But where are you really from?
Adriana Green Richmond, VA Cornered in the grocery store, back pressed against stacked cans and rows of condiments – “But where are you really from?”...
I adopted two girls from China!
Anonymous. Omaha, NE “Excuse me, what’s your nationality?” “I’m from the U.S.” “No,” he chuckled, “like, where are you originally from?” “I was born and...
Mexican, Italian, Persian, what are you?
Rebecca Rodriguez Baltimore, MD This is a picture of my brother and I. Constantly he gets accused of being Arab, Mexican or Italian from Caucasians,...
Nobody can tell what i am.
Glade Koehler Lake Forest, CA My father: German and Suomi My mother: Black-Seneca and Ashkenazi
“What are you?” people always ask.
Nancy Sheperd Sacramento, CA As a mixed-race woman, I’m often struck by others’, and especially strangers’, need to put me into a box. It isn’t...
I’m not Hispanic, thanks for asking.
Elizabeth Norris Taylor Fernandina Beach, FL I have lived my entire life with people coming up to me and asking, “what are you?” For a...
What are you? White, Indian or Mexican?
Ronald Hill Grove Hill, PA My biological father was Mexican and split before I was born. The man I call my dad is white. My...
No, really honey. What are you?
Anthony Young Beltsville, MD My first business trip as a young professional turned out to be an immersion in issues of race and ethnic identity....
“Was your dad in the military?”
Lisa Crawford Austin, TX This is a question I’ve heard many times in my life–usually as a follow up to questions like “What’s your background?”...
What are you; some can pass?
Quinta Thompson Lafayette, LA I hate that my friends who are biracial, usually nonblack, like to be ethnic when it is convenient and white when...
