Colleen Schwab,
Seattle, WA.
I grew up in a very diverse area of CA where many children were first generation immigrants, and many children were of multi-racial backgrounds, mostly middle to lower class families. And my whole family has grown up with and around people from many different backgrounds. So I had no issue trying to make friends with any girl that seemed friendly to me, regardless of ethnicity, but as I got older many of these kids would tell me things in reference to my skin color. You’re nice for a white girl. White girls cant listen to that kind of music, white girls can’t dance, you dance pretty good for a white girl, my mom doesn’t like me playing with white girls. My mom is happy I’m playing with a white girl. These references where messing with my mind, at one point, I was looking into ways of dying my blond hair brown, and getting brown eye contacts, so that in a crazy way thinking it would make people stop referring to my skin color as such an unnatural thing. I’m trying to understand how people of color think it’s impossible for anyone else to dislike their skin color based on how people have treated them because of it, and any form of discrimination or prejudice is damaging to children, no matter what background you come from.
