Young people speak about being identified as part of an ethnic minority in the United States

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Contents

Part 1: Introduction

Inside Separate Worlds
David Schoem     3

Part 2: From the Margins to Center Stage

Surviving in the Barrio
Amelia Valdez     21

I Never Quite Fit In
Matthew H. Wexley     34

Mis Palabras
Carlos Arturo Manjarrez     50

A History of Survival: The Study of the Women in My Family
Max Gordon     64

Part 3: Breaking the Silence

Bean Soup: A Collection of Letters
Lauren B. Shapiro     95

An Individual Perspective on Life as a Black Female
Sherri Lynn Campbell     110

Me---Who I Am Proud Of
Leslie Riette Fair     127

Susu, and Men's Voices, Too
Nicole Hall     142

A Conflict of Soul
Andre Reynolds     163

Part 4: The View from Inside

Inner Strength: Being African and American
John B. Diamond     181

Jewish Identity: One Person's Experience
Steven Blonder     203

Yo Soy Chicana
Anne M. Martinez     223

Reflections
Sabrina Austin     235

I'm Not Really Jewish
Joey M. Goldman     253

Contributors     277

Description

Fourteen young Black, Jewish, and Latino authors provide a provocatively open and honest look into their lives. Their stories represent what have been secret worlds for those from other groups, and much of what they say is often unspoken even among their peers. They speak of the support, confidence, and pride of being an identified member of an ethnic group, and they speak of the powerful hurts of racism.

These deeply personal autobiographies give an eye-opening glimpse of their lives and thoughts as members of racial and ethnic minority groups.