Quick, Come Help, WE'RE MIXED!

I must admit, LJ Blackfok is a fun place to visit from time to time. The above video was posted there and commented upon. It was the "typical" fare; some jabs and some smart-aleck retorts. Also some more insightful words shared. But the vast majority of the responses shared a theme along the lines of, "boy, are these women crazy!".

While I definitely think the women in this video have some issues (to say the least); I also think that this popular response shows a lot about our ability to move into a post-racial society. By "post-racial" I do not mean shedding those qualities that make up a unique culture. But to realize that your race should not force to subscribe to a particular culture. Tyra Banks seems to really be grilling the first guest, Jenna, on what her actions reveal about her. And she does in fact have a very discriminatory view towards Black people. But if she wants to go to the rodeo, and listen to country music, and even fly a rebel flag; she should be able to. The American South does have a culture and norms; and if she finds affinity with that culture, she should feel free to affiliate with it.

While I am not bi-racial, I recognize the strange position that those who are not bi-racial place these people into. They basically look at them and see what physical genes are most prominent and expect that person to "pick a side". More often than not, that side is Black. My sister is often "accused" of being bi-racial; on the basis of nothing except her looks. Her mother is [probably] bi-racial and my father is as well; but my sister does not identify that way; nor should she be forced to. In spite of having a bi-racial (even though if it's two "brown" races) father, people have felt the need to tell me that I look just like a "regular" Black person. That is fine; I have no real desire to actively embrace my East Indian heritage; although I'm not going to downplay the influence it has had on me. However, if my genes would have been different, and I turned out to look more like my Dad (so more racially mixed) then I could don a sari and no one would bat an eye. Why is this? Why do we feel the right to define the self-definition of others?

I myself went though a lot growing up due to the fact that I was into certain things. I was called a "sell out" and other things of the sort because I liked alternative (and later punk) music, took flute and dance lessons, and spoke "proper". As I grew up, I felt more secure in the fact that my ethnicity did not have to define my interests. On the other hand, I don't feel that I'm shunning Black culture, but rather I am adding to it. Take for example the documentary Afropunk where you have artistic validation given to this subculture within a subculture. Some may argue that we lose ourselves when we expand to accommodate this new diversity. However no one or nothing can detract from our shared past.

I have a very real worry that with the election of Barack Obama into our nation's highest office, too many people will declare racism "dead". As long as we have thing like this on TV and people reacting to them, we are actually very far from such a fact. Yes; the vast majority of Americans can see where it is wrong to drag a Black person behind a pick-up truck, or call someone a racial slur. But they see nothing wrong with apply gross stereotypes to people who are a different race from themselves. As long as people are hampered with the thinking that someone of ____ ethnicity should look a certain way, or act a certain way, racism will remain a current problem that will actively hurt the psyche of many, many people.