Color Me White
Jacob Romero
Elmhurst University
Abstract
Colored pencils and oil pastels on bristol paper | 4 x 5 inches
Children of Mexican immigrants grow up in an incredibly unique environment in the United States. They are split between two cultures and two languages. In this piece, I explore the struggles many darker-skinned children face while growing up as minorities in a white country. I grew up consuming media focused on white people, and on top of that, my culture put lighter-skinned Mexicans as the beauty standard. I faced not only racism from others but internal racism from myself and my people. Often I felt as if many of my problems would go away if I colored my skin white. I found this internal dissonance was unique and often was verbally inexpressible. Yet in this medium, I was able to encapsulate years of frustration in a form that is easy to communicate with people who have different upbringings.
