RACISM + CULTURE
When Mixed Race People Don’t Want To Choose
Is that fair or a sign of privilege? Let’s unpack this.
In the aftermath of the racial reckoning, I started hearing a common refrain from mixed-race people — I don’t and shouldn’t have to choose sides. We’ve heard about the loneliness and isolation they often experience, marginalized from both sides of the coin. But is it fair for some people to choose their racial identity? Let’s unpack this.
On the surface level, these mixed-race people have a good point. After all, if someone is White and Black, then those are just the facts in play. No one could in good faith deny their racial makeup. But, when it comes to racial identity, that same hill becomes too steep to climb. Here’s why.
Darker-skinned people have worse outcomes when they come in contact with law enforcement. If a cop pulled over a dark-skinned, mixed-race person, they could not talk their way out of discrimination. They could try. “Officer, I associate as a white or mixed-race person.” But that wouldn’t help. Racism is not something we choose, so neither is racial identity.
Black people look Black every single day whether they would like to or not. We cannot camouflage ourselves to fit into a white-dominated space. We just can’t. When police…
