A young President Obama with his white grandfather.
Most people who know me know that when the issue of racial identity comes up, I can go on for days. So it's no surprise that the headline of a front page article in today's USA Today caught my interest.
"Multiracial no longer boxed in by the Census."
The article talked about how the upcoming Census is likely to reveal more people than ever listing themselves as multiracial, because of a rise in mixed race marriages and a new generation of people who may now choose to identify as multiracial. All of this seemed to lead to the point that the U.S. is getting closer to becoming a "post-racial" society, and the article ended with a quote from a biracial person who said she thinks that eventually, races will continue mixing and we will all end up as one color anyway. Overall, the article had a very hopeful note for a possible post-racial society where all races will mix happily because more people are identifying themselves as multiracial.
One might assume that, because I am biracial myself and don't hesitate to let people know it, I would feel that way, too: hopeful that one day, we will all mix together happily as one American culture, leaving notions of individual races and ethnicity behind. But that's not actually the case–I don't hope for this at all. Honestly, I think that having a society where people can belong to and identify with different ethnic and racial groups is a good thing. Culture, and cultural pride, is so amazing to me–I can't imagine not having the culture and history that I was raised in and learned about growing up.
This is a large reason why I don't want a post-racial society for our country, nor do I think it's even possible. I don't think it's possible because A) I think that people will continue to instill their cultural and racial pride in their children to pass on to future generations, and B) All of the statistics and numbers are based on self-perception.
The results of that Census are based off of how people view themselves, which the article mentioned. Take me–I am Black and Puerto Rican. When people ask me what my racial background is, that's how I answer. I don't say I'm just black, and I don't say I'm just Puerto Rican–I'm both, and that's just the way it is for me. I've always wished on forms or applications that there was a "biracial" or "multiracial" option or a "check more than one" option, rather than just "other" or only being able to choose one.
But that's just me. Many other multiracial or biracial people choose to identify with just one of their races. I recently read an article in the March issue of Women's Health Magazine where actress Paula Patton, who is half Black and half White, said she prefers not to identify as biracial.
"I find the term biracial offensive," she said. "It's a way for people to separate themselves from African Americans. It's like saying I'm better than that. I'm black because that's the way the world sees me. People aren't calling Barack Obama biracial. Most people think there's a black president."
Now, I couldn't disagree with this statement more–I feel like you should be proud of all parts of who you are, and I don't think claiming that I am Puerto Rican separates me from African Americans, nor does claiming I am Black separate me from Puerto Ricans. But, my opinion aside, I think Paula's statement is a prime example of the fact that even if the number of people claiming they are multiracial is on the rise, there are many, many more people who still aren't and won't ever identify as multiracial. So as long as you have people like Paula, who want to identify with only one race, and people like me, who don't want to let go of any parts of their ethnic background, I don't think there's any way all cultures can just completely melt together and this Utopian idea of a blended, post-racial society can really exist.
Instead of continuing to aim for this idea of all blending together into one big blob, I think as a society, we should embrace the fact that we are heterogeneous. Of course, we want to be at a point where we are past racism and discrimination, but do we want unique races and cultures to be forgotten entirely? I prefer the current idea of a melting pot: different cultures co-existing together in the "stew" of our society, but still acknowledging what unique "ingredients" each brings to the pot.
