Uma Avva remembers attending elementary school in Fayetteville and being asked: Are you black or white? She was neither. Avva’s family moved from India to the South in the 1960s, at a time when there were only three boxes to check on standardized forms: white, black, or other.
As she got older, Avva realized she was stuck between two worlds. She did not fit in in North Carolina or back in India where she stood out for playing sports and participating in drama instead of studying. Avva’s story is just one of the many shared in a new oral history exhibit at the Greensboro History Museum. “Second Generation: Asian American” explores what American identity means for Asian immigrants. Host Frank Stasio previews the exhibit with Uma Avva and Carol Ghiorsi Hart, director of the Greensboro History Museum. The exhibit is on view through Feb. 3, 2019.
