After reading the article, “Black, White, Asian, More Young Americans Choose All of the Above” I saw I even find myself trying to categorize myself, or not be satisfied with what I am labeled as. Being African American to the eye can sometimes be offensive to people of my race, because we feel that our skin color will always define us. For example, when you are greeted by a white person, and people ask them what they are, they will answer with something other than just White. Even when a person of Hispanic decent will have other answers, because they have a variety of places they could choose from. When it comes to African Americans, people just assumer we are all from African. This creates the struggle with people who are from different islands like Jamaica, Haiti, or the Bahamas where people like to be seen as such and not as African American. I never seemed to feel any type of way when I had to scribble in the African American bubble; I just assumed they wanted to know what I was mostly. In the article, “I think it’s really important to acknowledge who you are and everything that makes you that,” said Ms. Wood; and I totally agree. It makes people feel connected to one another when they can really get down to the nitty gritty of whom they are and where they came from. Also, it’s about what you can get and how you can get it. Meaning, people who are fully Hispanic, black, or Asian feel they will be better accepted if they can state as a fact that someone way way way way way back in the day was white. In America, though people will not say it is true, being white is still superior. You don’t get looks when you say something, and people don’t judge you as harshly because they are white. It is the sad truth, but the faster people can realize it the quicker the situation will be corrected.
People always label you before they meet you, and also they want you to stick to “your kind” in order to stop the mixtures. “All society is trying to tear you apart and make you pick a side,” Ms. Wood said. “I want us to have a say.” I feel that people want you to stop the mixing because it’s getting harder and harder to be racist. Though that seems bold and presumptions to just assume that people want to be racist, I don’t feel I am that far off. First off, we have a black president, but there is still a huge problem with it. People still look at his race first and assume that he cannot do his job correctly, and if he messes up it’s because the half of him is black. People are more focused, still after him being president for 2 years, on his race. People still find the need to bring up the fact that he is black and white and not just a man that is capable to do the job he was picked to do. Second off, because there are racial stereotypes, people believe they are real. It’s a shame, but believe it or not people still listen to them and people still prove some of them right.! Though I do not like them, I can say sometimes I find myself contributing to the things people say about certain groups, but I don’t really see it as wrong. I think it is great that young people are starting to realize and admit they are more than what meets the eye, and i hope it continues.
