Although it divides, I find beauty.
I can talk about race all day… I work in multicultural advertising so it’s what I do, but outside of work as well… Some context on my 6 words: Race is something that puts us in boxes in our society (“talking Black”… “Acting White”… “Black music”… on and on), however race and our differences are so beautiful to me. I LOVE my culture. I grew up on Long Island, went to boarding school in Virginia, attended Hampton University (as my parents and step father and grandfather before me).Although my parents live in CT, I live in a brownstone in Brooklyn (Bed Stuy), I attend a large predominantly African American Baptist church, I am an active member of my sorority, married a man active in his fraternity, we have two small sons one who goes to our local Stuyvesant Heights Montessori (predominantly Black unlike the one I attended), I have been working for African American or multicultural ad agencies for over 10 years… I live in a VERY Black world and I love it.
My husband has challenged me with the fact I have no close White friends (as he does – he is in banking and golfs and still plays lacrosse with his friends). It is not that I don’t like other cultures, in fact I do and make friends easily with other moms on playgrounds or wading in water with our kids at beaches… I just love love love my culture so much there isn’t much room for others. Does that makes sense?
–Simone Pratt
See Simone’s Race Card @The Race Card Project.
Michele Norris is the host of NPR’s All Things Considered and the author of The Grace of Silence.You can find it it your local book store or you can order it online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powell’s or IndieBound
