Category: United States

  • How can a 19-year-old, mixed-race girl who grew up in a crack house and is now pregnant be so innocent? Yslea is full of contradictions, though, seeming both young and old, innocent and wise. Her spirit is surprising, given all the pain she has endured, and that’s the counterpoint this story offers—while she sees pain…

  • As A White Mom, Helping My Multiracial Kids Feel At Home In Their Skin Code Switch: Frontiers of Race, Culture and Ethnicity National Public Radio 2015-07-24 Kristen Green Last year, after months of watching — and re-watching — the movie Frozen, my daughter Selma, who is 6, announced she didn’t want to be brown. “I…

  • Rachel Dolezal Has Hijacked what It Means To Be Mixed-Race In America ARMED 2015-07-05 Sophia Softky Since the Rachel Dolezal trainwreck began unfolding, each day has brought ever-weirder allegations to light. From her upbringing, days at Howard University, involvement in the NAACP, and position as an Africana Studies professor – along with the predictable flood…

  • Meet the black woman raised to believe she was white The Telegraph 2015-07-12 Jane Mulkerrins Schwartz believes that racial identity is “fluid and contextual” Photo: Nicholas Calcott Growing up, Lacey Schwartz always felt different. It wasn’t until her late teens that she discovered the truth about her parentage – and her race “Throughout my life,…

  • “The Illogic of American Racial Categories” Jefferson’s Blood: Thomas Jefferson, his slave & mistress Sally Hemings, their descendants, and the mysterious power of race. Frontline Public Broadcasting Service 2000 Paul R. Spickard, Professor of History University of California, Santa Barbara Excerpted from the chapter “The Illogic of American Racial Categories” in Racially Mixed People in…

  • I Am a Native American Woman With White Privilege YES, I SAID; YES, I WILL, YES. writing by Misty Ellingburg 2015-07-24 Misty Ellingburg First off, I think it’s important to say that I do not, and have not ever primarily identified as white. On my mother’s side, I’m Native American, enrolled in ghostmy Tribe, and,…

  • Hiding Black Behind the Ears: On Dominicans, Blackness, and Haiti Gawker 2015-07-25 Roberto C. Garcia The first friend I made in Elizabeth, New Jersey was a white kid named Billy. As a New York transplant my Dominicano look wasn’t too popular with Jersey folk. I had an afro, wore dress pants, a collared shirt, and…

  • Jose Antonio Vargas on Donald Trump, Rachel Dolezal and His MTV Documentary, ‘White People’ The New York Times 2015-07-22 Jonathan Wolfe Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigration activist. His new documentary “White People,” which airs tonight on MTV, follows Mr. Vargas as he travels the country speaking to young people about…

  • New UW center to encourage race, diversity dialogue The Seattle Times 2015-07-12 Katherine Long, Seattle Times higher education reporter Ralina Joseph is the new director of the University of Washington’s Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity. (Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times) A new center at the University of Washington aims to help people figure out…

  • ‘Key & Peele’ to End After Its Fifth Season The New York Times 2015-07-25 Jonah Bromwich The Comedy Central show “Key & Peele,” an absurdist sketch comedy that has become known for recurring skits like one in which an “anger translator” expresses emotions on President Obama’s behalf, will end after its current season. Speaking to…