College Essay Biracial Text

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Many people may call me weird, unique or different for the simple fact that i am biracial. Often i watch television, listen to the radio, read newspapers, books and magazines like any ordinary teen. This affects me in a huge way because most singers and people and photos i see the people are white, asian, hispanic, or black. Being biracial has its advantages: many people find us attractive, different people can relate to us and it's different. Overall, half black and half white people have the same interests, dislikes and friends anyone else has. Race shouldn't matter as much as it does, but no matter what your culture, religion, or sex, being proud is cool.

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Ridgefield, ct ldquo you mixed? rdquo a girl boldly asked me at my friend rsquo s prom. When i meet a biracial person, i am ecstatic, and we often share our experiences, including the dilemma of having to ldquo choose. Rdquo sometimes i find that i can relate to a biracial stranger better than to my own parents. Although i feel an almost poignant vibe when interacting with other biracial individuals, i am also aware that my ethnicity allows me to make greater connections with those from diverse backgrounds.

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The product of an african american father and an irish english american mother, one could argue that i rsquo ve been surrounded by diversity my whole life. Among my brothers and i, there is a blonde, a brunette me and a redhead, which never ceases to fascinate friends and family. When my mother rsquo s sister inspired my younger brother to pursue a version of the irish step from ldquo riverdance, rdquo i was ldquo stepping rdquo in an annual black history month show. Our family diversity is frequently manifested in foods such as collard greens with irish soda bread.

My background, however, goes beyond food we sing ldquo the black national anthem rdquo in february and whip out shamrocks in march. Growing up, the frequent requirement of ldquo checking one box rdquo caused me to feel, literally, boxed in, a sentiment i continue to feel when filling out college applications. Being biracial, however, has given me a unique understanding and appreciation of different cultures. Oudc , i quickly embraced both the black and jewish members of the group, attending a friend rsquo s seder and bringing her to her first palm sunday mass. When all 23 of us marched across edmund petus bridge in selma, alabama, retracing the footsteps civil rights marchers took on bloody sunday, i fully understood the importance of bridging cultures, and the implications of my existence.

During this tour with oudc, a guide singled me out saying, ldquo in order to own a store in the black section of atlanta during this period, one would have to be. Rdquo as i glanced up from the museum pamphlet, i noted 22 pairs of eyes fixed on my ldquo commendable rdquo light skin tone. Unsure of how to respond, i remained silent, and observed 11 curious faces and 11 assessing glances. Was i supposed to be infuriated that i made the cut for a malicious system of oppression? should i have explained the history of light skin tone in the black community? or should i have falsely denied that i, during those days, would have had more opportunities? i decided to accept the past as past, and to condemn a system that had divided the black community. I frequently find myself in situations where people question my blackness or whiteness, but i rsquo ve learned that being me, and not a label, will always be a challenge. Mixed, biracial, half and half or creamed coffee, however people classify me, i feel an obligation to bridge cultures and promote tolerance and understanding. An understanding of biracial identity formation what are you? a question that seems simple enough, but when dealing with biracial identity, it is a question that has spawned political movements, fields of study, and even more questions.

This paper is aimed at dissecting different aspects of the biracial identity process to gain a better understanding about this subject from the research available. The identity construction of a biracial person is quite complex and it involves many different factors and those topics will be covered in this paper. Definitions for the purpose of this paper i will only be looking at cases in the united states. Biracial will only refer to those with african black and european white decent unless otherwise stated.

History during the days of slavery, when black women had mixed progeny that a skin tone was lighter than those people of pure african descent and this grew to be an asset. The lighter skinned biracial people were afforded more privileges than that of people with dark skin and were often able to live in the house of the slave master. This afforded them the privileges of not having to work in the fields and they were often educated. Other white european physical features that were inherited also gave biracial people an advantage over the other darker skinned african featured slaves. The idea that biracial people have more privilege has continued into today’s culture, but affects the black culture more than the white culture. Politics and demographics identity development models: past and present in order to understand how an individual constructs their identity, there has to be uniformity in the measurement of identity development through models.

Biracial identity construct models have changed throughout history, reflecting society’s views of the time. Different identity classifications as stated above, biracial individuals are found to identify differently according to different situations. There are basically five different ways in which biracial individuals indentify: monoracial identity, black or white multiple monoracial identities, black and white, shifting according to the situation multiracial identity extra racial identity by not identifying with any race situational identity, identifying differently in different contexts renn, 2008. This gives researchers a more alive understanding about biracial identity, which is it is more aligned with how a biracial individual sees themselves. Research the environment on which a biracial person is surrounded has a tremendous effect on how they identify.

Twine’s points out in her study that the girls being raised in the suburbs, identified as white or biracial because her environment was white. Other studies have also shown that biracial people raised in a black environment usually identify as black. Self definitions if a biracial identifies as white, that is a self definition that may not be upheld by society.

Although society’s view of minorities is slowly changing, we have not come so far as to ignore skin color. Shih and sanchez claim that there is a conflict between private and public definitions. Multiracial individuals frequently encounter inconsistencies between how society defines them and how they define themselves. This leads to a choice to identify either as black or as biracial leaving white identification out of reach, at least in society. Discussion on a macro level analysis of biracial identity, the environment important factors to consider when trying to understand how biracial identity is formed. Racial identity is one of the most prominent internal conflicts that americans face in today’s society. We are a melting pot nation, full of biracial citizens who are torn between being accepted by one culture versus being rejected by the other.

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