“Once we got there (the poetry slam) I did feel a little out of place because we were the only people there who were white.”
-Emily Ryan-2001 Participant
“Because of whites being so dominant [even though the shouldn’t be] I never see how others see the white race.”
-Emily Ryan-2001 Particpant
“I looked out the window [from the Sears Tower]. Every place in the entire city was lit up except for this one little square. This square happened to be North Lawndale. It was interesting to see how where we are staying was the darkest place we could see.”
-Emily Ryan-2001 Particpant
“My role at [my school] is to not sit back and let people make racist comments but to stand up for what I believe in and try to stop institutional racism at our school. I will do this by sharing with them my experiences and all the amazing things I’ve learned while being in Chicago.”
-Emily Ryan-2001 Particpant
“It was amazing how the perception of blacks (by whites) compared to how Africans portrayed themselves. The Africans made themselves appear to be powerful, strong, intelligent and noble. The whites took that image and distorted it into the dark faced, jolly, big-eyed darkie or Aunt Jamimah type person.”
-Aimee Schisler-2001 Particpant
“I could tell where North Lawndale was...just by looking at the dark spots with no lights... It seems as if the city of Chicago has turned their ‘switch off’. Not just a light switch which makes it look dark, but the switch to a man’s hopes, dreams and aspirations.”
-Aimee Schisler-2001 Particpant
“I almost got beat up by a little girl was in love with Jason (another student) and I made the mistake of telling her I was going to prom with him. She grabbed me by the collar and yelled at me for stealing her man.”
-Aimee Schisler-2001 Particpant
“[Reverend Nelson] brought up the point that most of us probably don’t have black friends and that most of us haven’t been as close to to a black man before as we were with him. He’s right. At [our school] we should try to make everyone feel welcome. Not just the black kids but the new kids, everyone.”
-Aimee Schisler-2001 Particpant
“I think I discovered most of my prejudices before the trip and now after going I’ve noticed that when a prejudice attitude enters my head I get mad and myself for thinking that.”
-Aimee Schisler-2001 Particpant
“Black people are also looked at as Sambo through the racist white’s eyes which hasn’t changed. It has definitely improved over the years but it hasn’t died completely.
-Ashley Sweat-2001 Particpant
“I believe people are racist whether they admit it or not. The police brutality issue is very real and I never thought about it because it wasn’t happening in my town.”
-Ashley Sweat-2001 Particpant
“I make stupid comments about different races. But with me it has never been about an African American . Maybe because I’m sensitive to those prejudices because of my past and the family I grew up in. I have learned that I have prejudices against foreigners because I grew up learning that they get everything for free because they are the minority. That is something I should get over.”
-Ashley Sweat-2001 Particpant
“I feel like [I live] in a bubble, because it seems to me that the ‘real’ world has been hidden from me.”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“When we first came in [to the poetry slam] and that big black man said something about a private club, and the yelling voice of one of the poets in the background made me feel very, very uncomfortable. I thought, ‘My gosh, what are we doing here?”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“Some are privileged to be rich, successful, and heard and others are oppressed and contained in an area referred to as the black belt.”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“American society is so divided because of the prejudices that still exist.”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“We were pushed into a situation where we had to think about our attitudes.”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“I got tired of being from Germany. I like my country, I am proud to be German, but sometimes there are things that I just don’t know because I’m from another place. I had to explain myself and my being here and I got tired of it. I wanted to be like everybody else. I wasn’t just white, I’m white and from another country.”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“I [understand] that it’ll take for ever to undo the chains of slavery, to smooth the ruts, which have existed for 300 years. But all the speakers gave me the hope that it will happen one of these days and I want to be a part of it.”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“Being prejudice is a result of not knowing each other and not attempting to learn about each other. An important part of being prejudice is how we are raised, how our parents act, how they use prejudice. Later the choice of our friends might have an influence of becoming prejudice.”
-Ingke Diemel-2001 Particpant
“I guess I really didn’t realize how much blacks are still hurting, and how much anger deep inside they have toward us (whites).”
-Kristen Rittenhouse-2001 Particpant
“I think [the way blacks are portrayed in the media] has come a long way, but still has a long way to go. I think it would make me feel stronger to know that we have overcome a lot of it and are still fighting.”
-Kristen Rittenhouse-2001 Particpant
“I realized that I never really thought anything of a racial joke because I wouldn’t listen to what the joke was really saying. Now when I hear a racial joke or comment it really bothers me.”
-Kristen Rittenhouse-2001 Particpant
“I benefit [from white privilege] by being free from the “black” stereotype and can get a good job. I will also be picked for a good job over an African American if the employer is even the slightest bit racist.”
-Lindsay Eavers- 2001 Particpant
“If I had walked into a museum and saw what I saw today in my culture, I would have been outraged. The distorted images were completely dehumanizing and heartless. It really made me sick.”
-Lindsay Eavers- 2001 Particpant
“I am going to take more time to focus on the racial comments and actions that go on… all of us will notice it more and hopefully try our hardest to change it or bring attention to it.”
-Lindsay Eavers- 2001 Particpant
“Racial conversation that I have been more passive toward before, I am now more sensitive to.”
-Lindsay Eavers- 2001 Particpant
“Most of my stereotypes were corrected or at least uncovered at the beginning of our class this year.”
-Lindsay Eavers- 2001 Particpant
