7 Outrageous Things To Stop Saying To Mixed-Race People (VIDEO)

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, the USA was recently taken over.

Taken over by a cadre of alt-right, jew-hating, misogynistic ruffians led by a despot with all the self-restraint of an abandoned camper van on a San Fransisco hill.

It’s times like these that people need to come together. Losing an election sucks. Losing an election to a man like President-elect Donald Trump sucks even harder. But his presence in the White House does not change who we are. It does not alter our fundamental values.

Because he cannot overturn the gains we have made in recent years.

President Obama’s time in office will soon be over. His successes and failures will be discussed, delineated, and tabulated. Few people will agree on the broad strokes of his administration. There will little time to focus on his less tangible victories.

He didn’t fix the undercurrents of sexism that permeates U.S. society, but he sure as hell raised the bar. He didn’t put an end to racism, but he brought it kicking and screaming into the light. He set an example, to the nation, and to the world. We listened closely to what he said, and just as importantly, to what he chose not to say.

He spoke in a respectful tone. Always.

We owe it to him to keep reminding ourselves of that. That the concept of political correctness, so vilified by the Breitbart-munching right is never about the fear of offending people. It’s about respect.

It always was.

, whilst writing for Everyday Feminism, recently listed some of the many micro-aggressions she faces as a mixed-race person, and identified seven things that you really should not say to her or anyone else of mixed heritage.

At least, not if you want to stay on the right side of respect.

1: So, What Are You?

You might as well ask ‘What is this?’ An exotic breed of dog, a curious objet d’art in an antique shop?

Implicit in the question is the notion that the ‘familiar’ has been blended into something not quite recognizable. The sense of ‘other engendering the sneering right to know. Having to explain one’s genetic heritage as if it’s a cherished family pasta sauce recipe detracts from the dignity of the human condition. Curiosity is one thing, Being rude about it, quite another.

2: The Unalterable Reality Of Your Existence Is So Cool!

There has always been a notion that a positive can lift a generalization out of the mud. For example, stating that ‘Black people make great musicians’ might sound like a compliment at first glance. At second glance it’s easy to see why it’s a desperately small-minded stereotype that detracts from gains made by Black people over the years. Inferences towards how exotic such couplings are is rarely appreciated.

That people of two ethnic backgrounds managed to produce an offspring is ‘cool’ only in the sense that the creation of new life is always cool.

3: Some Like It Hot

There is not and never has been anything wrong with being attracted to someone. We are allowed to have a ‘type,’ and we can prefer one ethnicity over another without having to question our commitment to progressive values. We can like tall people, short people, dark hair, light hair, blue eyes, pale complexions, ski slope shaped noses, or whatever the hell else floats our boats for that matter.

However, the fetishization of ethnicity, the allusion to an attraction to the ‘exotic’ can often have the opposite effect as to that intended.

Informing somebody that they have ‘pretty’ eyes is the kind of compliment that almost everyone can get away with. ‘He likes my eyes’ is not one of those creep-inducing moments.

Such sentiments are a far cry from the sexualization of somebody’s genetic makeup. Indeed, it’s more akin to commenting on how great you think someone’s tits are than an attempt at genuine flattery.

4: Homo ‘Homogenous’

The melting pot that is the USA is never going to result in the homogenized ethnic-fondue that hack-futurists occasionally allude to. So, right off the bat, this one is inaccurate. But more than that, it is once again an acknowledgment of quintessential otherness.

That one-day mixed-race will somehow become the new normal, that pigeonholing will become increasingly difficult as time goes on is far from flattering.

What’s more, it stands as a stark refusal of identity itself. Almost as if the blending of two distinct cultures removes any claim to either of them. Being of mixed-race is about more than simple biology.

5: Hispanic Eyes Like Us

Detecting a faint accent in someone is one thing. Claiming to perceive the family tree in the set of someone’s face is quite another. Studying a person of mixed-race like you are separating out pieces of jumbled up jigsaw puzzles isn’t going to end well. Is the nose Jewish? Are the eyes Asiatic? Is there something Arab-biblical about that hair?

Who cares?

People of mixed-race are what they are.

6: Too Shy For A (Not Quite) White Guy

Some people are deemed too White to be Black, others too Black to be White. The idea that a mixed-race is somehow favoring one side of the ‘equation,’ can be deeply offensive. Not all people of mixed Latino heritage have to speak Spanish, not all people of mixed-race feel the need to justify all aspects of their cultural identity.

They are all individuals. They all have the right to a cultural identity that is freed from external preconceptions.

7: See No Evil

The idea that the melding of two ethnicities has somehow been subsumed into something more easily identifiable, something more easily digested is all too common. For some, discovery that a person is of mixed-race can be something of a surprise; they might even delight in having never noticed. Simply because a person does not

Such a notion sidesteps the simple fact that mixed identities are layered and complex. The term greater than the sum of its parts might more often be used in conjunction with technology but it applies here too.

Each mixed-race person is an amalgamation of diverse genetic heritage, yes but they are more that. They are unique. They are beautiful. They are proud, and, noble.

They deserve to be treated with respect.

Always.

Watch this short video on things that British mixed-race people are tired of hearing;

Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video

I'm a full- time, somewhat unwilling resident of the planet Earth. I studied journalism at Murdoch University in West Australia and moved back to the UK where I taught politics and studied for a PhD. I've written a number of books on political philosophy that are mostly of interest to scholars. I'm also a seasoned travel writer so I get to stay in fancy hotels for free. I have a pet Lizard called Rousseau. We have only the most cursory of respect for one another.