In this New York Times article the author seems to be saying that mixed children are obliged to identify as Black for the sake of those that came before and in order to stop Blacks from being undercounted when competing for equalizing funds and representation. That's a heavy load to bear, if you ask me.
The fact is Blacks are being assimilated into the American culture and color scheme, since there are more and more interracial marriages.
Mixed children do not need to identify as Black in order to pay homage to history, or in order to help build the numbers of Black Americans for future. They need to identify as black for only one reason – because that is how the society they live in will identify them, both blacks and whites. What are some facts? One: while whiteness continues to be the mainstream, my parent’s generation had a different racial experience than I did growing up and my children will have a different experience than me. Two: growing up in an affluent and culturally diverse area will give you a different experience than not.
Mixed children often identify as black because not only the white society sees them as black, but as well, Blacks see them as black. If you don’t claim blackness then you are uppity or embarrassed of who you are. Is a mixed child any less black because he speaks without using Ebonics or because he listens to rock-n-roll music? Is a mixed child any less black because she doesn’t attend a black church or an HBCU? What does it mean to claim blackness? Must you fall to the pressure of what whites are saying you look like based on the one-drop rule, or what blacks are saying you should be? Is it checking a box on a form? Is it pretending one parent does not exist nor all the history of that parent?
If President Obama had not been raised outside the typical Black American experience, do you think he would be President? Do you think he would have been "palatable" to mainstream America? (Hawaii is the only state where whites are not the majority. He lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was loved and cared for by white grandparents.) If President Obama had not “discovered” and reclaimed his blackness as a young man, do you think he would be heralded as the first Black President or shamed in a Clarence Thomas kind of way? (He changed his name from Berry to Barak. He turned to grassroots politics in Black Chicago. He fell in love with and married a Black woman.)
Mixed children should not ignore their white heritage – any part of their heritage – just because it’s easier for someone else’s statistics. Imagine seeing your own parent as “the other”. How would I feel if my mixed son pretended I wasn’t his mother? That bond is first, before any societal constructs created around skin pigment.
If a mixed child had a white parent who was first-generation Polish, would it then be acceptable for her to claim that heritage and identify with the Polish culture? After all, she would be very close to it by default. What if her black parent was Cuban? Now the Black American experience has been completely removed from the equation. She is a mixed child who is Polish and Cuban, and in my view a part of the American fabric. Would the child being denying her roots and responsible for the future of Blacks in America if she identified with her Polish and Cuban Cultural heritage?
Blacks have never been in this position before due to the fact they were kidnapped and brought to the continent opposed to being "willing" immigrants. Today their assimilation is possible. Something the many willing economic immigrants where able to do over just a few generations. Black Americans and mixed race Americans can weave themselves into our rich social fabric – IF they want to. You’ve heard the term white-washed before. Well America is being brown-washed, and I for one like the so-called multicultural ether. Within it are defined specs of poignant color and rich stories of past and present. Immigrants continue to arrive, they continue to have families and we all continue to inter-marry. But hey, if you or anyone else thinks it’s a bad idea to assimilate, then you don’t have to melt into the soup. Individuals have a right to maintain a culture that is strongly unique, a history that has been troubled yet rich, and an identity that is what we know to be that of the Black American. However, don’t tell my mixed son who he is or who he should be – that’s for him to decide – be it by culture, by color or by name alone. Yes, I hope he pays respect to those who came before him, and I mean all those ancestors to bore him. It is within our power to change our social fabric, remake ourselves and justly honor all our diversity without falling prey to how someone else wants to see us or some racist one-drop rule. By still seeing everything in black and white we are keeping ourselves in the dark.
