Current Events > Being mixed race really makes racial politics complicated

(+) Yeah! (+)

So my brother and I are both half white half Chinese, but to most people I look mostly white and he looks Asian.

No one ever believes we're siblings, but it also really messes up how we identify. I've tried to hang with Chinese American groups and while there's never any hostility, it's clear I don't suffer from the same discrimination they do, and that includes my brother who has had several instances of people telling him to "go back to China" since covid-19 started.

So he identifies strongly with his Chinese heritage, while for me it's kind of a novelty. But at the same time I really wish I could call myself a Chinese American and it be meaningful in the same way it is for him.


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Interesting take, TC. I never thought of it like that.

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Being mixed race also means that people try to pull you into arguments using both sides of your heritage. It's a trap most of the time.

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I kinda feel you tc. But I'm not meaningfully attached to the cultural heritage of my Korean side, but from my looks people definitely treat me as Asian. There's sort of a mismatch there.

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Wii_Shaker posted...

Being mixed race also means that people try to pull you into arguments using both sides of your heritage. It's a trap most of the time.

The problem is that I haven't been a victim of discrimination the way my bother has, so it's hard for me to understand like he does.


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Wii_Shaker posted...

Being mixed race also means that people try to pull you into arguments using both sides of your heritage. It's a trap most of the time.

lol not if youre half black.

Never had anyone come up to me and say "Hey man youre half white what are your opinions on this white issue"

Black people always claimed me but white people would give me weird looks when i would be with my dad who was white.

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If you'd like to be able to celebrate and be a part of both your Chinese and whatever white group you're mixed with, you should be able to without any guilt.

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Wii_Shaker posted...

Being mixed race also means that people try to pull you into arguments using both sides of your heritage. It's a trap most of the time.

I have the opposite. Anytime I bring up my mixed background or attempt to give some insight on race issues, I get told I'm not a true minority since I can pass as white.

Only white liberal people have said this interestingly enough. >_>

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My social work classes have some articles written by people dealing with mixed race issues like that.

In school and being too black for the white kids but too white for the black kids, that sort of thing.

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KStateKing17 posted...

If you'd like to be able to celebrate and be a part of both your Chinese and whatever white group you're mixed with, you should be able to without any guilt.

I'm sure it's true for any ethnic group, but in Chinese American groups, you don't really fit in completely. I speak conversational Mandarin and have a pretty good understanding of Chinese culture, but I'm still a "white person" and I honestly don't blame them for thinking I don't understand what it's like to face discrimination.


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DarkRoast posted...

I'm sure it's true for any ethnic group, but in Chinese American groups, you don't really fit in completely. I speak conversational Mandarin and have a pretty good understanding of Chinese culture, but I'm still a "white person" and I honestly don't blame them for thinking I don't understand what it's like to face discrimination.

I've never fit into an Asian clique if I'm honest <_<

I have had far more black, white, and Hispanic friends than I've had Asian friends.

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DarkRoast posted...

I'm sure it's true for any ethnic group, but in Chinese American groups, you don't really fit in completely. I speak conversational Mandarin and have a pretty good understanding of Chinese culture, but I'm still a "white person" and I honestly don't blame them for thinking I don't understand what it's like to face discrimination.

I heard it's pretty common in Chinese culture though right? My friend is Chinese and she says that they treat Chinese born in the USA worse than the Chinese born in China. They apparently look down on people who arent born in the mainland from what was explained to me

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Where do you guys live?

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As a white Hispanic I feel similarly. In high school i kinda got by with most groups while also never seeing much discrimination towards myself but quite a bit towards Hispanics in general. But in the past 10 or so years as I've tried to embrace my Hispanic heritage more and the blatant amount of bigotry against us in the "real world" on a regular basis is just fucking insane.
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CrimsonRage posted...

but if they call themselves black they're told 'yeah, you're black' by both white and black people.

no they don't

Meh. Full Asian here, and comments never bothered me. It's the lack of network, and the uneducated upbringing that always bugged me.

Neither parents spoke English or were educated, so I had to wing so much of my life. I remember having these projects I made from literal garbage while my classmates had all this fancy foam and shit their parents built for them.

Then there's all this cultural stuff you are unaware of. My parents grew up in a village so they taught me shit like peeing outside and eating off the floor. I got so many weird looks when I was old enough to go to school.


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Me and my brother are also mixed. Half Spanish (Puerto Rico), half Indian (Trinidad). I look more Indian while my brother looks more white. My mom never taught us Spanish, but my brother's been learning it so he could pass off with the Spanish groups.

I also feel ostracized between both groups, because I don't speak Spanish and I don't really fit in with groups of Trinis. I like to identify myself more with my Indian side. I have gotten some comments from strangers that could tell I was Puerto Rican, and other Trinidadians could tell I was from Trinidad. A few weeks ago at the store a guy asked me which part of Trinidad I'm from. My dad was born in Trinidad (I was born in New York), so I told him the nearest city where my dad was from.
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Ive had similar feelings as a mixed american as well

I dont have this experience but my fiance has a black grandfather so is some percentage African American, although looking at her she is a very pale white redhead.

she does not identify as black, but it is still an important part of her heritage that informs how she feels about current events

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DrizztLink posted...

My social work classes have some articles written by people dealing with mixed race issues like that.

In school and being too black for the white kids but too white for the black kids, that sort of thing.

This was kinda my experience. But with black kids I'd just get shit over being light skinned, I was still considered black.

To no surprise I'm instantly attracted to other black/white mixed people. Feels like 0 judgment

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Reis posted...

no they don't

There actually is some truth to that. Nowadays people are a bit more accepting of interracial relationships and children, but in the past a half black, half white kid was black. I know people that don't talk to half their family because their parent married outside their race and their folks couldn't accept it. My own maternal grandfather is from Mississippi and had a very light skin tone. Unfortunately because his family was "colored", any mix wasn't acknowledged so he was just black as far as the state is concerned. You could tell by old pictures he was a black man, but in his last years he could have passed for white.

Unfortunately there are still many people in the country that still have that mindset whether it's from hate or still believing that 1% rule.

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It shouldn't matter.

Sad we live in a society that makes it so.

KStateKing17 posted...

There actually is some truth to that. Nowadays people are a bit more accepting of interracial relationships and children, but in the past a half black, half white kid was black. I know people that don't talk to half their family because their parent married outside their race and their folks couldn't accept it. My own maternal grandfather is from Mississippi and had a very light skin tone. Unfortunately because his family was "colored", any mix wasn't acknowledged so he was just black as far as the state is concerned. You could tell by old pictures he was a black man, but in his last years he could have passed for white.

Unfortunately there are still many people in the country that still have that mindset whether it's from hate or still believing that 1% rule.

uh I bolded the part I was talking about, which is not being a black enough becoming an increasingly common sentiment

DarkRoast posted...

So he identifies strongly with his Chinese heritage, while for me it's kind of a novelty. But at the same time I really wish I could call myself a Chinese American and it be meaningful in the same way it is for him.

You are Chinese & Caucasian & American.

Doesn't matter what others think.

You know the truth about your heritage.

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Kastrada posted...

I have the opposite. Anytime I bring up my mixed background or attempt to give some insight on race issues, I get told I'm not a true minority since I can pass as white.

Only white liberal people have said this interestingly enough. >_>

There's a reason why the Chinese Term "Bai-Zuo" has become a popular meme on the Chinese internet.

They poke fun at the stupidity of the "Liberal Left" and their values.

You should be welcomed ANYWHERE you go,

• your skin color shouldn't matter
• your ethnicity shouldn't matter
• your sexual preferences shouldn't matter
• your abled / disabled status shouldn't matter.
• You should be welcomed EVERYWHERE & ANYWHERE you step foot in.
• No qualifications should ever be required of you other than you are who you say you are with proof of identity documents that you are not impersonating another human being.

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KStateKing17 posted...

Unfortunately there are still many people in the country that still have that mindset whether it's from hate or still believing that 1% rule.

You should be able to accept people from any culture, from any skin color.

All that stuff about needing to "Look a certain way" or be "Pure blood" is utter baloney.

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Reis posted...

uh I bolded the part I was talking about, which is not being a black enough becoming an increasingly common sentiment

Oh. The way Crimson wrote it I assumed you were talking about the acceptance of mixed kids in each group.

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I hear you TC,my Dads family consists of white rural Texans and my Moms family are all black from Cleveland.Also my Stepbrother is half Philipino (same Dad) and my Stepsister is half Mexican (same Mother)....I just stay away from ignorant people since I can spot them a mile away with their bs.

It's just too tiring nowadays to avoid stupid shit like that.

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Reis posted...

uh I bolded the part I was talking about, which is not being a black enough becoming an increasingly common sentiment

Now there's a "Blackness" test to see if you're "Black enough"?

That's some utter ridiculous barriers people are putting up.

It seems like people are forgetting the words of MLK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s

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please don't reply to me with your cringey ass nonsense

Reis posted...

please don't reply to me with your cringey ass nonsense

Why are you copping an attitude with me?

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It's too bad we all can't identify as human

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Im black/Filipino but Im very light-skinned. My name is fairly neutral as well.

Normally I appreciate the ambiguity of my background because it means that I should be open for interpretation for many people, but I have ran into the light-skinned vs. dark-skinned debacle and its really fucking dumb

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AvantgardeAClue posted...

Normally I appreciate the ambiguity of my background because it means that I should be open for interpretation for many people, but I have ran into the light-skinned vs. dark-skinned debacle and its really fucking dumb

Those types of people aren't worth your time.

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I mean you can probably get away with it if you have an asian last name, but I'm guessing your parents are probably WM/AF (just assuming because its the most common interracial relationship) and if that's the case then yeah it can definitely complicate things. In my opinion, it really should be down to income level more than race. I've had asian friends who have been white washed that don't face a single problem that normally other south easy asian americans (first generation parents from a different country) would face because they come from a rich upbringing.

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