fang Plano, TX I am a Chinese. I came to US in 1977 when I was 27, full grown. My children were all born in US and raised in Texas. When my first son was 5 years old, I asked him casually, in Chinese, “Are you a little Chinese or a little American.? (你是小中國人還是小美國人?” […]
Pacific Islanders are not Asian ok!
Luis David Garcia Huntsville, TX I am Mexican, my wife is Pacific Islander and our girls were born in Virginia and Texas. My girls are the minority among minorities and yet are lumped together with the largest population in the planet (Asian/Pacific Islander). Now try to tell my Chamorro wife that she is Chinese and […]
His parents will never meet me.
Kayle Dallas, TX Our breakup happened for many reason, but the main one is because his parents would never feel 100% comfortable with their son for being with me. I’m black and he’s white. Such simple labels that belie a myriad of different experiences. I would think that any parent would be thrilled their son […]
I’m too black for line dancing. (Merle Haggard)
Anne Rapp Austin, TX
The Human Race; The Forgotten Race.
Elyzabeth Inez Smith, Granbury, TX. No matter what history has come to discover. No matter what the future has to uncover. No matter what excuses people can come up with in order to justify the racial lines man has created. In the end we ALL are the same race. The only race. The ever colorful […]
I ask myself what’s my part.
Patricia Merten, Atascocita, TX I am white and walk around oblivious to these issues. I live with a black man. I am frustrated with how far I thought we had come and how racist we are. Women’s rights follow race rights. What is my role? What is my part? And how do I help others […]
Hi I’m George, what’s your name?
Larry Taylor Webster, TX Six words which could have saved a young man’s life.
Black 365 days of the year.
Marquez Jones, Houston, TX I chose “Black 365 Days of the Year” because in my heart and in the manner that I live my life, I live unapologetically as myself. The identity that I most identify with is my race and although I know that I experience prejudice, racism, and biases, I am proud of […]
Race mattered then. It matters now.
Phyll, Fort Worth, TX. At 62 years old, I am a child of thw Civil Rights struggles. When my son was born in 1971, I was committed to raising him without the excess baggage of race. It didn’t take but one sleepover for his Pee Wee Football team that the White boys weren’t allow to […]
Yes, I am the Racist Salesman
Sam Smith, Stafford, TX. Ya I figured that would catch people off guard. I’ve been a salesperson now for about 10 years in Houston. Love the city and the culture, made a pretty good career out of it too. I’ve sold cars and motorcycles for a living. One thing I will readily acknowledge is I’m […]
We are here to do right
Evelyn Espinal, Houston, TX Hello! I’m Evelyn and I’m a Latina studying at Houston Community College to become a dental hygienist.
Strong, intelligent, soulful, active, charismatic, stable
Darryl Sumpter, Houston, TX
I know that I’m white passing.
Anonymous, Burleson, TX My mom is white and my father is Hispanic, so I am mixed. I am told that I’m White-passing a lot and it irks me for some reason. I know that I live in a society where White people have privilege, so I should be glad that I am Wiite-passing. However, when […]
The skin I’m in is resilient.
Keisha, Spring, TX.
By protecting her, I’m oppressing her.
Adrienne Kern, Keller, TX. My daughter was two weeks from turning one on September 11, 2001. She is one of them. An Arab (pronounced with a Texas drawl: A-Rab). A camel jockey. A rag head. She is Turkish and Saudi and Egyptian. She is not white like me, her mother, who is also mixed race. […]
She`s so beautiful, is she mixed?
Julie Newell, Lubbock, TX.
Racially Ambiguous and Tired Of Explaining
Melanie Cowart, Fair Oaks Ranch, TX. My parents were married in 1934 when miscegenation was illegal in most states. Until I was older, I didn’t realize how much courage it took for them to be together. My mother, who was white, raised her two daughters, now 80 and 62, to be proud African-American women. I’m […]
Turban, Assumptions, Fear, Perpetually Foreign, Resistance
Simran Jeet Singh, New York, NY. Trinity University My visible Sikh and South Asian identity have shaped my experiences with racial and cultural identities. Upon seeing me, people mark me as different and make various assumptions about me. Associations assume (but are not limited to): foreign, violent, conservative, uneducated, terrorist, victim, uncivilized, and dogmatic.
Your skin feels just like mine!
Laura Speegle Waco, TX I teach elementary school in Waco, Texas. I can’t remember why this little bitty girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, was sitting in my lap crying… but suddenly she reached out and stroked my pale white are and looked up at me in surprise. After making this observation she snuggled […]
Black and part of the solution.
Maurice Kemp, San Antonio, TX. I did not choose my race. No one did. I was born into a world with preconceived notions about my race and others. We all were. I entered a world with plenty of recorded and unrecorded history. We all did. I cannot account for any of the history that predates […]
A little This, A little That
Elizabeth James Sugar Land, TX I wasn’t really aware of this till I became older, yea my mom looked different than I and pretty much everyone mostly on my moms side of the family but I never put much thought into it. I got this a lot in middle school and high school actually “Well […]
Never keep secrets from your children.
I. Lulu, San Antonio, TX. I was 52 when I confirmed what I had long dodged: I was adopted — more like appropriated — at birth. Back then and in my part of the world (Texas), those things happened. My adoptive parents are on my birth certificate as the birth parents. Whatya gonna do, right? […]
I’m brown, glamorous, educated and wealthy.
SOFIA KHAN, Allen, TX People assume because I am a brown-skinned woman, I can’t afford luxury items or regular-priced items! I have heard so many putdowns and have been bossed around by strangers (even youngsters half my age) and passers by even when I am minding my own business. Usually I can extract that the […]
Traditional environment with non-traditional views.
Amanda Cook Lubbock, TX I’m an international business student at Texas Tech University, living in the second most conservative city in the United States. My views on non traditional gender roles and preferred marital status are ridiculed daily. Clearly I don’t have “southern” values. Texas Tech Student. 2013 OTC Symposium.
All-American Girl: Minority at Work
Stefanie Bernosky, Houston, TX. I was raised as an All-American girl to an All-American family in an All-American town. I even looked “All-American”, proudly featuring my braces and American Flag sweater in this dated family photo (circa 1994). We can trace my family (both sides) to the United States prior to the United States Revolution. […]
Bangladeshi-British immigrant. Mom of all-American twins.
Sadia Rodriguez, Round Rock, TX. If I had to limit myself to a single identity, I’d say that I’m a mother of twins above all else. Sure, I’m also a business analyst, a blogger, a divorcee, a permanent resident of the US, a holder of British and Bangladeshi passports and a former US Army wife. […]
Strength in pedigree proud of race
Tory Robinson, Omaha, NE. I refuse to be fearful growing up in Texas, I learned fear is an obstacle. I now live in Nebraska a state that hides its racism but I won’t be broken because of the strength in my pedigree.
My thoughts matter. Don’t ignore me.
Larry Bowditch, Carrollton, TX Time after time in meetings and discussions with white people my input on a topic goes without acknowledgment until another person, usually white, brings up the identical idea, which then is acknowledged as a great idea. I’m sitting there thinking, “Didn’t I just say that?” I used to rationalize it away […]
Your son looks nothing like you!
Dr. J., Irving, TX. It’s true, everyone tries to find similarities between babies and their parents. But the search ends when people see my son’s curly golden hair, blue eyes, and light complexion. Someone once asked me, “are you sure you want to name him Diego?” (when he was 9 months old). I’ll admit it, […]
Brown dad. I never felt white.
Terri Kimmel, Corpus Christi, TX My dad had jet black hair and tawny olive skin. His mother was Sicilian and his father had an English surname, but family lore says there is Native American ancestry. My mother is fair-haired with light skin. My parents divorce when I was in elementary school and dad maintained custody […]
Not all white conservatives are racists
Emily, Houston, TX. Many people complain about discrimination, stereotypes, and prejudices relating to race; and I am under no illusion that what they experience is real and happens every day. After experiencing such treatment, I would hope that those people would be more sensitive to the subject and try not to stereotype people. Unfortunately, I […]
White mother glad sons biracial 2021
Monae Dasher, El Paso, TX I was the white girl that embraced integration in school, first to befriend the one or two Black children my age in elementary. In middle school, large integration happened and physical fights broke out and my heart ached to see my friends on both sides beating each other up. I […]
You’re in America now, speak English
Alondra Rivera, Wilmer, TX I remember hearing this as a child constantly, especially with my grandmother. I felt ashamed speaking Spanish that I completely didn’t want to speak it. Mother reminded me that our language is beautiful and so is our culture and not to take it out on us for someone else’s ignorance. As […]
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 English and Spanish language and I was encouraged to live both my Mexican and U.S. Latina identities. I did not realize how important an ethnic identity was until I came […]
Where are all the basketball courts?
Candace Davis, Houston, TX Courts provided ways for us to meet, exercise, and also solve community issues. Kids could sell candy, adults met the love of their lives and violence was never the answer. We allowed media to portray courts as places of violence. Stop taking away our right to be together.
Cops can’t see us with you
Alexander Hileman Commerce City, CO People are afraid in parts of the USA to be seen with white people. I was down in Texas, and a couple of black kids asked us if we wanted to play some basketball. We said yes and we played for about an hour and a half until they said […]
Black Woman Who Loves to Swim!
Eb, Rowlett, TX. I am a black woman and I am already missing the summertime. I love to go to a local swimming pool (and yes I will get my hair wet!) in the middle of a Texas summer. I have a naturally kinky, curly and thick afro and there is nothing relaxing on a […]
My white skin: my guaranteed protection
Delaney, Amarillo, TX Since I am a white woman, the world doesn’t see me as a threat or danger. I have the privilege of walking around knowing that the police (who are supposed to protect everyone and don’t) will protect me if I ever find myself in a bad situation. That’s something that our Black […]
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 be extremely enlightening to see how both sides can be so different and yet so similar at the exact same time. However, there is always this feeling as if I […]
Chinese adoptee with two white moms
Ting Goodfriend, Austin, TX Willamette University Growing up in a white household and being told to be proud of my identity from a white narrative has made the journey of my personal identification extremely hard. I’m too white to feel comfortable with my Chinese identity, but too Chinese to feel at home in white society.
Lifetime in slipstream of white flight
Richard Bacon Chicago, IL Mid 1970s living in perfectly nice middle class neighborhood in NE Dallas Texas. The desecration, by busing, of the neighborhood school (which was mediocre anyway) caused about half the families with school age children to move out in one summer. My best friend moved. Those of us who stayed were dispersed […]
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 a biracial woman gives me a sense of pride which leads to strength and confidence. But this comes at a cost. I am often referred to as “acting white” by […]
Every Hispanic Isn’t Always Hispanic Okay?
Mathew Rayne, Houston, TX. Once in awhile you go for a drive and see the people around you enjoying what there doing. Everyone is their own person! Sometimes your expected to do something that… you just rather not do? It’s my family line? In my blood? Just because I’m Hispanic doesn’t mean i wanted to […]
An Accent is a sign of Courage
Carmen Garcia, College Station, TX
My Skin Color Poses a Threat
Mia Woodard, Dallas, TX Because of my skin color, when I’m out in public I am looked at with disgust and spoken to rudely. Because of my skin color, I am not always afforded the same opportunities as the next. Because of my skin color, the Asian cashier in the beauty store follows and watches […]
Why do I have to pick?
Lisa Pearce, La Marque, TX Being mixed race has brought on everything from “oh, you look like you speak Spanish” to “don’t be so white”. Wanting to hold on to a culture but feeling like a fraud because I’m only “half” has been a challenge throughout my life. It has taken years to realize that […]
Curly hair, yes I am fully black.
Codi Fillmore, Houston, TX You do not have to be mixed to have curly hair. Black people’s hair isn’t “nappy”. We several different skin tones and several different textures of hair. Still black. Dillard University
I’m a mutt, so are you
Melissa Renner, McAllen, TX.
The facts stop where feelings begin
John Smith, Las Vegas, TX. Races are diffrent, not only by color of skin, but by brain and how our body is built, its sad but true some races are capable to do better things then others, when the white man whas building rome the Africans where still living in mud houses, and most of […]
Mexicans are like European gypsies, right?
Violet, Houston, TX p>As an Eastern European I am asked this question quite frequently.
Black privilege is also very real.
Ronnie Widner, Mineral Wells, TX
Short. Dark. Supposed statistic. Intellectual outlier.
Cory, Ft. Worth, TX.
Love is meant for all people
Austin Wagner, Lubbock, TX Love should come before anything. Nobody deserves to be treated any less and feel that they aren’t good enough or different for something they have no control over and has no actual impact on the quality of the person.
Perceptions Equal Thoughts Equal Future Actions
Charles, Houston, TX Change your perceptions, You change your thinking, You change your thinking, You change your actions, You change your action, You change future..😉
I Never Noticed We Were Different
Michelle Gentry, Abernathy, TX
None of us were alive then
Anonymous, Lubbock, TX
Being white is more than privilege.
Adela Ludeke, Austin, TX. I know that whites are traditionally “privileged”, but I find it so cringeworthy when I hear other whites checking their privilege. It’s as if they have so much guilt because of what their ancestors did. And it’s more embarrassing when your parents check their privileges. Sure, racism is shameful, but too […]
Divisiveness planted to keep us distracted
Kelly O’Brien Pruitt, Houston, TX. I love living in a multicultural City. I love seeing different sizes and shapes and colors, different combinations of ethnic groups. To me this is what America looks like. I want to tell every white person who thinks that America belongs to them is that we came from Europe and […]
I’m a person not a color
David Williams, Dallas, TX p>As An African American in this country, I face several problems throughout my life just because of the color of my skin. As a person of African American decent, in the United States, I am faced with several challenges within my life due to the color of my skin alone. As […]
My Not So White Life
Joye Beard, Corpus Christi, TX. In the 23 years that my husband and I have been married I’ve noticed some disconcerting things about being in a mixed race marriage. First, I’m not comfortable around other white people at all. If they’re open minded it’s not so bad. But most are not, and once they learn […]
I will make reparations to you.
Jane Cavazos, San Antonio, TX I have been reading the stories of African Americans for several years–their struggles, triumphs, setbacks and progress…I feel badly about the immense suffering they have endured over centuries of injustice. I will make reparations by volunteering my service in a public library in the African American community.
God knew what he was doing
Malley Morales, Dallas, TX. Nowhere in the Bible does it say, “and then Jesus whipped his slaves, who were inadequate because of their skin color.” We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all equal.
____ Students’ Association! Fill the blank.
KM, Austin, TX. I am current in college at one of the largest public universities. Not a week goes by where I don’t see a group of students sitting at a table and asking passerby’s to join their organization. One of the most numerous types would be the such&such Students’ Association. I am of mixed […]
America why do you hate me?
Ernest Henson, Longview, TX. African first question Black man’s last.
I don’t even know my origin
Creytisha Gray, Lubbock, TX After centuries my ancestors being stripped from my Homeland, I have no idea where I, nor my ancestors are from. The only clues I get are through DNA ancestry (which does not tell me where exactly my ancestors settled). No traditions, values, religion, or even language is known to me about […]
Your not American, your Latina.
Jennifer Sanchez, Garland, TX
Cold Stares Warm Smiles Evens Out
Eric Flores, Lubbock, TX. I am a Mexican-American or simply put American. I was born and raised in a conservative town. I was too Mexican for the Whites and too White for the Mexicans. I was stuck in the middle. I always wanted to be white but now I am glad that I am Mexican. […]
No, you are Mexican not Hispanic.
Alyssa Herrera, Dallas, TX So my birth certificate says my race is white or Caucasian,and my ethnicity is Hispanic/Latino. Yet when some people meet me they automatically assume I’m Mexican because in their minds they believe,” they all look alike.” Or, her last name is Herrera she can be our translator. I can not count […]
A “white girl” with a unique heritage
Ashlyn Rachelle Sharp, Azle, TX. I hate the term “typical white girl”. Why does a girl whose taste buds enjoy pumpkin spice lattes have to be categorized automatically in some stupid stereotype? I may be “white”, but my heritage is so much more than just a typical white girl. My veins are flowing with the […]
Jew. That’s what they call me.
Kelsey Bamburg, Quinlan, TX I’m not a POC. I will never understand their struggles. I benefit from white privilege. I get called a white girl all the time, and I am one… But living in a small southern town, don’t let the others hear you call me that. To them, I am an outsider. Ostracized […]
Listen and Learn More, Talk less.
Mady Turner, Wylie, TX.
Open Conversations about race always matter
Michael Goldberg, Dallas, TX. Race conversations should always be happening no matter your background or skin color. Stop the finger pointing on both sides and start talking to solve the problems.
Bigotry lives on; so does hope.
Matt Neal, San Antonio, TX.
You Don’t Look Like Your Name
Jessica Davila, Rowlett, TX I am a tanned skin, brown hair, brown eyes, Mexican American woman. My married name was Jessica Phillips. I worked at a doctor’s office on the “rich” part of town while getting my degree in biology. On multiple occasions, during phone conversations with patients, I would get the compliment on how […]
Half Japanese Half Irish Hapa? Whateva
Lois Ann Knezek, Sanger, TX. I was born and raised in Hawai’i to a Hawai’i born Japanese woman and an Irish Bostonian. Luckily, in Hawai’i, everyone is mixed so I didn’t feel any different. Then I married a haole from Texas and moved to a culture where people didn’t know what I was. I wasn’t […]
Up with this I won’t put
Amy Hartman, San Antonio, TX These are the words of Lucretia Mott, suffragist, who was sick and tired of women not having the right to vote. I need to proceed with next right action steps, in the footsteps of people who model this for us.
White wife to a black husband
Rachel Varney, Keller, TX I try daily to understand what my husband lives and what my 3 boys see and experience. I am very aware of the privilege I have that they do not.
I’m cutting off ties with Black People
Elmer R Hemingway, Pearland, TX Tired of the black community’s victim mentality, entitlement (reparations), massive racism based on skin color…. a glorified level of bullying. Really tired of hearing people who have never had any contact with police saying how racist they are. Pretty sure responses to this will bear out my feelings. Black Community […]
A border town taught me understanding
Christian Diego Cintron, El Paso, TX. Culture and race should be celebrated. Growing up in a border town taught me people are different and we should all be understanding. I am Hispanic and I love my culture and the way it blends with all the other cultures.
As powerful as the Red Sea
Andrea M, Houston, TX. Discrimination due to race is as powerful as the splitting of the Red Sea; splitting a society into many parts, when we were only meant to love as one.
Entered world of race after 9/11
Lesley Thomas George Frisco, TX My perfect little world was broken up into different races post 9/11. As an Indian-American, I escaped much of the profiling that many African Americans face. After 9/11 much of that changed.
You can sit in the bar
Diane Graves, San Antonio, TX. My husband and I (both Anglo) were driving our adopted daughter (born in El Salvador, adopted as an infant, a U.S. citizen since she was 11 months old) to a guest ranch in Colorado. It was 2004; our daughter was 11 years old. Late on Sunday morning, we stopped to […]
Wish I knew how I’m viewed
James, Lubbock, TX
I am human, just like you
Alyssa Williams, Richmond, TX People typically see the color of my skin before they actually see me. They judge my character before they get to know me.
I am careful with what I say
Aiden, Dallas, TX Since I was a kid, I always avoided going too far or saying the wrong thing, and it is a constant mental drain to keep myself from blurting out something insensitive or politically incorrect.
“This is America, We Speak English”
Valentin Miranda, Dallas, TX I just find it funny when someone tells me this when I speak Spanish with my mom somewhere public because the US doesn’t have an official language.
Are you Mexican? Does it matter?
Mya Garcia, Lubbock, TX When I am asked if I am Mexican, I truly don’t know how to answer. No, none of my family is from Mexico, my great grandparents lived on Native American reservations. Yes, my family knows Spanish, but I was never taught. No, I have never been to Mexico, nor has any […]
I am not who you think I am
Kathleen Murphy, Lubbock, TX
Who would your children identify with?
Anonymous, Lubbock, TX
I am ashamed of white privilege.
Hannah Strength, Lubbock, TX
Adopted at birth; family history unknown.
Kristi Boehm, Spring, TX. Every year on my birthday I give thanks to the woman who loved me enough to give me up for adoption. I couldn’t have asked for a better mother and father, and my family life was nothing but ordinary. As an aging adult, with no idea of whether I’m Swedish, German, […]
We are connected, all of us
Kelly White, Frisco, TX I am a white woman who people mistake as conservative. A simple way for me to think about the race issues in the US today (and, I know, things are not simple) relate to “we” or “me” thinking. “We” thinkers know we are all connected, and that the strength is to […]
Speaking spanish is my choice
Ana Martinez, Baytown, TX I’ve been told that my language is offensive to people when people need Spanish speakers when getting hired but yet its “offensive “
Nobody is legal in stolen land.
Diana Castillo, Garland, TX Stop calling my brothers and sisters illegal. We come in peace for a better life.
Carlos, you really don’t speak Spanish?
Carlos Hernandez, Seagoville, TX I am a Hispanic of Mexican descent with an extremely stereotypical name. My first and last names are both common Latino names. So, when people figure out I can’t speak Spanish well, they don’t believe me and my fellow Latinos mock me for it. I can’t help that I wasn’t taught […]
I gotta be better to be equal.
Andrea Canchola, San Antonio, TX. As a young, Latina, woman I feel that I have to be better than everyone just to be equal. I’m tiny, short and I will boss you around. Just because I’m a young Latina woman doesn’t mean that I’m not as good as you. I’m probably better because I had […]
Reflections of Ethnicity, but Not Race?
Josie, Houston, TX Most of my life, I had not given much thought to my racial identity. I never really thought about myself as a “white person” or what it meant to be white, unless I had to fill out a form for school, a job, or standardized tests. It was just a label with […]
Told: Not African American? Not Black.
Auguste Budhram Austin, TX I was broke, in my twenties and had just moved to NYC when a friend told me that I could earn some extra cash by being a part of a focus group. When I called the ad agency, I was told I’d be asked a series of questions to determine if […]
How soft black hair is. . . surprise
Charlotte, Houston, TX. I grew up close to African Americans. They were guests in our home and people on the bus with us. I never noticed how taboo touching was between us until I was 30 and a neighbor girl came over to play with my kids. She skinned her knee and as I hugged […]
Neighborhood party we were not invited
Ninfa Pena-Purcell, College Station, TX. This picture of my parents captures a young Mexican American couple with aspirations to live the American dream in the 1950s only to find out that their family of six children would never be welcomed in their neighborhood. Years later this experience has stayed with me and made me resolve […]
Narrow Paths Dirt Roads Soul Soles
Treylieus Curry, Denton, TX. Everyone has a story and their road my not be pretty or easy to navigate but the destination is freeingly beautiful.
You talk like you are white.
Ariana Amador, Dallas, TX You can’t talk like a color.
“Go back where you came from”
Yoselin, Dallas, TX As a Latina speaking Spanish is a natural thing especially to my parents who do not speak English. Going around speaking another language that is not English gets you to look at different, “Learn English” “speak English” is probably the most common things I hear when speaking Spanish. Even though I get […]
“You all look alike to me”
John Kwong, Mesquite, TX Growing up an Asian American in Dallas, TX, I often heard the words of ignorant people say “All Asians look the same,” “Chinese, Japanese, Korean… what’s the difference?” To be truthful, these words hurt. Associating all extremely different ethnic groups into a single title. Our backgrounds, our culture, and our family […]
Boyfriend didn’t want white kids. I’m white.
Rheannea Howerton, Plano, TX
Oh, I thought you were white
Alison Montes, Dallas, TX Puerto Ricans are multiracial. We are mixed with Spanish, African, and Indigenous races so we are more than likely able to pass as any of those races easily; which is what happens to me. I am mistaken as a Caucasian every time and it is not until they notice I am […]
A WHITE PUBLIC SPEAKER WITH AUTISM
Finnegan Lang Caplette, Garland, TX I am a White Texan born and raised in the Dallas area and I have Autism. I have tried my hardest in life to defy the meaning of the word Autism. I have become a public speaker for anti-bullying and special needs kids and I am also a camp counselor, […]
I am from here and there
Alma Arriaga, Texas State University, Austin, TX I am a combination of the places and cultures I was born in and raised with.
My dad works in construction, so what?
Karla Rivera, Dallas, TX My father did come from Mexico crossing the border but he has his papers. He works in construction in a nicer white populated area. My father works very hard and he tries his best to speak English. I wish people would stop judging him, for someone who quit school at a […]
That Was So White Of You
Lillie Carroll, Richmond, TX “You are so white” is something I hear almost all of the time. I hear it after I say something quirky or do something weird. What boggles me is that something in light of being funny or myself has been boxed into the title of “being white”. Why can’t I make […]
We’re Here Walking Each Other Home
R. Flowers Rivera, McKinney, TX. The most aware I’ve ever been of race was when my family moved from Gulfport, Mississippi, to New Fairfield, Connecticut, during the 1980s. At that time, New Fairfield was a town with a population of about 10,000 in which there were three Black children, all of whom were in my […]
A power grab by skin color
Tim Elliott, Plano, TX
Black Girls Play Video Games Too
Chelsea L. Harris, Fort Worth, TX. I’m a gamer, and I don’t mean the occasional “Angry-Flappy Bird” app gamer, or “Just Dance” gamer. I’m a “Own Every Console, Collect Every Series Title, No-Life” gamer. My two brothers and I have been gamers since the days of NES, before I even quit wearing Pull-Ups. Gaming was […]
No offense BUT, what are you?
Francesca Sam-Sin, Katy, TX. “No offense BUT, what are you?” That’s usually how the conversation about my race begins. When I arrived in the U.S. in the 80’s I was really surprised by the emphasis on race. The first time someone asked what “race” I was, it took me a minute to understand exactly what […]
TV people don’t look like us
Ana Artigas Houston, TX I am the child of an Italian-American mother and Spanish (from Spain) father, and I was born in Mexico. I am married to an American man of Dutch and British ancestry, We have friends in mixed race marriages. All of us have children, and there are very few TV programs, none […]
Confusing Because Hispanic Isn’t A Race
Oscar Lopez, Dallas, TX Many times when completing a school survey or form I’m forced to put white as my race as Hispanic isn’t an option. Other times Hispanic is an option leaving me confused as to what’s my race.
Lights flipped, pulled over, relax brother
JC Ousley Houston, TX In 1998 I bought a new red corvette despite my mother’s plea, she said the car was trouble for a black man. On the day the car was delivered, I was driving to my parent’s home to show off my new vette when I was pulled over by three Chicago police […]
Running Shouldn’t Lead To My Death
Dmitri Julius, Austin, TX We really appreciate the work being done here. Keep it up. It’s incredibly important and so impactful when we are able to see one another. I wanted to share these thoughts with our team as it’s been weighing heavily on my heart these past few weeks. I woke up in tears […]
“Black girls please love your curls”
Amiri Warden, Eastfield College Dallas, TX
“No, where are you really from?”
Rachel Mendoza, Dallas, TX
Decide based on skills, not color
Sage Perez, Eastfield College. Dallas, TX, This is always the best way in making a decision, especially in white-collar jobs.
You must have eaten dog meat
Grandison, Mesquite, TX Born and raised in an Asian country, which is the Philippines, one misconception of us is that we eat dog meat. It is my 7th year here in the United States, and a lot of people I’ve met normalize the joke that we Asians eat dog meat. It can be funny sometimes, […]
“A Disgrace to Your Own Race”
Magale Velasquez, Balch Springs, TX As female born in the USA but raised in Mexico until the age of 15, moving to Dallas, Tx and learning English in a short amount of time while trying to assimilate to the culture as to not be looked down upon by other races because of the language barrier; […]
Everyone deserves to have a voice.
Emma Colegrove, Forney, TX As a cis white woman, I understand I have a position of privilege. I am always paying attention to those whose voice is not being heard, and I do what I can to make them heard. But this is not enough. I can be their voice, but they deserve to have […]
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