Tuesday 31 January 2006

More than a black and white issue

America has an interesting view on race. Everything is either black or white. But what if you are both? Millions of students who plan to pursue higher education ask themselves: What race am I? How will affirmative action affect me if I am a combination of different races? I am one of these millions of students who will ponder these questions, since I am multiracial. I am African American and Caucasian, known to older generations as mulatto. These days, those of African-American and white-American descent happen to be the most popular mixed-race group, followed by African American and Hispanic.

Many people who are biracial or multiracial have chosen to embrace both and all sides of their ancestries, while others have an identity crisis. An identity crisis may be forced upon them by their multiple ethnicities and cultures. At school, many mixed-race children may be asked to identify what race they are. In many multi-race households, this topic may or may not be addressed because either the family has chosen to identify as one race or embrace diversity and told the child that he or she is the same as everyone else. It's commonplace that many families that have children who are African American and Caucasian may not tell their children about being mixed, because they don't want to expose them to racism.

An example of the complexity of being biracial in the American music industry is Mariah Carey. Carey is a child born of a Caucasian father and an African-American mother. The hip-hop industry had a hard time accepting her and even dismissed her as a white girl trying to claim black blood. She has since, however, been accepted in both hip-hop and R&B and by Black Entertainment Television, particularly since she began collaborating with superstar producer Jermaine Dupri, who is African American.

It should be the purpose of everyone to accept each other regardless of racial/ethnic background or mixing. We should promote diversity and exploration of all sides of ones ancestry. Exploring your mixing is the same as exploring your personality. There is no shame in being biracial or multiracial. My remedy for this situation is to make sure that racism is not reawakened or kept burning in the 21st century. If we choose to let racism keep going on like it did in the first half of the 20th century, no amount of articles and protests will be able to save us. It should be a national goal that blacks, whites, Asians, Native Americans, Hispanics, and yes, biracial and multiracial people can live together.

(excerpt from Courier Post - Heroes of Mariah)



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