I am multi-ethnic. I come from a long line of open-minded lovers. But many were lost in their need to be as worthy as the white people in their world. Some of my beautiful Mexican ancestors bleached their skin. My mother remembers hearing her Mexican grandmother tell her, ” We may be dark but we are just as good as the Okies.” She believed there was a rating system of worth and importance. She told her “we are better than white trash.”

If she really believed this, how did she feel about herself and her grandchildren who carried the less favorable traits of dark hues and ethnic physical characteristics or the children whose skin was lighter?

Published September 9, 2014 at × in Values Exhibit Art Access Gallery