a post for the posters!

A post in reference to this article i posted on my facebook page:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/deadlineusa/2008/apr/01/obamaandmixedraceinameric

Hey guys, no apologies- it's really interesting/learning to read your thoughts - debate is welcome, loving all of your comments!
i thought about this topic a lot recently. it spurred a spontanious blub which i've regurgitated below. i was fearful about posting this on Facebook, but part of me feels it's good to put it into the arena. sharing, exchange, reciprocation etc. i find it impossible to be subjective about this topic in a way, so i make reference to personal experience.

agreed, it seems impossible to elude labels, however i think it's important to note there is a difference between nationality and race. although this is often served in one scoop.

it was a long, long time before i could identify with role models that looked like me. simply because there weren't many around. or rather, it wasn't something that wasnt 'out there'. Instead it was hidden away, the shameful taboo and curse of the tragic mulatto. from as long as i can remember and still to this day, i was always asked/forced to choose which category i belonged. It wasn't enough to state that i was proud of all sides of my complicated heritage. if i didn't choose, it was chosen for me. i could list most nationalities/races that i've been stamped with, and it used to irritate like hell - why was it so important for people to ask 'where are you from', 'why is your hair different', 'where are your parents from?', to all of which, my answers never satisfied their curiosity. to extend the complications, it didn't help those trying to classify me that not only was i born here, but like many other mixed kids of my generation, so were my parents. the stigma is that mixed race kids are 'confused' and 'lost', and although i'd angrily deny it in the past, although now i would have to agree. as a result of other people's need to classify me, i defiantly questioned who i was, where i was from and most critically, where i fitted in. it wasn't until i was 21 that things finally clicked into place. tired of being accepted or disowned by one, the other or multiples, i realised that i'd probably never 'fit in' anywhere, and so, to 'fit in' with myself was enough (despite the 'name calling' from all sides). gradually, more and more mixed race figures are apparent in our world, with their stories, experiences and empathy that mirrored mine.

i'll never forget in 2001 a landmark where i filled in my census form, and rather than the usual 'other' box, there was a category entitled 'mixed race'. seems such a little thing, but it meant so much to be acknowledged to exist, rather than be banished to the 'other' box. I've no need to draw upon Said's work on Orientalism here, but i'm sure you can empathise that whilst we are conditioned to existing within racial boundaries, it's the human condition to want a box of one's own.

to relay this to my humble opinion; of a mixed race president that straddles and race, culture and nationality in our time couldn't be more ponigant. issues of identity, belonging and representation are constantly being called into question. it's a fact that mixed race is the US and UKs fastest growing 'ethnic minority' group. It is this, that is the reason for my need to acknowledge the new president as being of mixed race, not to disassociate with his 'black' or 'white' side. but to accept him for who he is. This is the future, and I hope one day there will be no need for boxes!