What Are You?

        Generally, when I am asked the question "What are you?" it is in an almost sarcastic context, when someone is pretending that they are irritated with me.  Then, it is really a rhetorical question, of little significance.  But when I really ponder it, what comprises my identity, it is very significant.  My identity is made up of almost everything about me.  The question "Who are you?" fails to consider the identity aspect, I think.  But "What are You?" is more multi-dimensional, with the opportunity to tell the complete story of you, rather than the superficiality of a name.  It can be about a race, but it can also be about other aspects that you value more, like your likes and dislikes, your personality, or even the activities in which you participate.  So yes, I am white.  But so are most people I know.  I want to be different.  I come from diverse religious backgrounds; my mom's Catholic and my dad's Jewish.  I am a reader, a learner, and an athlete.  I value hard work and tolerance.

        More and more, as the New York Times article illustrates, mixed-race children are coming to be.  One of seven new marriages is between spouses of different races or ethnicities, according to data from 2008 to 2009 that was analyzed by the Pew Research Center.  These people, a growing population in America, have a more diverse and complex identity, something they don't want to be so definitive as a check in a single box on the census, but a fluid, complete story on the merging of multiple cultures.  I completely agree with Laura Wood from the article, believing that in a sense of race, society is trying to tear everyone apart and pick a side.  It has to be black or white.  It can't be gray.  And it really should be, if the individual wants this.  Every person should be able to determine their own identity.  Mixed race people are often oppressed by the choosing of their identity for them, and they should be able to do it themselves.  Rachel, in the Girl Who Fell From the Sky, is finding it difficult to embrace both parts of her identity, with people forcing her into one category: black.  She has no one, really, to empathize with in her struggle.  Wood said of her mixed identity, "If someone tries to call me black I say, 'yes- and white'" (Saulny, 2011).  I think Rachel will agree with this in the future, and will appreciate both her Danish and black identity.  She can be of different parts, although her grandmother might argue otherwise.  These diverse parts form a more complete whole.

        Heidi Durrow is part Danish and part black, like Rachel.  And just like Laura Wood, she believes black does not complete the question "What are You?" for her.  For this reason, she would definitely appreciate the work of the MBSA and the safe space and solidarity it gives the students to talk about their identity struggles.  She talks about incorporating all of her identity in the conversation, not just select parts (Durrow, 2013).  Durrow's answer to "What are You?" is that she is many stories.  This is related to the quote from the article because it refers to the single story of race versus the actual complexity of an individual's identity, many stories.  Stories are long, with twists and turns that race alone cannot tell.  This should be the nature of everyone's identity, and they should be able to determine it.