Red The Book: The Interracial Generation

In the two years and 800 essay submissions I've spent with American teenage girls in putting together this book, both the most heartening (what I'm hearing from people who are under 18) and most disheartening response (what I'm hearing, always from white people, usually over 40) have been about race.

Heartening: Today's teen population is the most racially diverse this country has ever seen--the largest percentage of non-white and multiracial Americans are under age 20, by 2050 we'll have a white minority for the first time--and in many delightful ways, they're over it. They have friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents of all kinds. Race isn't necessarily something they think about--or choose to write about. As wildly diverse as the young authors of Red are, racial identity, theirs or others', was rarely an issue that came up in their essays.

Disheartening: This disturbed some of the older people, and a troubling, complicated kind of racism kicked in again and again. "Why are so many of the girls in the book white?" a reader, and purported fan of the book, would ask. The first few times it happened, I'd defend my choices by rattling off a list of the ethnicities represented. Then I realized this is only more of the same, and I was acting like an old person. I'd smile (if live) or kindly reply (via email) with, "What is it that makes you think these girls are white?" And then the racism began. Turns out, if you're of color in this country, the generation before you expects you two write about The Struggle--not TV or even your dad, not 9/11 or private school or museums.

So, in the wake of Obama's race speech--and to take back the horrible assumptions made by adults--for RED's first HuffPo blog, I asked five of the book's authors, representing a full range of perspectives, ages, geography, and yes, ethnicities to write on how much race is--or isn't--a part of their lives today. --Amy Goldwasser

This post was written by Cindy Morand, 19, a business administration major, with a concentration on financial analysis, at the University of Buffalo.

I am in the midst of celebrating; our country is finally getting to the roots of its social problems. I see students at my college organizing and flocking to the Native American bazaar, the Caribbean festival, the Latin American party, the Turkish Association dance. Students are proud to expose the community to what their life is all about. Every day I see Americans, scholars and kids, becoming really good friends with international students.

This is a change for me from high school. I grew up in Mexico. My father is French, my mother's Mexican. When we moved to New York City--my father was diagnosed with an illness and, as a veteran, eligible for better health care here--I suffered because I didn't know the language, and I was placed in a very bad school, where the kids didn't know how to respect other people's cultures. These were kids who couldn't believe we have movie theaters in Mexico.

But now, in college upstate, I'm always meeting individuals who want to learn more about Mexico, about France. They're eating diverse foods and dating those who are different than themselves. My father has also witnessed the changes. He says that around thirty years ago it was very unusual to see interracial couples, Americans eating international foods on a daily basis, or people defending countries that are not their own.

This year my school brought Ismael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, in as a guest lecturer. Ismael spoke about his experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leone, and he helped the audience understand his life before and after the war. He essentially broke all the stereotypes most of us had of African countries--instead of poverty and challenges, he talked about how blissful it was living in nature. Most Americans would think that people in Sierra Leone were not happy; but in fact Ismael was.

I must say that my generation is a bit more open-minded because of the new ways of teaching history. Professors now wisely connect racism with people who are not educated. One of my teachers told my class, for example, that anyone who associates Muslims with terrorists is nothing but ignorant. Certainly the Koran doesn't order its followers to kill those who are distinct, to kill anyone. Only a thinking person, an intellectual, would know that. In other words, racism today is equated with making shamefully uninformed assumptions about an entire group of people.

That is not to say all American students are not racist. But we must applaud our professors, teachers, and activists; they have started instructing my generation about the atrocious times when racism was accepted by our government.

I live in a dorm under a program called Leadership House. We are a group of students from all different backgrounds, sexual preferences, religions, sizes, diets, and values, yet we all get together to organize community service projects. Often times I celebrate religious holidays that I never used to because I want to learn more about my new friends. Our dinning hall has sushi, pizza, tacos, hummus, lo mein, etc., and I see how the students love the countless options. Point is we are trying something new every day and we appreciate it.

The world knows--we have to admit it, too--that there has always been conflict between whites and blacks in America. Students are in love with Obama because he's an example of what our generation can do next. His idealism is very unique to us, his way of expressing himself, his outlook for this country, his energy. We see hope, because a black male is finally being accredited for his merits--impossible until very recently, because there aren't many kinds of people this country is more close-minded about than the African-American man. By electing Obama, we would be proving to the world that we as Americans have changed, that our Civil Rights movement actually impacted later generations.

I'm even not trying to say that I'm certain he's the best candidate. But I am saying that I am proud to see my country grow. And Obama has actually been exposed to different cultures--he knows how to approach most Americans. He will be the role model for African-American boys. He will be the role model for minority college students like me, who are struggling because they came from extremely bad high schools where they felt alone.

Sure there is plenty of racism still, but I like to think of it as a synonym for ignorance. Often times I hear it aimed at gay men, or at people who come from Africa, Asia, and Latin America--same thing toward those who are fat or bad-looking, at least in someone else's ugly mind.

If we want to help this country, we must realize that the new generation of Americans comes in different flavors, sizes, has different sexual preferences and religions. This is our United States, and we need someone who is different, like Obama or Hillary, as our president. I will vote for the candidate who can see all Americans, and labels us as one kind. The kind who is striving to improve themselves and the world around them.

Comments

[tedbear]

I truly hope the young people get out to vote for Obama. The reason you ask? The reason is because the voters in the so-called most important states are not the young voters or compassionate voters .These are the people who vote for the Hillary Clintons of the world because they, like Hillary Clinton are self-absorbed, greedy voters. They are the voters of hatred and prejudice. Don't get me wrong now, they are, I imagine some wonderful people. The problem is, these people who are making decisive contributions to who becomes President of the United States, are fearful of change. That is why this country hasn't changed. Don't make us wait, vote for Obama and lets do it!!!!!!!!!