6 Rules With Mixed People Analysis

I initially decided to refrain from narrating the life of a person mixed with African American and European heritage because I am a product of the two. I then realized that it would be in my best interest to use my own ethnic backgrounds. My mother is of European heritage and my father is African American. My family never discussed issues regarding race, or the color of our skin. It wasn’t until third grade, that I began feeling pressures from people of single races to form an ethnic identity. My third grade teacher, Mr. Ayo was Swahili. He dressed and acted out his cultural background proudly. He taught us how to count in Swahili, and we even participated in Kwanzaa activities. One day, he asked each class member about their ethnic background

(if I remember properly, we were learning about the US census). As he asked each student row by row, I felt an overwhelming amount of anxiety. When he finally asked me what my “race” was, I fell quiet. As I looked around the classroom, the children who were African American kept shouting “you’re black, you’re black” and I could read all over Mr. Ayo’s face he expected me to say I’m black. But I didn’t. I felt compelled to say I was white, because the family that raised me was white, and I guess that is how I subconsciously thought of myself. My fellow peers acted out in dismay and Mr. Ayo just stared at me, discerningly, as if I rejected my black side out of shame (I have never been ashamed, he told us to choose only one race, so I did). In fifth grade, a Caucasian girl asked me what I was. I told her, “I’m black and white”. She replied, “ew”. My heart hurt worse than any pain I had ever felt at that time. What was wrong with me, why am I “ew”?
Navigating through life is especially challenging if you are a mixed race person. You are often singled out, and one can feel ostracized from single race groups that they are a part of. You may not be black enough for the African American community, and you may not be white enough for your counterpart. The term “zebra”, is used rampantly to distinguish an African American/Caucasian mixed person from others. Terms like these and others that were mentioned in the Oprah segment (zebra and Oreo) may come be used in a light hearted way, but still have a negative effect (White Looking Black People... Or White People Who Are Half Black). The names I despised the most were “mutt”, “half-breed”, and “mulatto”. Being called a half-breed felt degrading, as if I was not good enough to be called a person, only some kind of street animal. Soon, being bi-racial felt like an endless guessing game, “Let me guess what you are”, “Are you black and Mexican?”, “So, whose black?”, “your mom has jungle fever huh?”, “You like white guys or black guys?”, and the infamous, “What are you?” (Things Mixed People Always Hear).
These questions I iterated above trigger many mixed race people to conjure new guidelines when handling inquiries about their backgrounds.

Jon12213, a blogger/vlogger on YouTube and BlogSpot HumanRagout, demonstrates this perfectly in his video, 6 Rules With Mixed People. In his video Jon references several instances that many mixed race people relate to. He chooses topics that are aimed toward questioning the authenticity of his ethnic background, as well as popularized aesthetic features accompanied with being mixed (i.e. can I touch your hair?). He uses these scenarios to create guidelines when dealing with mixed people in an attempt to express the negative impact some of these perceptions have on mixed race people. Let it be stated that these rules and guidelines, although may serve a functional purpose, generate criticisms as well. Single race people may find “guidelines” unnecessary and give a perception that mixed people hold themselves to a standard requiring special handling. Mixed race people may also criticize these guidelines, arguing that people have questions and it is perfectly acceptable to

ask.
One of the most frustrating obstacles to endure when you are a mixed race person, may be in the form of colorism amongst a single race group in which you belong to. Colorism is essentially a racial project that has persisted in US history dating back to the Atlantic Slave Trade. As European slave masters sexually exploited their slave women/girls, biracial children were born. The concept of lighter skin slaves receiving better treatment and preferred jobs already existed and created tension in the slave community. The biracial offspring heightened the phenomena. Colorism, thus deeply rooted in colonial norms, seeped deep into faceless racism as the slavocracy of the colonies faded. Colorism is a racial project/formation our society still struggles with today. It, racial formation, is defined as “the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed (Omi and Winant4). An example of this would be in the workplace. Not too long ago (1950’s), businesses advertised (overtly) vacant positions in which applicants need only be light skinned (Staples: “As Racism Wanes, Colorism Persists”). Light skinned people were often deemed more trustworthy than darker skinned people, which consequently created a divide amongst African Americans.
Colorism is not only a problem for single-raced people. Mixed race people are significantly impacted as well. Last semester, I took a history class. The class concentrated on the era predating reconstruction with an African American emphasis. The professor was very passionate with his teachings, and I enjoyed his class with the exception of one lecture. Professor M. lectured about the differences in quality of life regarding the “lightness” or “darkness” of your skin. He ranted strongly, suggesting that “light skinned” and mixed race people act superior to other African Americans as a consequence to racial formations formed early in US history. He opened the class for discussion, and almost every darker skinned African American criticized their lighter skinned counterparts. The class stated that light skinned people and “mulattos” are arrogant, and view themselves as being of higher status. I was morally outraged. I sat there, as a biracial, light skinned woman, trying to understand the situation. I never felt superior to African Americans, only ostracized by many of them. I can understand now, after I looked at my own family. My mother has eight biracial children, including me. Out of eight, only half of us prefer or would date an African American (we all, however, have many African American friends). Dating, generally is also another frustration for mixed-race people. Briefly, some people seek out aesthetically pleasing features biracial people possess. An example, which is not the case for all single race people, but an issue I have personally had in my younger dating years. Often, African American people would tell me they prefer dating mixed race, or people outside of their own ethnic background to have babies that physical features predominately found in mixed race people. The number one feature I would hear among African Americans was to have a child with long curly hair (which I feel is odd, many African Americans have long curly hair without being biracial). This upset me, I would say “we are not perfect baby makers. We are all different, and there is no guarantee you will have a baby with long curly hair, or green eyes, freckles, and light skin”. There is another aspect to this that causes tensions and further alienation. Sometimes the women and men perceive this as a “theft” of their significant others. I once had a woman attempt to physically assault me over a man she had romantic feelings for. She told him, “you must hate yourself, sense you don’t black women. Why you dating this white girl? She ain’t black, she a mixed girl, but she ain’t black”. This brings me to borderism and how the concept undoubtedly affects mixed race people.
There is a difference in the affect of borderism between single race and mixed race people.

While many people consider the integration of ethnic backgrounds a positive change in our countries segregated ideologies, there are others who view interracial relations a sin and a decline in hierarchal race lines (Dalmage 94).  This notion is particularly discerning for mixed race people. By some, we are evil, or a product of such. I personally have never been told I was an abomination or a product of sin, and feel this thinking is becoming increasingly outdated. I am, however, not ignorant to the fact that this perspective is not

extinct.