BEST OF 2016: Fractionalized — Stories of Biracial Joy, Pain, Struggle and TriumphPosted in Articles, Asian Diaspora, Autobiography, Media Archive, Religion, United States on 2016-12-26 20:24Z by Steven |
BEST OF 2016: Fractionalized — Stories of Biracial Joy, Pain, Struggle and Triumph
Madison 365
Madison, Wisconsin
2016-12-26
Mia Sato
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Mixed.
Multi.
One-half-this and one-quarter-that. Biracial, mixed-race, “two or more races.” In a world obsessed with labels, the pressure to claim oneself as part of a racial group is an inescapable reality for a small but growing population. We are confronted by it with questions like, “What are you?” which we can instantly recognize as a question pointing to heritage. Census forms or surveys ask us to check a box identifying our ethnicity; on rare occasions we’re offered “Multiracial” but we frequently settle for “Other.” People identifying as mixed race may feel connected to all of their backgrounds, only one or some of them, or to none; race is complex enough as it is, but once two or more categories come into play, even more questions are raised.
What is clear is that people who carry a mixed race identity do not experience their race in the same way, even if they share the same racial mix. Location, social interaction, family attitudes about race and environments all inform how they think, feel and speak about being mixed race. Even more, an individual’s own interpretation of their multicultural background may shift and change with time; it is a process of discovery, affirmation, questioning and rejection.
Below, five individuals share their own journey of a mixed-race identity. No story is the same, but all lead to one reality that is obvious: they are hardly a fraction of a race. They are full, whole, complete, and here are their stories, in all their diverse glory…
Read the entire article here.