The Race Card Project
By Michele Norris
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.
Rhonda Gilbert,
Crowley, TX.
I’m black and grew up in the rural south. My experience was very much small town, and I interacted primarily with other blacks until college. Although a large part of my perspective is influenced by my country upbringing, I don’t feel welcome in that “country” space.
Allison Valeri
Charlotte, NC
In 2011, I took a trip to Kenya, Africa where my team and I were welcomed in as family. We were all white, a lot of us with blond hair and blue eyes, and one person with red hair. We were a sight to be seen. We stayed in an area about 4 hours outside Nairobi the capital, where most white tourists stay. We were surrounded by people with beautiful dark skin, some of whom had never seen our pale features before. Even though we didn’t have much in common, these people gave us their best care and treated us as their own. It was a home away from home, I just wish people in America could live just as peacefully together.
Bill DelGrosso
New York City, NY
My first disaster response for FEMA was the recovery from the Rodney King civil unrest in 1992. 4 of us were in Compton for a townhall meeting with the Hon. Mervyn Dymally and stopped at McDonalds. One of my colleagues wanted to “eat in”. We were the only white people there, and immediately after we sat down, the manager asked us to leave for our safety and everyone else’s. It was a clear lesson to me as to what people of color go through when even basic daily activities are restricted or altered by others because of the color of their skin. It is something I have never forgotten, and brought what had happened in LA the days prior into stark perspective for me.
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