Musings on Mixed Race

I have been noticing a movement.  A rumble of indignation in the world.  Many people are demanding to be acknowledged as Mixed Race... not Black and White or Asian and White... or... or...

I guess that is what I am wondering.  Is the desire to be viewed within this specific category universal?  I wonder if people who are half White experience this more than people who are half Black and something other than White.  In my life, there was a momentary lapse of identity, but for the most part I always identified as Black.  My Korean identity was never nurtured or developed.  It was not difficult to avoid an identity struggle when one half of my identity lurked in the shadows.  I really only experienced one really difficult time in my life as a person caught between two worlds - the LA riots.  I had to defend Blacks to Koreans and Koreans to Blacks.  I am thankful that episode was short lived and not very traumatic.  So, based on my experience, I wonder what it is like for others like me - the Black/not-White biracial folks.  Is it easier to identify as Black?  Or are they feeling what (it seems) many Black/White or Asian/White or other White/??? are feeling?  A desire to embrace a Mixed Race identity rather than identifying more with one race or the other or with asserting that one is half of this and half of that.

I'm inclined to think that the experience is different for those of us who are not half White.  I think that there is a lot more baggage for those who are.  Especially if they are Black/White.  For me, there just wasn't a history of one half of my heritage having oppressed the other half of my heritage.  I honestly never really gave it much thought until I started reading more about the assertion of a Mixed Race identity.  Perhaps it really does represent a new way of looking at race.  Perhaps it is a way that we can honor the richness of heritage without focusing on the baggage that comes with it.  In counseling there is the idea of the creation of the New; creating a new story (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett, 2010).  In America, in the world, this is the creation of a new story.  It is a new way of looking at race.  Eventually we will be so intertwined within races, ethnicities and cultures that the only practical way to identify will be 'Mixed Race.' 

The truth is that despite the similarities of our many stories, we each experience mixed race identities in different ways.  Everyone has a unique experience.  While I identify as Black, I am very proud to be half Korean.  I am always looking for ways to infuse Korean culture into my life and now into my daughter's life.  I am biracial.  My daughter is multiracial.  We are Mixed Race.  We are part of the Highbred Nation.  And our numbers are growing.  I hope the world is ready to get with the program.

Ivey, A., Ivey, M. & Zalaquett, C.  (2010).  Intentional Interviewing and Counseling (p. 240). Belmont: Brooks/Cole.

What Is You?

So, that is an actual question that someone asked me once.  "A human being," I tartly answered.  But I knew what he meant.  I just didn't feel like dealing with it at that particular moment.  And if you are mixed, like me, then you probably know exactly what I mean.  My mom is Korean and my dad is Black - a good ol military mix.  I managed to get through a good part of my early youth without it being an issue.  It may have been around 4th grade or so before I really recall realizing that I was somehow different.  But not in a negative way - it was just something that I noticed.  The negativity came around 9th grade.  Up until then we had primarily lived overseas on military bases.  Small town Wisconsin gave me a new perspective on race.  It was the first time I recalled hearing the n-word. 

It was also around the same time that I felt confused about marking 'black' when demographic information was requested.  I wasn't just black after all - I was korean too.  My mother saved me from further distress on that one.  She sat me down and affirmed that yes, I was also korean.  But, other people would look at me and see black and that is how I would be treated.  No one would ever look at me and think that I was korean.  Crisis resolved.  Yay mom.  But I was forever changed in how I looked at race, ethnicity, culture and diversity.  It was a good change; it brought a level of awareness of the good, the bad and the ugly.  But, it also brought with it a profound appreciation for our differences and how then can enrich our lives. 

I do identify as a black woman.  I also love and celebrate my korean heritage.  I think that I am lucky, though.  Because I know that so many others who are mixed do not have this solidarity and conviction in their bi/multiracial identity.  There are times that have been interesting for me.  For example, the LA riots.  I had to defend the koreans to the blacks and the blacks to the koreans.  And then there are the times when I have had to deal with 'not being black enough.'  But all in all, I am thankful to say that I am relatively unscathed and embrace my identity.  So, I refer back to my answer to the question: I am human.  I am a human being living and loving a diverse experience and benefiting from all that comes with it.  And work on your grammar, boo.