Your hair’s pretty. What are you?
Renee Bracey Sherman. Oakland, CA. “Can I touch your hair?” they ask, hand already extended, a mere inch from my thick brown curls. I feel...
When people ask… What are you?
Naomi, Grand Rapids, MI. I am an American, of Mexican decent… No, I don’t speak Spanish, no I don’t know where my family is from...
Sorry, I Just Have to Ask
Dominic, Minneapolis, MN. As the saying goes, if I have a quarter for every time… In my case, if I had a quarter for every...
Soo, what are you?
Christian Sandoval, Los Angeles, CA. I’m half Asian half Caucasian, but people always mistake me for other races and I honestly don’t have a problem...
What are you? I can’t tell
Jenn O, Los Angeles, CA. This is the dreadful question that I get almost all the time… I find myself always having to explain my...
Black kids asked if I was a Jew
What are you?, AL. Olive skinned with dark hair. People would ask if my dad was the milk man. Black kids would ask if I...
We identify as “Red Sox fans.”
Rachel Gonzales Pottstown, PA I’m the whitest woman who ever lived (except in the summer, when I’m the sunburniest woman who ever lived). He’s half-Mexican...
“What are you?” I’m a girl…
Amanda Totteana Muniz, Anderson, IN. All my life I’ve had to face the question, “What are you?” This always made me uncomfortable, and irritated. Last...
People ask B, “What are you?”
Basmin, St. Louis, MO. This question has been asked since I began my earthwalk as though I am something other than human, that I don’t...
Wow, you are the melting pot.
Natalie Mariam Pattillo Alpine, TX It always seems that my ethnic background becomes a guessing game at dinner parties. Even strangers will come up to...
Are you Hispanic, or just Italian?
Rachel Masilamani, Pittsburgh, PA. I was eating lunch alone in the break room on my first day at an office job when 3 of my...
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...
Are you Italian or White?
Giosue Romano, Annapolis, MD. I thought Italians were white. Does this mean we are POC, or do we get out one box now?
Hapa: but always the wrong half.
Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt, Chattanooga, TN. I’m half Japanese and half white. In Hawaii, where I grew up, mixed race people like me are called “hapa”...
I’m always asked “What are you?”
Madysen Phororo, Corona, CA. South African dad, and white mom: I’m pretty ambiguous in terms of my race. There were questions I got in high...
