Steven Jones, Wayne State, Detroit, MI Race is a word. Since its a word, it can be used in different ways. Currently, race is widely (not only) used to express differences resulting in the lack of continuity among people.
Never let anyone dull your sparkle.
Carolyn A. Johnson, Wayne State, Detroit, MI
Self segregation in classrooms baffles me!
Sandy Yarrington, Wayne State, St. Clair Shores, MI I am always amazed at how far we have come, but I am frustrated at how far we have to go. It disturbs me that in many of the classes I have taken, the black people all sit together. The white people sit together. The foreign students […]
We know where we came from
Isaac Weiss, Wayne State Yes, we’re a Middle Eastern tribe. Yes, white people can usually tell we’re not the same as them by looking. Yes, Europeans never accepted us in their countries, even when the homeland we were expelled from was still under foreign rule. And yes, a few decades ago they tried to murder […]
Listen to Black People about RACISM
Kenyel Clark, Wayne State, Detroit, MI If you are privileged, you do not feel the effects of what socially going on.So, if you want to understand racism talk people of color, listen to them and STOP talking over them.
The only reason I was arrested.
Mignon Lott, Wayne State, Detroit, MI. My boyfriend and I were out on M59 heading to an event that he was catering when I was flicked. I pulled over. The officer walked up to the car and asked did I know why he pulled me over. I said no. He said because I didn’t have […]
Colorblindness is Racist…
KKC, Wayne State, Detroit, MI The problem is not color, it is the way we treat people of other colors. When your white, you are seen as the “norm” so when you say you don’t see color you are taking away what makes them different and special to make them more “acceptable” white
See my humanity first, race second.
Sylvia Stancil, Wayne State, MI While I will concede that these mere six words may represent an oversimplification to addressing extremely complex issues, recognizing the humanity first in anyone is a good foundation upon which to build open and honest dialogue. There is a thread of commonality that should serve to bind us provided one […]
This country is such a beautiful place
Kelly Mulvany, Chandler, AZ This country is beautiful BECAUSE we are not all white. The variety of cultures and beautiful people ARE what makes America great and I would not like to see that whitewashed. If that means giving up privileges than so be it- after all, have so many people already proved it’s doable?
There’s no finish line to color
Omar, USA Race has two meanings, and both can haunt us. The color of our skin, hair, eyes, etc.. or the delirious desire to be the fastest, the strongest, to win the race. They’ve always been intertwined. Well, as we know now, those division lines of color, or those finish lines of race-tracks are very […]
Have Pride in your European Heritage!
Caleb Boc Steele, Wayne State, Trenton, MI I’ve seen a lot of things recently that allude to white guilt or white privilege or other things like so I’d just like to remind people to have pride in where they come from, no matter where. I think all people should have pride in their heritage and […]
Fine nose for a Black woman.
Kareen, Vershire, VT. Friends: Who think they are not racist by saying that.
Fight for God’s kingdom on Earth
Rachel, USA. We must not be complicit in oppression. Come let us follow the Lamb who has conquered sin and death to bring justice and peace.
Ongoing process of rectification and clarity
Kyle, USA.
We all want the same things.
Jim Sechelski, Wayne State, Detroit, MI.
We All Deserve Better Than This
Matthew Wisotsky, Wayne State, Detroit, MI It’s 2018. LEADERSHIP is failing us. WE are failing us. We’re still going to war oversees and in our own streets over things that we’ve already gone to war for oversees and in our own streets. The nightly news highlights our setbacks. Leaving the last 30 seconds of the […]
Israel’s Gay Latin Jew from USA.
Brian Isaac Rizowy, Israel. Born and raised in the USA to Jewish parents, one from Sarandi Grande, Uruguay, the other from Chicago, I am nearly 100% Polish, with a dash of Russian and Mongolian thrown in. My great grandmother hid her Asian features with swanky glasses from the 1940s and 50s, lest anyone suspect her […]
A lifetime to unlearn cultural biases
John Christopher, West Long Branch, NJ. Monmouth University
Asian Americans, we the ultimate invisibles
The Invisible, USA While the media strive to be politically correct about every other race and ethnic group in America, somehow Asians, esp. Chinese Americans, seem to be the forgotten (and often bullied and ridiculed) race. In a country where people are “outraged” just about everything, nobody (outside of the Asian community) says anything about […]
Damn, did you see that White girl?
Lisa Jasinsk, Trinity University In 2007, I spent a year working at The Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY. One day on my way into the office, I slipped on an icy sidewalk on 125th Street, and in a comic prat fall, landed on my bottom in a filthy puddle. A group of guys gathered outside […]
I finally accepted my own origins
Mimi USA I used to want to be white or Caucasian because I thought it would be easier but I finally accepted who I was and now I embrace my heritage,I am not a dark skinned person but my last name says it all.my friend used to say I could pass as a Caucasian but I […]
Not everyone who looks white (is white)
Sandra Miller, USA There is only one race – human. I am proud of my Semitic heritage, and I check other.
Latinx didn’t come to steal job
Jeysi Guillen, New Orleans, LA Aspen X The stereotypes that a lot of people have about Latinx in America.
We all say stupid things sometimes.
Anonymous, USA.
Our global motivations are innately similar.
Tiffany Wysocki, Middletown, NJ. Monmouth University As I travel the world, I have found one truth: we are all innately equal in our drives and desires. We are driven by love and survival. We want the best for our families. We want to feel loved and have the opportunity to love. That’s it. That is […]
Not aplogizing for my white skin
Jillian Kurekova, USA. I am a 21 year old white female living in the ghetto. I have always been the outcast. I grew up in foster homes with black foster mothers and siblings, I have lived in all-black neighborhoods and went to all-black schools. I have never felt out of place surrounded by black people […]
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 […]
Race is nothing. Culture is everything.
Donna Southwood-Smith, USA. Yes, yes, I understand that what people see, affects what they think. I get historical baggage … I am from Jamaica, travel much, and have been mistaken for a ‘local’ in about ten other countries. Why? I am certainly part of the African diaspora, but like many Jamaicans, have mixed ancestry. My […]
The great famine was a genocide.
Stetson King, USA. The British should reunite all of Ireland and apologize for their willful neglect.
Disappointed in myself and my country
Miranda Nogaki, Burien, WA. I’m sad and shamed it took me so long to see the racism in myself and my country. It’s so much a part of my thought processes, my brain now feels wrong. I’m eager to do the hard work of learning to listen, how to drop my agenda and expectations of […]
Blame the Founding Fathers, not me
Anonymous, USA.
We lost our culture to survive.
Brianne Hittenberger, USA. It is the end of me, and I of it. My German last name belongs to me, my disabled brother, and my female second-cousin. My brother and I do not necessarily expect that we will marry, or that our cousin will keep our name if she does. When my brother and I […]
My Japanese half, GI dad unknown.
Katherine Suszczewicz USA When you don’t know, your imagination will choose to make something up. Over and over again.
Races can seperate a “united” nation
Eoin Gallagher, Syracue, NY. Student ’16
Belonging nowhere, I inhabit all spaces
Anthony Chicaiza, Belleville, NJ. Collection: The Race Card Project, On Location, Hood Museum of Art, Witness I’m a first-generation Latino-American stuck between cultures and expectations of masculinity and gender on both sides. Which do I present today?
Oh you’re blonde…typical white girl
Chelsea Paige. USA.
Defines us. Helps us. Hurts us
Drew Baker, East Lansing, MI.
Twitter trends hashtag white girl problems
Kaitlyn Gravatt, West Long Branch, NJ. Monmouth University Whenever I click on Twitter I see #whitegirlproblems. How is Starbucks running out of my favorite drink a white girl problem? How is my eyeliner on one eye not matching my other eye a white girl problem? It is hurtful to be put into this stereotype that […]
My name is Jamaal; I’m white.
Jamaal Allan, USA. Listen to Jamaal’s story on NPR’s Morning Edition What’s in a Name? The Poetry Question-Discovering the Relevance of Words As a white male, a majority of majorities, I can’t talk about race. I’m not qualified to. Race isn’t an issue for me, right? Life is easy; things are handed to me. […]
God has a sense of humor
Anonymous, USA.
Minorities matter and all lives matter
McKenna Martin, USA.
People use pigment to write stories.
Corazon Johnston New Orleans, LA Aspen X Beyond the fact that ink is pigment we use to write on paper, skin color creates circumstances of people’s lives. Some try to use other’s pigment count, like body count, the darker, the more criminal. Others who are the victims of such persecution make the best story or […]
Wishing for a happily ever after.
Shania, USA. She is tired of all the cooking and cleaning. She just wants to be a normal girl and be free.
Stop talking like a white girl
Jasmine Baker East Lansing, MI Growing up I was placed in the gifted and talented program in my elementary school. I learned to speak what this society refers to as “proper English.” Because of that, many Black students would tease me and tell me that I’m black, stop talking like a white girl. What does […]
Eeny. Meeny. Miney. Moe. Catch a…
Auguste Budhram, USA. Anyone who has ever been in the minority remembers the first time a word knocked the wind out of them. As a child, my first time came packaged in a rhyme known by everyone– making the blow feel conspiratorial and that much worse. The rhyme is part of every 10 year- old’s […]
Latino and Gay U.S.A.
Louis E. Perego Moreno, New York, NY. All my life, I have been out of more than one box. However, after wrestling with the subject for over 20 years, I have arrived at a point in my journey where my identity is defined by belonging to three worlds: Latino, Gay and USA. Many Hispanics in […]
Indian-American but live like white
Anonymous, USA. I speak no Hindi. Live in a big suburban house. Dress and eat like a yuppie white person. What makes me Indian?
I am white. So?
Alan S. Doctor, Cambria, CA. I was born in San Francisco on 15 Sep 1930. Dad was Scotch/English and Mom was Polish with a dash of German. Both 1st generation born in USA. My neighborhood friends were Hispanic, Oriental, white and refugee Jews from Germany. In high school I liked to walk home through the […]
White immigrant = not an immigrant.
Linda M Larsen, Hudson, WI. Hungarian+British +Canadian = American. I’m an immigrant, a ‘legal alien’ from Canada, with Hungarian and British parents, living in the USA. I’m supremely aware of the fact that no one sees me as ‘immigrant’ because I’m white. I moved from a very visibly multi-racial large Canadian city to small-town, lily-white […]
No suffer, No evil, Just white
Kevin Rogers, USA.
My black boyfriend’s not an athlete
Elizabeth S, USA. Is he on the basketball team? Does he play football? I’m white and in an interracial relationship. Whenever someone new sees a picture of us together that’s usually the first thing they ask. No, I’m sorry just because he is tall and black doesn’t mean he can dunk or played sports in […]
No, ma’am, I don’t speak Indian.
Neela Khan, USA.
Don’t Become Pregnant as a Teenager.
Max Davies Newport Coast, CA There’s societal wickedness, and then there’s personal stupidity. We can all do something about the former, but the latter is beyond anyone but the individual concerned. There are many understandable reasons why people do things that harm themselves and their loved ones, but understanding the reasons for stupidity doesn’t mean […]
Of both worlds belong to neither
Tiffany M. Lyons, Rockaway Beach, NY. Syracuse University ’16 I am biracial and my experiences with race are constantly informed by internal tug of war about what side I belong to. I’ve finally accepted my place in the grey and the view is sometimes trying but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Appearance, not race, dictates reactionary climate
Stephanie Baylor , USA. I am a twenty-something white woman who lives in a city where rape is a gang initiation. I also have a concealed carry permit to defend myself. I think about the gun in my purse when I see a “gangsta,” be he caucasian, african-american, mexican, or asian. A “gangsta”, per the […]
Minds change slower than laws, alas.
Kurt Andersen Brooklyn, NY
Not my boyfriend, he’s my brother…
Denee, USA. #thatadoptedlife
Isn’t that the symbol Nazis used?
Eesha Verma, USA. When I was in elementary school, we had a Diversity Day kind of thing where everyone was asked to bring in something that represented a holiday or a tradition they had in their family. I celebrate Diwali, so I brought in a clay lamp called a diya that we put candles in […]
I’m in the inside not ouside
Johnny B., USA. Growing up in thee northeast US, in a multi-racial mixed racial attitude combined with military and college education has afforded me a peaceful coexistence.
Lie. Pretend to be “less Black”
Anonymous, USA. Someone, maybe many people, in my family took on the persona of mixed race Black/Native Americans so they could be, what? Less Black? I don’t know if it was my father’s generation, or his father’s, or even farther back. I grew up thinking I was Indian and consequently less connected to my Black […]
Muslims are the new blacks bro
Robert Chivers, USA.
Why does the oppressor feel oppressed?
Denise R., USA
I’m white but I’m also European
Gianna Radoi, USA. People think that being white means you are American. I am second generation, born and raised in America, but my parents are from Europe. Sure, they fled communism in the 80’s, but for a better life. Things did not always come easy for them when they started new lives here, with only […]
But you’re half white. Stop that.
Anonymous, USA.
A journey through language and space.
Grace Morse, New Orleans, LA. Aspen X I chose those six words because reading and writing (within travel) are some of the most important aspects of my life.
Race doesn’t determine my capability
Shanelle Smith, Richmond, CA. Aspen X Sometimes I feel that at school, students that are non black just assume that I’m not doing as well as them or that I automatically don’t understand the material we are learning. I have also been excluded from being in groups with the “super studious” kids in my class, […]
Crudely Awakened from a Deep Sleep
Elizabeth, USA. In the novel Invisible Man, a black man in 1930s America struggles to find his identity. He starts out as hopeful and naive, believing that his hard work, determination, and intelligence will lead to eventual success and happiness. He does not realize, until the end of the novel, that the white characters and […]
If you hurt, I will listen.
Kevin Johnsrude, USA. If you feel unwelcome or unheard or afraid, hang out with me. I promise to listen fully and lovingly to what you have to say.
I hate being called a “white boy”
Anonymous, USA. “White boy”, , , . What I don’t understand is why there has always had to be a race at the bottom. No one seems to be able to get the freaking idea of racial equality through the six inches between their ears. First it was Africans. Then Jews, Asians, Latinos, Middle Eastern […]
People of Quality Respect Race Equality
Saheba Cuccia, New Orleans, LA. Aspen X Adopted and raised in the South, I have seen and heard of the racial barriers that some people use to divide us. The color of your skin should not determine anything such as relationships, jobs, and social standing in society.
Refuse to follow the racial constructs.
Racquel Picou, New Orleans, LA. Aspen X To me race is just a social and political construct that is very binding. A reason for humans to hate each other’s differences and to create these unwarranted and detestable battles for superiority. I’ve been forced before to just tick a single box in standardized test that says […]
When money talks, people are silenced
Anonymous, USA
Race is hard to talk about
Dom, USA.
Left Crying in the Bathroom Floor
Charlie, USA. I brought my car in for an oil change (in the predominantly black area I live in) and they told me that it’d be an hour before they could get to it. ‘No big deal,’ I though, ‘There’s a shopping center across the street.’ As I made my way down the sidewalk, a […]
I try, my racism seems hard-wired.
Tim Buer USA My maternal family was from the South. The N-word and racial slurs were part of normal conversation. Those old tapes still roll. My thinking has changed a lot for the better, but I’m not there yet.
The concept of race creates fear
Peter Smucz, USA. The concept of race is actually a manifestation of a very old and fundamental human process, that of ingroup and outgroup identification. It developed for a single purpose, to facilitate harm against the outgroup, in this case the race in question. But hatred doesn’t come out of nowhere, their needs to be […]
Race was constructed by white men
Robert Symens Bucher, Oakland, CA. Aspen X I am a white man, and I realize that the concept of race was created by people like myself a long time ago. The purpose of race was to create a tiered society in which white people had superiority to the other races. It is important for all […]
To be colorblind is a visual Impairment
Nicole Turek, East Lansing, MI.
“Remember kids, everybody’s equal!” – Third grade
Ethan Ableman, USA.
Metis: but you don’t know that.
Victoria McCord, Cincinnati, OH. Describing myself is always a challenge (in a USA context). I can’t check one simple box of who I am. I’m white. I’m also Metis – an indigenous tribe in Canada. Most people can’t recognize this, and I am flattered when some people can. It is uncomfortable when I tell someone […]
Stealing the children from my womb
Chrys, USA. When did my children’s race become collateral damage in your game? Pawns in the politico. As if you birthed them from your womb, you nursed them at your breast, stayed up with them long nights when they were sick to see if they were still breathing, caressed the curly locks about their face […]
No One Traces Ancestors Back (to) America
Anonymous, USA. I find funny it when people say, “I’m full American” or something along those lines because all Americans are immigrants, or of the family of immigrants. Therefore, no one is “full American.” The United States is a young country, and most people can use common technology to trace back where their family immigrated […]
Why bring up race so much?
Sandi, Brooklyn, NY. I hear this question often by non-black individuals who haven’t experience racism (overtly or covertly) in their lifetime. And how these individual usually turn a blind-eye when incidents of police brutality occur across the USA by ROGUE law enforcement and UNARMED black citizens.
200 years 50 years here today!
Misha A, USA.
Forced me to see broader humanity.
Douglas Moore, Sharon, VT. Raised white, male, Midwestern and Republican the movement broke open so many of the absolutes in my life.
Life is Beautiful Don’t Stop Living
Emma GreenWood, USA. I live by these words. I believe life is beautiful, no matter how difficult. Every day we wake up, we never know what’s in store for us. It’s exciting and wonderful to just be alive, that’s why it’s “being alive”. Being alive is amazing, and fulfilling. Before we know it, life is […]
I’m tired of walking on eggshells.
S. E. USA. I’m white. I have never once paid attention to what color someone’s skin is (unless I admired the color). Now I’m told that not paying attention to race is racist? I truly don’t understand what a white person can do that isn’t racist and it has me afraid of even talking to […]
Why Can’t I Like Rap Music
Anonymous, USA. Ever since a young age, I have been super passionate about hip-hop and rap music, but have received constant criticism, weird looks and other disapproving messages from some people who claim “there is no way you can like rap”. Although it’s a minute issue compared to other stories, it still makes me feel […]
Every education leads to another future
Daisha Taylor Cleveland, OH Every time an African American graduates is another way we prove society wrong. But it is another future persued and created.
Race means nothing, values mean everything.
Austin Hancock, USA.
What do you think my ancestry is?
Daniel, Charlotte, NC. I do not want to say what country I am from, because I want you all to guesstimate my ancestry? Where would you say I am from? What part of the world do my features reflect? Please explain your responses! Please share your thoughts with me. I am NOT from the U.S.A. […]
YOU define yourself; NOT your color.
Angie Ward, USA.
I see my intellect surprises you.
As a young African American male, I have learned, through very personal experiences, that many do not expect me to be as wise or as knowledgeable as I am. My knowledge and opinions on complex issues as well as my level of articulation often catch people off guard. I am often expected to act and […]
It’s the downfall and the uprise
Meya D. Hayes, Washington DC.
“You talk like a white person.”
Growing up in a biracial family, the concept of race has always been confusing to me. As I grew older and began to learn more about my own identity I decided to stop identifying as biracial and began to only call myself black. When people ask me what I am and I tell them that […]
Divide in America demands one listen
When I entered high school, I quickly learned terms like white privilege, white fragility, and microaggressions, which challenged my identity. While I understood I benefited from white privilege, I did not like the label. Still, the racism embedded in our institutions and the frustrated feelings of my friends motivates me to want to be part […]
Still a threat to your security
Anonymous, USA. A fellow customer I saw shopping for the 30 minutes I was in the store walked to the front as we were leaving. He noticeably pointed his key fob towards the parking lot to ensure his door was locked.
He has to be selling drugs.
When I was in the eighth grade my science teacher pulled me to the side after class and asked was I selling drugs. She asked me that question because I had over one hundred and fifty dollars but it was my birthday. I got offended because she seen I was black and the only reason […]
My history is beyond the classroom
Ryann Mellion, Washington DC. Why do school textbooks only talk about slavery? Black history doesn’t start or end with slavery.
Caring is not enough. Changing is.
Susan Whiteman, USA.
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