Andy Little

“I am not smart, I am not nice, I am not thoughtful or sincere. I am not understanding, not moral, none of these things. Fuck you all.”- Andy Little. A photographer uses many lenses in the same way a painter uses many brushes; because we are unable to capture our subject, humanity, in one photo or uniform strokes. It is the differences of each that gives us perspective on the struggle of many. Most of us are not taught, in the same way we might learn to say thank you, to fight the ethnocentrism that seems to come so naturally as we age. Merriam-Webster defines ethnocentrism as being characterized by or based on the attitude that one's own group is superior. The intent of this paper is to take a brief journey through one person’s life, our subject,

He is highly educated and works as an advisor at a major university in Houston. Andy was born in the Methodist hospital in Houston and grew up with his father, stepmother, and brother in the coastal city of LaPorte, TX. Andy’s father and mother were highschool sweethearts from Sulpher, Louisiana. They moved to Texas after graduation in pursit of job possibilities. His father worked as a machinest at a refinery in LaPorte for thirty-five years and his mother worked downtown at Texaco as a telephone operator. Andy’s mother and father divorced in 1974 when he was barely five. Afterwards, out of spite as Andy recalls, both his parents remarried within two

A person's ethnicity is their ethnic traits, classification, or association. Andy recalls his gramother on his mother’s side being very proud of their family name. He states she had a very strong distinction between whites that were of some standing and taste and whites were not. She also carried a very strong distinction between whites of taste and all other groups, which is why she was so appalled at his mother marrying his Hispanic stepfather. His father on the otherhand, did not have any ethnic or class disposition. Much of the tensions over ethnicity in his family pushed him towards being the opposite. During our interview, he was unable to designate himself to any ethnicity, but expressed that he felt he grew up in an integrated ethnic