Color

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In light of our class discussion about the light skin, dark skin dichotomy I decided to write about my perspective on the issue. Growing up I quickly found out the color of my skin impacted my life in a foremost way. In my childhood years I traveled a lot, but I spent the majority of my life in Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville is mildly diverse, especially in the area where my family and I lived. Moreover, the school I attended was predominantly white. With that being said, I was immersed into a setting where I could not culturally or ethnically relate to anymore. Furthermore, I found myself struggling with my identity. In school my peers and classmates would ask: “are you white?” Of course inside I knew who I was— I knew I was black; however, I began to lose sight of my ethnic background and ethnic identity. Furthermore, I found that it was harder for me to connect with people of my own race and ethnicity. Most of my friends where white; yet, I noticed that I was always stigmatized as the odd ball out with my “friends” and it was almost as if I was not good enough to be their f...

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