In one of my social work classes we were talking about people of mixed races and the difficulty they face fitting in. After class, I asked the girl next to me what you call a person who is a mix of races. I got a blank stare..."Good question. Gee, they don't even get a name," she said. At that second, I did not think much of it, I just brushed it off like most of the other comments you hear daily and went about my business. However that innocent comment has a second later to it which my classmate probably didn't imply.
*Oreo *Halfro *Calf *Cheese Nip *Caramel *Chromey *Chinxican *Cookies n Cream *Heinz (57 varieties) *Niggeroid *Skunk *Jigger *Halfrican are just a couple of the 136 slurs when I did a search of "mixed." When I searched for politically correct terms, I found hardly anything. Multi-ethnic was the solitary word that I was able to find for someone born from different ethnicities or colors. In an article I read written by a woman whose parents referred to her as an Oreo, and she claims that never in her life has she fit in.
My classmate's comment was significant because it made me think about what hardships people who are multi ethnic face. Children who grow up in a place where they are exposed to different ethnicities every day are forced to choose where they feel they best fit in. Is it with the white kids, the black kids, or the Asian children? This, should not be an issue, however we are still not at the point of the "melting pot" dream that ethnicities and cultures can mesh together as one big culture.
Why is it that a child with a black mother and a white father has to have so much difficulty fitting in on the playground? Why do they have an especially hard time if they are a lightly colored black person or a dark skinned white? Is there a difference? Does it matter? Often of the play ground children with different races section off, that in and of itself shows us that they don't feel equal. This is something that is learned, not an inherent emotion. As bad as that is, it must be extra difficult for a child who doesn't fit into any group perfectly. If these kids aren't allowed to play red rover with white children or hide and seek with the black just because they look different, how can they grow up to believe they are equal in society?
2 comments:
I agree with many of your points. I have heard most of those terms before. I went to high school with a couple of multi ethnic kids and one of them told me they never felt like they fit in, and that the only way to stay "under the radar" was to put up with the things people said to them because they made up about .1% of the school and didn't think anyone would take them seriously if they started to fight back. Very interesting topic.
What place do multi-ethnic children fit in? It's not as though they are not allowed to fit in. It is simply hard to find your place in society when you don't even know how to label yourself. Obviously race is a social construction and ethnicity, while more subtle, runs along those same lines. Especially at such a fragile stage of development, not knowing your own identity can be quite damaging. But then, if such facets as race and ethnicity are societally established, is it wrong to label yourself as what you see yourself as?
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