A conversation on Twitter (still ongoing) has caught my attention and been going through my head for a few weeks now concerning the identity of biracial and mixed people. I’m kinda speaking outside of the bubble a bit since I’m 1 hundo Black (both parents), but should I choose to have kids at some point they will be mixed because my wife is mixed. What’s been discussed mostly is biracial/mixed people being told to choose one side to represent, in this case Black or white so we’ll stick to that group for the purposes of this dialogue. Now, from both sides mixed people are being told what they are and I think this is mostly from what is forced upon them by outside forces, the viewer. When mixed individuals are demanding to be seen as the whole, they are then picked apart based on their pigmentation. This goes into the history of many things Black, like not being Black “enough” or not being able to represent the Black half because are able to pass for white. When trying to be seen as both, as Twitter is known for, shouting matches and clever quips become abundant. I understand that Twitter is most certainly not a representation of actual discourse mainly due to the act of contemplation replaced with immediate response based on how you believe your being responded to, and God forbid you actually disagree with a checkmarked individual.
Why do mixed people have to choose a side? Speaking from a Black body, I think there is a bit of jealousy or envy involved, not in a malicious way, but there is a “Black” that society prefers and we are greeted with that throughout entertainment. Think Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone…like…how? I’m aware Zoe Saldana is neither Black or white, but it says a lot when they don’t even cast a fully Black woman to portray a HUGE Black voice during the Civil Rights era. Then you have stories about Black love or the Black experience with mixed people that can obviously play the part well, but it shows a certain kind of Black that society is willing to accept, which further fuels the feeling of erasure of Black people. We have one world we have to continually, exhaustively fight to be represented in and it’s not as appealing to the eye as someone mixed. Is it too much to ask for a story of two Black leads? Possibly, because of the “star power” bs. Let’s just be real here, entertainment and anything on the screen is pushing a specific look of what is and is not “pleasing to the eye”. There is always confrontation anytime someone breaks out of the heteronormative (more specifically white male) gaze. Halle Berry playing Storm and not Angela Bassett is something I’ll never get over. <==Nothing to do with anything, I’m just really salty about that and will be until my deathbed. There is very little control that Black people have in telling stories unless it becomes nationally received, mainly due to a lack of representation in media, hence things like BET, The Root, or The Grapevine. A space is created by and for Black people, but then what? It’s an uphill battle, a struggle as is the usual story of Blackness.
I don’t doubt that mixed race individuals deal with a similar uphill battle, but I do think a few doors are more easily opened because of that white portion. It’s a hard concept for me to fully understand because, again, I am not mixed so I don’t know the way they are treated in certain spaces. Outside looking in? It seems individually they have their own battles of identity to understand: an embracing of two sides, an acceptance of both identities, and an understanding of when and how to use that voice. It seems painful to me, but if there’s one thing I can understand is the struggle to find one’s self. I’m not in the mood to pick apart each individual space and go into what works with what, that’s what conversations are for. All I can see is that to ask to be seen as both of your creators isn’t a difficult request, but there’s always going to have to be a piece of the conversation when it comes to a majority Black or white group when speaking about individual experience that may require either speaking out or restraint. …Man, this is making my head hurt. I’m still going to need more time to think about this one.
Something With Nothing 