Im Mixed I shouldnt have to choose
Tahtianah,
Hurst, TX
p>I’m mixed I should not have to choose one of my ethnicities to be apart of I should be able to be apart of both.
Did not choose to be Jewish
Sarah Elizabeth Rosen,
Laguna Hills, CA.
I did not choose to be Jewish. But, I have come to realize as I got older to appreciate who I am and how my religion is important to me. People think I am Mexican because I am tan, but really I am a Eastern European Jew. When I tell people that I am Jewish, they look at me and say I can see that, you have the hair and people are sometimes making money comments. I am proud to be Jewish and I do not care what people say. I love celebrating the holidays and getting to know about my families lives. Being Jewish is a big part of me and I am not ashamed. CBU-HIS311
Black and part of the solution.
Maurice Kemp,
San Antonio, TX.
I did not choose my race. No one did. I was born into a world with preconceived notions about my race and others. We all were. I entered a world with plenty of recorded and unrecorded history. We all did. I cannot account for any of the history that predates me. No one can. And so, I cannot be given credit for nor can I be condemned for the circumstances that I was born into. And the same can be said for everyone. I was not born a slave; even if my ancestors were up to a certain point in time. And so, I cannot say in earnest that I know what it means to be a slave. I was not born during the Jim Crow era. Despite the fact that my parents were; I cannot say in earnest that I know what it means to be economically, socially and politically disenfranchised and unequally protected by the law. The world that I have been born into is not perfect. And the society that I was born into is not completely fair; but, it is far more fair than it was at its beginning.
Now that I am here, I am accountable for my choices and for my actions; as we all are. So, it really doesn’t matter that I didn’t have a choice about my looks, my race, nor the surroundings that I was born into; because I have limitless choices when it comes to how I process the good and the bad, the struggles and the challenges and the goodwill and ill-will. I can choose to be a part of the problem or I can choose to be part of the solution. Being part of the solution means being that which I desire to see in the world. I cannot entertain spite, resentment and hostility when dealing with bad, the challenging and those of ill-will. Reciprocating these things will only perpetuate the problems we all face. I choose to work to develop myself, to encourage others, to seek justice for the wrongs that currently exist. With respect to the past, I prefer to learn from it not live in it. With respect to the future, I prefer to treat it like it truly matters. And this means putting my present time to its best use. There are specific ways that I am doing this. For example, I strive daily to be the best father I can to my 11 year old son. This effort requires being a role model, a proponent of self-development and a humble student of life. I am Black. But I pride myself in being a part of the solution which means producing value that benefits me and the world around me.
I feel like I’ve been sorted.
Jaclyn Huelbig,
Edison, NJ.
I’m white. When I was a child, I lived in a city (the type that hipsters remain uninterested in!) and I had friends of all races and religions. I had the benefit, for example, of having a conversation with my friend when she chose to don a hijab (her older sister, on the other hand, had chosen not to wear one) and these childhood experiences heavily inform my worldview. However, as I got older and my family moved to the suburbs, it increasingly felt like I was being sorted. Although I moved to a diverse suburb, people tended to hang out with others from their own demographic group. When I went to one of the most diverse colleges in the country it seemed much the same. Was it me? Was I choosing this? Certainly not consciously. I have my degree in sociology, so, in addition to analyzing my own individual behavior and motivations, I also see this through the lens of my discipline and can’t help but feel as though society sorts us. That deeply saddens me. This gulf that divides us is what makes people fearful of others unlike them, if they only knew how alike they really are they may find their fear melting away.
You have to choose. Which one?
Aimee Mallery,
Rochester, NY.
My daughter is Native American on her father’s side. When faced with a form for daycare, I had to choose whether to label her Native American or Caucasian. They insisted she couldn’t be both.
Choosing not to live in fear.
Bill Cecil,
Salisbury, MD.
Awesome project!
No, I dont have to choose
Olivia Divers,
Norfolk, VA.
When you’re mixed with black and white people always have this preconceived idea that you have to “pick” which of the two cultures and behaviors you pick up on. You’re expected to choose between “acting black” or “acting white”. I am both. I will always be both. I love both. No, I don’t have to choose.
Continually frustrated by America’s racial hangups
Whitney,
Durham, NC.
More 6-word offerings…
– Life was less racial in Europe
– Look black, more than half white
– Ticked one box, denied one parent
– Forced to deny half my heritage
– Why should I pick just one?
It’s not that race isn’t an issue in Europe, more that after nearly 8 years living there, I felt more comfortable and more accepted for my mixed race. More people knew at a glance that I wasn’t “just” black, that I was multiple races. Not only that, but there were more boxes for me to tick. There were more options. I didn’t have to choose just one, as I did when registering at the DMV in North Carolina.
I will choose who I am.
R.E.A.L. Talk,
High Tech Middle Media Arts,
7th Grade Trailblazer
Why people often think that they can only be one thing for their entire life is one of my greatest curiosities.
One of our greatest powers is the ability to change, to be something different.
Choosing to have just one label for the rest of my life has never made any sense to me. Good and bad, black and White, Why does it matter? Why do we look at others and choose to stamp a label on them? We are not products, pre-packaged to your liking. We should aspire to change everyday, into better versions of ourselves. We’re never the same even moment to moment, so why act like it?
If I demand respect I’m a crazy feminist.
If I protect the environment, I’m an eco-freak.
And If I embrace my ethnicity and culture, I am just another Mexican.
We are all 99% the same, why let that puny 1% divide us? We have so much more to offer together. People of all colors should be respected and loved because in the end they are just as human as we are.
“If our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how very different our ideals of beauty would be.” -Anonymous
Race is a social construct and does not biologically exist. Every person’s genetic makeup and race is created by sheer coincidence. “Race is not biological. It is a social construct. There is no gene or cluster of genes common to all blacks or all whites..” (New York Times). Our DNA is 99.9% the same (The Telegraph) so it would make no sense for race to be biologically possible. Discrete and continuous traits are a great indicator of this, A discrete trait is when you either have it or you don’t (double jointed, attached earlobes, etc.), A continuous trait is when there is a wide spectrum of a trait (hair, eyes, etc.). Skin color is a continuous trait which makes it impossible to say that someone is definitely black or white. This is important because people of all colors should be respected and loved because they are just as human as we are.
“There is no race chromosome that people can point to, It doesn’t exist.”- The myth of race.
To ignore that we are all humans with hearts, hopes and dreams is inhuman and cruel.
I am Mexican American and proud.
Amber Martinez,
Denver, CO.
I have been emotionally abused just because my family comes from a certain background. I didn’t get to choose where I came from, but it also doesn’t matter. I’m a person and so is everyone else.
Why must I choose one race?
Cassandra Young,
Norfolk, VA.
Often times when filling out a survey or application we are asked to select our race. Many of the times the directions state to only choose one. I am biracial and one race does not define me.
But we need you to choose….
Sonni Williams
Germantown, MD
My name is Sonni, and I am 47 years old.
I have 3 sons, and all of them have white fathers. When my first two were born, it was clear to everyone that their father was white, or that they were of mixed heritage because of their fare skin and hair color and texture. My youngest son, Sammy – however – favors me and my side of the family. He has golden brown skin and fairly course but curly hair. I often tell people that he’s “my twin!”
When we were stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, my kids had to attend an elementary school in Clarksville, Tennessee because we hadn’t received on-base housing yet. The elementary school my children attended was experiencing a rapid growth in student population, and needed to split some of the classrooms into two or three classrooms to make room for all of the students.
I received a call from the school office staff asking me to clarify Sammy’s race. As I have always done, when there are no other options on a form other than one race, I write in “Biracial” and write in “Both Black and White”. The lady from the school said they needed me to ‘choose’ Sammy’s race so they would know which class to put him in. Her explanation was that they wanted to evenly divide the children up by race. I told her my son was both black and white, exactly as I had indicated on the school form. She told me that that was not an acceptable response, and that I needed to choose which race my son was.
Then I asked her, “Are you telling me that if I don’t choose a race, my son won’t be able to attend school?” She exclaimed, “Absolutely not! All kids are required to attend school. It’s just that we don’t have a category for biracial students”. I told her to either create a biracial option, or get another software program for the school that includes more than one race as an option, and hung up the phone.
I remember thinking that no one from the school ever contacted me about my two oldest sons, and I realized that the world saw my youngest child as black. Because of that, I have always been overprotective of my youngest son, and has even had to ‘educate’ his father on the realities that Sam was going to encounter as a black child as he got older.
Sam began to realize what I had been saying when he was 11 years old. He and his best friend Bryce – who was white – was playing hide-and-seek on the way home from school. A police officer came to my door, and said he had a report from a neighbor that said Sammy was trying to break in someone’s car. I called both Sam and Bryce to where I was speaking to the officer, and asked him to repeat what he just told me. I then asked the officer if the report mentioned anything about seeing a young white kid, and the officer said no. I turned to Sam and said – in front of Bryce and the officer – “The rules have changed now, son. No one sees you as a cute little mixed kid anymore. You are becoming a young man – a young black man – and now you are seen as a threat”.
As I was telling Sam this, I noticed how uncomfortable the police officer was becoming as he told Sam, “Just be careful, okay son?”, and walked back to his police car.
I constantly worry about Sam – especially since the Trayvon Martin case! Sam currently resides in Dallas, and I live in D.C. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t worry about him, and how the world perceives him.
Sonni
