I’m not split I’m a whole
Nicolas Ortega,
Redwood City, CA
My cultures are both Mexican and Sicilian. I have always been told I am not enough for both sides.
I am always half never whole.
Sabrina Fairchild,
Canada.
I’m a little disconcerted by how negative this sentence sounds, but it seems to accurately reflect how I’ve been characterized all my life. I’m trying to find new ways to describe myself (as biracial, as Eurasian) that provides a single, coherent identity.
I’m not a percentage of anything.
Chris Tanaka,
Lake Grove, NY.
I am a whole, white passing, Japanese, Native American, French Canadian person. I am not half of this or a quarter of that, I am all of those things at once. I am a whole person.
A representation of society as a whole.
Ryan Owen
Milwaukee, WI
The problems we see in our schools are a result of the bigger problems that are acceptably in grained in our society.
Are you half? No, I’m whole.
S. Belinda Rubio
Lexington, KY
I was at a gas station when the guy working the cash register asked me if I was half? His question caught me by surprise and made me laugh, but I knew what he was trying to ask and sensed that he was trying to bond. He happened to be multiracial and we ended up having a great conversation. I’m Mexican-American and living in Kentucky, by way of Texas, Rhode Island and New York. I get asked quite a bit, “What are you?” or “Where’s your family from?” When I was younger I used to get offended when that was the first question someone would ask me. I could sense they’re need to solve the ethnic riddle and put me in a box. I would respond, “I’m a human being!” or “My parents are from Texas.” “Where are yours from?” Now that I’m older I take it as an opportunity to engage in a positive dialogue and a great way to get to know someone.
