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 you don’t look like your mom, she’s much lighter than you” Now as you can imagine those can be hurtful words. When I was a little girl I was pretty fair like my mother and as I got into middle school I took to my dads color. Those words resonated with me and it came to point where I tried to lighten my skin with various products. There was a part of me that was very hurt, but I learned to accept every part of my mixed race regardless of physical features. South Indian, West African, Portuguese, and Amerindian…Its who I am and that’s that, Once you learn to accept you, others will and if they don’t they’ll have to live with their ignorant mindset that tears people apart instead of bring people together from all races.