UGH-

Ever had that teacher that just had something to say about your work all the time?
Yeah, I’m there.

At school, we had a project that was basically to create a power point that depicted our American Dream, and in mine I added activism (because I feel very strongly for it). In one (of two) slides about it I discussed my reason(s) for wanting to be apart of the Bi/Multiracial/national/cultural movement/activism, and oh course, she had a comment. Since the moment I mentioned I fully consider myself multiracial she has had a sharp comment about it. Anyway, back to the power point, so unlike everyone else’s dreams, I said no house, I want an apartment. NO instate college, out of state’s is more favorable. No perfect, every-girl-dreams-of guy, just respectful and interesting. And finally came my dreams of activism, which she thought “wasn’t” apart of the American Dream apparently. To her, it’s ridiculous that I strongly prefer to be labeled (if I have to) as Multiracial (thus her nickname for me “my multiracial child”).
This goes with what’s called direct and indirect discrimination; sadly I can’t do a thing about it. Pisses me off, like any other 17 year old, but I’m going to continue to try to show her, somehow, why it’s important to me, and why she should at least TRY to respect that. As for the rest of the world, I’m still figuring out how to illustrate it to them. But I’ll figure it out….eventually.

WHY-

Being more than one race, culture or nationality isn’t the easiest thing when neither (or none) of them will accept you. Hard to picture? As you’ve previously read, I didn’t grow up in the states and growing up “different” is a story for another day, it’s when I came back to attend junior high (and now high school) in the states that I discovered that not one part of what I was had any desire to claim me as apart of what they were. This was when I started to actually think what it meant to be me; to be more than one race.
What’d I come up with? There’s absolutely NO REASON for me to choose one race/ethnicity over the others. I can’t change what my parents are, I can’t change what my grandparents and their parents were, and I CAN’T change what I am even if I claimed one race. Fact is, if to them I’m not “Puerto Rican enough” or “white enough” or “black enough” or “whatever enough” for them, that’s to dam bad, because I am what I am, and no matter what they say, THEY CAN’T CHANGE THAT. (Well, unless they can change my parents, their parent and their parent’s parent’s ethnicities. If they can do that, I’ll shut up and be rather impressed.)