But what do you do when someone asks you to choose your ethnicity? For many this question is simple, for those of us who are mixed or have parents of different descent the question can cause inner turmoil.
Sounds reasonable, however fans to twitter and started an uproar as they so love to do. In this society often times biracial citizens are forced to choose or even at times temporarily ignore half of their heritage. Deny half of who and what they are for a myriad of reasons, ranging from personal gain to social acceptance.
I was once stopped by one of those lovely solicitors on the Santa Monica College quad to take a survey. I happened to be with a friend of mine who was also half black and half white. The surveyor started with my friend Daryl.
She she had a few simple questions to ask us before we started. Eventually she asked Daryl his race, and he said he was mixed. The young black girl asked him to pick which one he related to more. Daryl told her simply he embraces both sides of who he is and that he cant pick what he wants to be to better suit him at times.
Until the rest of society realizes or accepts that being biracial is more than filling in more than one bubble on exams and scantrons there will always be Americans forced to choose.
I ran across this blog...This is hilarious. Keyshia Cole packages herself as a Black entertainer...From her look (which is overwhelmingly "Black"), music, marketing, down to her name KEYSHIA!!!....You can't make money off the Black community and then run away and claim "but I'm mixed." There is nothing wrong with claiming you are Black, which she is. By doing so is not a dismissal of any of your other roots. It means you are proud of your African ancestry. Besides based on the socialization of race in America Keyshia and a lot of other "mixed" people are looked at as Black in society controlled by white people. You can't completely ignore how others view you when it comes to claiming your identity. Some mixed brothers and sisters act like they live in a vacuum...Sorry but the world doesn't work that way.......Peace.
ReplyDeleteI am biracial and identify as black/white. I agree that to the rest of society I am black no matter what I say. Even my son, who is 1/4 black, is seen as black. I do believe, hope that the world can change. To me, the problem is not about how we identify or how we are perceived, it's about racism. Elevating society is the only answer.
ReplyDelete