Julia McCann Week 1 Reading

In Arwin D. Smallwood's "Race Mixings: A Brief History with Maps," it is said that the the human race originated from East African lands which then migrated throughout Africa and then into other continents gradually. He tells of the ongoing struggle that people of mixed race go through due to the historical separation of the races by continent. Many European explorers would then find new lands in the western hemisphere and force the women to be subservient sex slaves and mistresses. Attempts were made to prevent interracial relationships: laws were created in the South preventing whites from mixing with colored and mixed folks. Colored women were often sterilized to avoid them creating offspring with white men. Due to these efforts, mixed peoples would migrate to other communities where they were either not recognized as colored or the concept of white-ness was irrelevant. Because of the discrimination against mixed peoples, many learned to avoid acknowledging their non-white heritage to make a better life for themselves and their families. At this time, they were taught being anything but white was bad, and that they were contaminated individuals. However, race mixing was crucial for many reasons in the past: despite the stigma against it even at the time, stronger civilizations would invade weaker countries while pillaging the cities and taking women, leading to mixed race children. Royal families would offer up their children as peace offerings to their enemies or to initiate an alliance. In short, although race mixing was looked down upon, there were instances in which it was necessary to avoid war, and "white purity" would have been preserved if people were not so overcome by lust.

In Cindy Nakashima's "Invisible Monster," the author talks about how multiracial people do not fit neatly into any racial category. People naturally feel the need to put things into categories and the concept of a person fitting into two categories feels uncomfortable for many. Mixed people are not only of mixed blood, but of mixed heritage. There are potentially multiple perspectives, religions, attitudes, beliefs, etc. Some stereotypes of mixed peoples are based off of the idea that mixed people are immoral and more out of control than pure-blooded folks. Physically, a mixed person usually does not look like only one of their races. People will point out what characteristics and physical traits are of which racial background, which can be tiring. In short, the gradually increasing amount of mixed people who are born is leading to a blurred separation between races where mixed people won't be forced to "choose" which race they belong to, and can freely choose to belong to all of them if they desire.

From this week's reading, I would like to know: due to the immense uplifting of white-ness, at what point did people begin to appreciate non-white cultures as something to be respected, rather than squashed out and ignored?

Is it possible to actually know what someone is mixed with just by appearances?