I’ve been told I talk or dress too White for years. My curls fell out into a frizzy, knotted mess around age eight. I got too busy in high school to spend as much time outside as I did when I was a child, so I tended to have a paler complexion. Despite all of this, I still identify with my African American side at heart. I am biracial and nothing will ever change that.
Finally, I am comfortable embracing both sides of my identity, but filling out my own information on papers has caused me to struggle yet again.
“Choose one of the following.” These five words are dreaded when I must select my racial identity on documents. I’m biracial, how do I choose just one? The answer is simple: I can’t. Recently, I was answering questions on a formal document, and I couldn’t select multiple races under the identity category. I mulled over the options in my head for hours. If I just pick White, that’s a lie because you can tell that isn’t the full truth from my headshots, but if I pick Black, I still fear that it could cause more harm than good. I worry that they will think I am lying, or just overall assume the worst. I couldn’t choose because either option felt like a betrayal to the other half of myself.
Mentally, this experience was a setback for a few days. I became self-conscious about my physical features and questioned if it was right for me to have my hair in knotless braids. Of course I know that isn’t true, but it makes me question myself.
I appreciate those that give the options to select all that apply, or just have a mixed-race option to select. If that’s you, keep it up. If you only allow people to select one, get with the program. It’s 2024 and a lot of people identify as multiracial, so can we please have that as an option if you’re going to ask about race?