First published 2024
Peabody Award winner Michele Norris created The Race Card Project with a simple request: describe your experience with race in six words. Over twelve years, more than half a million Americans responded. Their submissions reveal raw truths about identity, privilege, and prejudice. Stories like "You're Pretty for a Black girl" and "My ancestors massacred Indians near here" expose hidden thoughts rarely shared in public. Many contributors added photographs and longer backstories, creating an unexpected scrapbook of American racial experience. White respondents dominated the submissions, offering a surprising perspective on how different communities view themselves and others. Norris combines these micro-essays with her own reporting to create a panoramic view of race in America during turbulent times. The book captures fear, pain, triumph, and humor in equal measure. These brief confessions provide access to private conversations and buried memories that shape how Americans navigate racial identity. The collection demonstrates how honesty and listening can build bridges toward understanding across deep divisions.
Genres: american, african-american, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-narrative, social-commentary
Period: Turbulent Times
528 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: racism