Quote

I was born in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1948 but grew up in a black neighborhood. During elementary and middle school, I commuted to a bilingual school in Chinatown. So I did not confront white American culture until high school.

— Laurence Yep

Sentiment: NEGATIVE

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✓Similar Perspectives

Growing up, I thought I was white. It didn't occur to me I was Asian-American until I was studying abroad in Denmark and there was a little bit of prejudice.

— Maya Lin

Throughout most of my life, I've tried to downplay my Chinese heritage because I wanted so much to be an American. I was the only Asian kid in my elementary school, and I longed to be like everyone else. I insisted on American food; I was embarrassed by my mother's poor English.

— Tess Gerritsen

I lived in an all-black neighborhood, followed by an all-white one, and other kids in the always called me Mexican in both neighborhoods.

— Cheech Marin

We were like a white family from the 1920s or something. My parents had this bizarre, different way of looking at things from the people that surrounded us. I went to an all-Mexican grade school and an all-black high school, and not many people in those places liked the same stuff as me.

— Jack White

When I was growing up, I lived in a neighborhood that was largely Latino and I thought I was Latino!

— Meagan Good

I went to a segregated school; I was born a Negro, not a black man.

— Michael Eric Dyson

✗Opposing Perspectives

I grew up in an all-white community.

— Gayle King

I went to an all white school where I dealt with racism.

— Chaske Spencer

I was never exposed to a great deal of racism, but the Chicago I grew up in was very, very segregated.

— Don Cornelius

I'm Asian-American, and I was the only Chinese girl growing up in a white school in San Diego. So I understood what it was like to be different, to always want to fit in and never feel like you ever could.

— Tess Gerritsen