Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity By Michele Norris

Peabody Award-winning journalist Michele Norris shares insights on race and identity in America that she uncovered during her ten years at The Race Card Project in an insightful conversation.

The question seems straightforward: Race. Your ideas. Just six words. Send, please.

However, the solutions have proven difficult and intricate. Over half a million individuals have sent their experiences to The Race Card Project inbox in the twelve years since award-winning journalist Michele Norris originally asked that question. The tales, which cover the whole gamut of race, nationality, identity, and class, are startling in their honesty and complexity. The six-word micro-essays have a lot of power, expressing victory, anguish, terror, and sometimes even laughter. Reactions like "You're Pretty for a Black Girl" are common. Enjoy your white privilege; you deserve it. I'm not requesting your pocketbook, lady. Hereabouts, my forefathers massacred Indians. I'm prejudiced because I live in an urban area. I'm Asian just when it suits me.

Many send more than just six words; they provide heirlooms, photographs, and backstories. It's like looking through a scrapbook of seldom seen American honesty.A fascinating collection of essays, images, and anecdotes, Our Hidden Conversations offers readers a glimpse inside America during a turbulent time. This compelling book allows us to listen in on deeply held beliefs, intimate conversations, and long-forgotten experiences as it presents an honest, if sometimes unpleasant, debate on race and identity.

For Norris, the scope of this endeavor was unexpected. Over the course of her twelve-year collection, a large number of the tales were provided by white respondents. A unique 360-degree perspective of how Americans regard themselves and each other is offered by this surprising panorama.

Our Hidden Conversations serves as a reminder that even in the most divisive of times, a ready ear, honesty, and grace may build a bridge toward empathy and perhaps even understanding.

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