The Race Card

I've been putting this off for awhile, simply because I've had so many thoughts going through my head about what I want to say, I haven't had the energy to sit down and put them all down into words. However, seeing as this has been the week we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., perhaps it's finally time to write what I've been thinking.

I've decided to do a four-part post entitled "The Race Card," where I will chronicle my experiences (and my thoughts) growing up and living in this nation as a black American. Why "The Race Card"? Well, I've always thought that was an interesting phrase for someone to use. "Ahh...there they go again, pulling out the race card!" as if one's race were the Crazy Eight in a stack of fifty-two...as if people of a certain ethnicity are constantly sitting on the special card they were dealt upon their birth for the purpose of pulling it out and flashing it around at the most convenient time. So, there you go, "The Race Card."
So, in Part One, "The Cream in the Middle," I'll talk a little bit about what it was like growing up trying to be "black enough" for black America and "white enough" for white America. Part two, "Good Hair," will be a continuation of the discussion of black hair in the Chris Rock movie of the same title. Part Three, "America Beyond the Color Line," (based on Dr. Henry Louis Gates' PBS documentary of the same title) will be a perspective on contemporary issues in American race relations. Finally, Part Four, "American Family" will look at my experiences being in an interracial relationship (and now marriage) and having a child of combined ethnicities.

My plan is to be as honest as I possibly can without offending anyone or being overly political. This is just supposed to be a narrative of what my experiences and perspectives have been thus far. Give you guys a window into my world for a little while. I hope you enjoy.