Tasha L.,
Largo, MD.
I am adopted, raised by a half French/half Black mother and full-blooded Sicilian father. I am half Black, quarter Indian (India) and quarter white in my biological heritage. I am told I look Latina or white, “definitely not Black,” and have always noticed I seem to confuse people when they try to categorize me ethnically.
-Them: Where are your parents from?
-Me: California.
-Them: No, where did they COME from?
-Me: Italy and Kansas….
Can’t label me when you look at me, guess it makes some folk uncomfortable. All I ever felt from those questions is: “You don’t look like us.”…”what ARE you?”…”You don’t act like….”
Tiring, but stealthily, sneakily, my secret weapon. Can turn on the whiteness when surrounded by people uncomfortable with people who are clearly people of color, but can turn on my biracial identity when I want to connect with cultures and other persons of color. A racial chameleon. What am I when the labels disappear?
