Perspectives on Race

1) I'm not of mixed origin, so I cannot really relate to how it feels to be of a mixed heritage. One thing I do agree though is that it should not be a percentage. How can someone be exactly 50% of one race and 50% of another? Also, just because you have one drop of blood of some race, it does not mean you are only that race. You are everything that you are and you should embrace every part of yourself.

2) I definitely believe that race is constructed. I never really questioned this until I took a mixed race seminar during my 1st year at Cal. In that class, I was exposed to the dilemmas of the mixed race community, and I watched many films and heard personal experiences of how it's like to be of a mixed race gender. What someone might be is dependent on so many factors. By categorizing people into race, we don't take into account other aspects like migration history.

3) Although I am not of a mixed race origin, I have many friends who are. They have said that it's been hard. One of my friends mentioned that she has felt like an outcast in the Black community at Cal because she is too fair-skinned. Every week at GBC, many folks from the Black community hang around that area, so my friend decided to check it out. She was confronted about being too light and not one of them. Also, many have said they have had problems with embracing their identity and to embrace which part of their identity. For some, it seems to be a fluid experience where they learn to embrace each part of themselves with time and then fully come to terms with who they are when they are older. For others, it seems like they have identified themselves as the part that stands out the most, whether it may be skin color, last name, culture, etc.