Cara Rose,
San Jose, CA.
I’m White. Formerly, I was Mixed; Portuguese and British/German. I only became White when the US census bureau declared the Portuguese a White race. I don’t know how to feel about losing a part of my racial heritage that has been swept into a generic term that doesn’t seem to mean very much. Especially since I still get asked “Where are you from?” Slowly and loudly as if they expect I don’t speak English. I know they are not asking where in California am I from. And they never seem to believe me when I say I’m a native of Granada Hills, which is where I was born and is on my birth certificate. What they mean is, what country am I from since I obviously can’t be American because I don’t look White. I look racially ambiguous. I have been mistaken for every race except black. So what does it mean to be White in a culture that often doesn’t view you as White? And where Whites are losing their status anyway. I have no answer for this.
