For this week’s
readings I very much enjoyed The Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage.
It is a short reading that reminds people that multiracial individuals have the
right to choose what they identify as without being judged for it.
Additionally, they do not have to justify anything about themselves if they choose
not to. Since the theme of this week is Traitors Strike Back, Venerations:
Hybrid Vigor, Cultural Bridges, Golden People, Race Saviors, and Ideal Beauty,
I thought that this reading was sort of like a comeback or mixed-race individuals/race
traitors. This reading, to me, seems like a statement from mixed race people
saying that they own themselves and that nobody else can tell them how to feel
about their own identities and their own bodies. Many of the “I have the rights”
in the reading are a response to microaggressions, and I can’t help but feel
that some people, including myself, are very ignorant in this subject. I
understand that it is not the responsibility of mixed-race people to teach us
about themselves, but sometimes people just don’t have the opportunity to learn
about this. By making this comment, I am definitely not defending people who
are prejudicial towards mixed race. Before coming to college, I did not know
that many people got offended when I asked them where they were from, or the
dreaded question “so… what are you…?” I came from a small town with mostly Mexican Americans, some white individuals, and a few African American individuals. I was never introduced to people of mixed-race except for my colleagues, and most of them were from mexico, so I was never introduced to mixed-race discourse. It was only after receiving a college education
that I was able to realize that many of the things I asked were
considered micro-aggressions. However, not everybody has the opportunity to receive a
college education, and many individuals do not realize that they are also partaking in microaggressions when they make such comments. How can we increase awareness about mixed race identity, and how can we encourage people who don't have the opportunity of receiving a higher education to engage in mixed-race discourse in order to reduce the number of microaggressions towards mixed-race individuals?
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