Mixed-Race in the US and UK by Jennifer Patrice Sims Chinelo L. Njaka

Author:Jennifer Patrice Sims, Chinelo L. Njaka [Jennifer Patrice Sims, Chinelo L. Njaka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Discrimination, American, African American & Black Studies, Minority Studies, Black Studies (Global)
ISBN: 9781787695559
Google: y3i9DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Published: 2019-11-23T04:17:03+00:00

“That’s Actually How I Met Suzie”: Empathetic Asking and the Building of Mixed-Race Solidarity

The majority of the sample expressed negative feelings towards being asked “what are you?”/“where are you from,” from Mark (49, US, Native American/White) who finds it mildly annoying that he has to “explain myself again and again” to Heather who strongly stated “I hate that question.” It is consistent, then, that two-thirds of the interviewees do not ask other people these questions. Judy explains that she asks others about their race “rarely” and adds that “It has to be like, you have to just be puzzling the hell out of me for me to ask.”

Nevertheless, a third of the sample did admit to more than rarely asking others the very same questions that many of them so disliked. Claire says she has “a curiosity as well about, of people … And I’m interested in, you know, finding out where they’re from and what their mix is.” Suzie claims to have “mixed people radar” and says “I’m not going to lie … I’ll be like, ‘Are you mixed?’” Moreover, mixed-race people recognise the irony in asking other people’s race given their own feelings on the questions. Chris, when asked if he ever asks other people what race they are, revealed “that’s actually how I met Suzie … I guess I’m guilty too.” Dave laughs that “it’s quite funny ‘cause as mixed-people, as it were, we hate this question yet it’s sort of the first thing we ask one another.”

Interviewees feel that it is qualitatively different, however, when another mixed-race person asks their race. Fleur describes feeling “an affinity with that person because I know they’ve probably been asked that question lots of times. And it’s almost like a, you know, bonding thing really.” Dave describes how it is “not a kinda probe. You’re not kinda constructed in a, I don’t know, some kind of fetishistic way. It’s more empathic.” In the US, Heather phrases it as wanting to “feel that sense of connection” with other mixed-race people whilst Aaliyah and Larell explicitly describe a mixed-race “solidarity.” Discussing the disproportionate number of women compared to men who ask about his race, for example, Larell says it would be “weird”32 if a man asked unless the man were also mixed-race. In that case, Larell says “it’s kind of like a mixed power thing. ‘Hey, what are you? Mixed? I knew it man. I’m mixed too.’ ‘Yeah we got this, bro.’ ”

Sims has discussed elsewhere how being asked “what are you”/“where are you from” and having other experiences being consistently inconsistently perceived is “apparently understood to be a quintessentially mixed-race experience.”33 In that vein, these experiences appear to not only serve as reflected appraisals of mixed-race identity but also as a common bonding experience with similarly situated others as well. Supporting this is the fact that many interviewees discussed important close and long-term relationships that they have developed with other mixed-race people. Suzie and Chris met at a party of a mutual friend and have remained friends.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.