Kira Henstenburg,
Washington, DC.
Mixed race Russian-Kazakh. Adopted.
I’m not considered “asian enough” to be invited to anime conventions.
I’m not comfortable taking a strong stance on race in class discussions because I’m considered white.
I’m told I “look a lot like my father.”
If I say I was born in Russia, people assume my parents had me there and moved here.
I identify myself as a mixed race Russian/Kazakh and adopted, and yet there are people who are willing to challenge me and tell me I’m wrong. There are people who are willing to judge me based on my hair color and my skin tone. People out there who are willing to fit me into a box that I don’t feel like I fit into at all.
I may pass as white, but I still understand how people treat others differently based on race.
