Next to the front door of NPR journalist Michele Norris’s Washington, DC, home hangs a photograph of her family smiling and sitting on the shore of Lambert’s Cove.
Ms. Norris explained to the audience at the final Martha’s Vineyard Author Series author talk that the photo was not meant to spread joy, but rather to serve as a security mechanism. In the event that a police officer knocked on her door, Ms. Norris wanted to use the photo to prove that a loving black family lived in the house.
In a wide-ranging conversation with television producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes on Sunday evening, Ms. Norris, who is a summer resident on the Vineyard, talked about her latest book, her experiences as a black woman and her work to learn more about the experiences of people from all walks of life with race.
Fourteen years ago, Ms. Norris launched the Race Card Project, which asked people from around the world to write six words about their personal feelings about race on a postcard. Since the project began, she has collected nearly a million postcards from all 50 states and over 100 countries.
In January, Ms. Norris released her book, Our Hidden Conversations, which explores the stories behind memorable submissions and sparks a transformative dialogue about race and identity.
Ms. Norris in conversation with producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes. — Jeanna Shepard
“I thought I needed to do something to get people talking,” Ms Norris said.
Ms. Norris told the audience that her family was a big inspiration for the project. Her mother was a mail sorter at the U.S. Postal Service, where her father also worked for many years.
“My mother was thrilled that I supported the U.S. Postal Service,” Ms. Norris said.
Members of her family sitting in the front row laughed appreciatively at the comment.
When asked to talk about specific postcards, Ms. Norris recalled one that left her heartbroken. The card read, “Adoption of black babies is cheaper.”
Although Ms Norris said she was unable to locate the woman who wrote the postcard, she researched the country’s adoption system and wrote a chapter of the book devoted to those six words, explaining how the adoption system demands the most money
for blonde, white children and least of all for black boys.
“The adoption process was basically like holding up a mirror to all of us and saying, ‘This is what you think about your children and this is how you evaluate them,'” Ms Norris said.
She interviewed a family who had gone through the adoption process, a mother who had given up her children, and a nanny, all of whom shed light on the issue. Her honesty sparked important conversations and brought about change in the adoption industry.
Mrs. Rhimes was visibly moved as the story was retold.
“I found that really powerful – the idea that just hearing (those six words) led to a story that changed the industry,” Ms. Rhimes said. “People are willing to open up to you in such an intimate way.”
Ms Norris said she received several postcards reading “You are pretty for a black girl,” which inspired another chapter in her book.
After several women in the audience nodded their heads, Ms. Norris asked the crowd to raise their hands if they had been told something similar. Dozens of hands shot into the air.
“If I get hundreds of cards, that means people are talking about it all the time,” Ms. Norris said. “I wanted the pictures to be in the book because I wanted you to see that the people who are listening to this are pretty, period.”
When asked by a viewer about the patterns she noticed on the postcards, Ms. Norris said most were from white Americans.
“When you pick up a book about race, you expect to learn about people of color, or you expect a juxtaposition,” Ms. Norris said. “Most of the stories in this book come from white people who have never been invited to talk about race before.”
Another pattern she noticed was that young people often write about their thoughts on race, while older generations tend to describe their actual experiences in detail.
“Young people are almost expected to have an opinion on race, wear it on a T-shirt and post a hashtag,” Ms Norris said.
Ms. Rhimes’ final question to Ms. Norris was what she would write as her own six words.
Mrs Norris had two answers.
She said when she started the Race Card Project, her response was, “Fool them all, it’s not done yet.” She said she chose those words because she is a woman of color from Minnesota with a speech impediment and no one expected her to have a celebrated career in journalism.
But after speaking to hundreds of people who took part in the project, so many of whom wanted a better future for themselves and society, she felt a new phrase would be a better fit.
“There is still more to do.”
