Every time junior Tim McSheery looks down at a standardized test, he is confronted with the choice of race. He identifies as both Irish and Chinese, but with no “Mixed Race” option, he must choose: “white” or “Asian.” His internal struggle is one of many students, this being just one of the dilemmas that comes with being mixed race.
Multiracial people encounter opportunities such as being able to identify and empathize with more cultures, but also unique challenges such as conflicting cultural identities, and feeling like an outsider. These factors play into lives of many Aragon students, and can be both detrimental and rewarding.
The abundance of mixed race people today illustrates the growth in society. McSheery says, “Looking back on the past, my parents couldn’t have been together … there were laws separating people of different races based on racism itself, and I think it’s cool that we [progressed] as a society to believe that people are people, no matter the race.”
Many multiracial families encourage their children to be aware of their roots. This emphasis varies from family to family, but for sophomore Mayuko Boffelli, who is Japanese and Italian, her family stressed learning about her heritage: “I went to a Japanese, Chinese, English trilingual school … I also went to a Saturday Italian school. I’m pretty fluent in both [Japense and Italian.]”
Being mixed race comes with having to encounter stereotypes. In Boffelli’s experience, “Most people don’t know I’m Italian until I tell them. So [before they know] they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re Asian,’ and they assume a lot of Asian stereotypes, like being smart.”
Similarly, sophomore Maddy Yeh, who is Chinese and Caucasian, adds, “I think first off just because of the way I look that I’m purely Asian, and I think misconceptions in general are the Asian stereotypes, judging people as smart, uptight, really focused on their grades, [and] Asian tiger parents.”
With multiple racial identities comes more opportunities for racially offensive jokes. This is especially true for junior Samantha Saffold. “Since I’m black and Chinese, I feel like the most racist jokes go towards me. Like I swear people will say something and then say, ‘Oh I’m so sorry I forgot you were black,’ then they’ll say something else and will be like, ‘Oh I forgot you were Chinese.’”
Coming from mixed racial families, students often encounter cultural differences, some subtle and others glaring. Saffold recognizes the differences in her cultures, in particular her Chinese side. “I guess for the Chinese view on stuff it’s more kept together, more organized . . . It’s more quiet. I don’t know if that’s an Asian thing or if that’s what my mom is. You just keep to yourself more. I think it’s just that my mom’s quiet [and] my dad’s loud.”
Freshman Natalie Ku, who is Chinese and Caucasian, also acknowledges contrasting characteristics of her parents, yet in the political sense. “The people on my mom’s side are more conservative, where the people on my dad’s side are more liberal because they’ve lived here for a longer time. They just don’t really interact that much and if they did there would be a lot of debate and discussion.”
Differences between families may be challenging, but many have learned to adjust to their situation. “I just acknowledge that the two sides of my family are different, and I enjoy my time with both of them separately,” says Ku. “I know that that’s just how it is, and I haven’t really known anything different than that.”
Yeh believes in dealing less with differences and focusing more on what one identifies with. “[Don’t] box yourself into one, but say that you belong to both. A lot of people will probably have a lot more experience with one culture, like me, but for most people to come to terms with the differences and the deviations, I think it mostly comes down to acceptance. ”
Saffold talks about what being mixed race has meant in terms of connecting with her parents. “[I connect with] my mom about school and my dad about social life.”
She also suggests this relates to how she identifies in terms of race, “I identify with both, but at different times I’ll consider myself more black because in history when we’re learning about Civil Rights and everything, I can kind of feel it. I feel like I’m affected by it, and I go home and can talk to my dad about it, and he can totally relate to it.”
Being mixed race may make people feel like they do not belong, whether it is not fitting into their contrasting families or an entire race. Saffold’s was aware of this when she was younger and went to Chinese school. “They were all Chinese kids and I was only brown one, and they were kind of mean. But right now, [I do not feel the same negativity because I am] around different cultures all the time.”
Yeh says,“I’ve never felt like I don’t fit into that American culture because I was raised in American culture. As for Chinese culture, I’ve never really felt that I fit in, and that’s largely because of the language barrier, but also because my dad is an ABC, an American-born Chinese. If he was immersed in Chinese culture, it didn’t really stick with him, so throughout his life he was more American than anything else. That’s probably what’s come to shape my existence and my belonging in the culture.”
McSheery says, “It was hard just [choosing what group to associate with] because there were not a lot of kids like me and I didn’t know where I stood, especially in middle school where everything was more divided; it felt like there was less commonality between me and other kids.”
Another common component to being mixed race is the experience of being defined by one’s non-white side. For instance, even though Obama is half African American and half white, he is mainly referred to as African American.
Ku suggests that this stems from characterizing people by their appearance. “Often it’s the genes that are not white that prevail and assume the appearance of someone who is Chinese or African American and Caucasian, even if [they] do have Caucasian genes in [them.]”
Boffelli says that classifying by the non-white side may be due to an individual’s uniqueness. “I feel like [in America] being white is more common, and people try to point out the more unique parts in other people.”
Yeh agrees with Boffelli that white normativity is strongly connected to how people are racially classified. “I feel like, sometimes, racial norms do depend on being white, so when there’s a deviation from that, that’s what’s more focused on. That’s valid because that means that the other person has another aspect to their race or to what their life is like, but additionally it could be really negative too, for example, with stereotypes.”
Being mixed race has the power to teach people meaningful lessons. Yeh has learned to appreciate the full capacity of identities, “I think it just gives you a greater cultural understanding.”
Boffelli and Saffold both say that they are less judgmental towards the races of others. McSheery feels similarly, saying “[Being mixed race has taugh me about] acceptance and not assuming race or anything and the stereotypes that go along with it because I know for me I wouldn’t want to be assumed smart or stupid based on my race.”
For many mixed race individuals, their identity allows them to see different perspectives in their everyday life and have valuable lessons to teach others. Ku feels proud of her identity and says, “It’s something that makes me a unique person, just to be able to say that. It hasn’t really made people think of me that differently. It’s just a part of me and I embrace it.”
