Quote:
Originally posted by honeychile
Let me say up front that I have a biracial cousin, who identifies more with being black than white - even though she could easily "pass".
During the OJ trial, we got into a discussion, and I asked her why most of the black community felt that OJ was innocent, and the white community felt that OJ was guilty. I naively asked, "Why does it always have to be a racial issue?"
She responded, "Because to us, it always is."
My question now is WHY? Why do we have to state someone's race in any given situation, as if it's that's the "real" issue? Have we not yet learned that we're all people, not a representative of our entire race? While I understand a return to heritage, in this case, is it a good thing, or a bad thing?
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This is a good question, and a discussion I had in an American Race Relations class I once took. I think that for minorities our race (and on some level with women, our gender) is constantly on our minds, because that is how most people in society view us. For example, a friend of mine was describing my research group, and I'm the only African American, and my race was singled out in the descriptions, but no one else's was. Add to that the many negative stereotypes of minorities that continue to persist today, and you have a situation where certain people must always be "on guard".
In general, I don't see race/heritage as a bad thing. I am proud of my history and my people, and I would expect anyone else to be the same way. The problems begin when people say "I'm better than you because I'm (fill in the blank)" or "You can't do XYZ because you're (fill in the blank)". And yes, things like this still happen.
Hybrid Mode
