Essay
December 13, 2010
Getting Past the External
According to a scientific study produced by the Association for Psychological Science, a lasting first impression is made within only thirty seconds of meeting another person; the majority of this judgment is based on appearance and association (www.psychologicalscience.org). One major reason for this stems from the reality that one of the most easily recognizable identity traits is race; thus when one is seen, they are seen through a lens of personal prejudices and assumptions associated with that given race. Indeed, societal scripts concerning both race and gender affect the way in which we view each other as well as ourselves. Society’s desire to categorize and define my race in terms of its own making has both made this particular identity trait my most noticeable and salient quality.Race is the most prominent trait in my life, partially because my minority status in school often sparked interest in my cultural background. Race does not biologically differentiate humans since “there are no genetic characteristics possessed by all black but not by non-blacks; similarly there is no gene or cluster of genes common to all Whites but not to all non-Whites” (Lopez 194). Yet, as an African American in predominantly White schools, youthful curiosity made me the focal point, causing endless questions and comments about being Black. Many of these questions revolved around stereotypical portrayals of African Americans, for example I distinctly remember a group of young girls innocently asking me if Back people came from another planet because we look so different. Questions like these coming from the mouths of young children demonstrate how societal prejudices are both subliminally and consciously passed down through generations. To my young classmates who were born into predominantly white communities, I was outside of the norm and thus treated differently. This is a result of the common ideology that, “…white is not ordinarily thought of as race, middle class as a class, or men as a gender” (Lorber 123), and those how fall outside of the norm are different and, by implication, lesser. The constant pestering of my peers and the general misunderstanding of the African American race, made its presence all the more noticeable in my life.
With regards to how other people choose to recognize and respond to my race, the color of my skin has often raised assumptions about me that are untrue, causing a disconnect between myself and the person judging me. Looking at my light skin, many people often assume that I have a White parent and am therefore mixed, though I am not. Due to this confusion, I have often dealt with other people attempting to define my race, a process reminiscent of “….explicit and superficial distinctions [that] were introduced between ‘black,’ ‘mulatto,’ ‘quadroon,’ and ‘octoroon’” (Goldberg 40) in early American history. People often interrogate me about my skin color and heritage; I have been asked countless times “what are you?”, a question that I found quite confusing as a child primarily because of its vagueness. Now that I am older, I can definitively say that I am not a "what," but a "who" and I wish more people could see that. Hybridity might have been met with attitudes of uncertainty and ignorance because people are uncomfortable with the ambiguous nature of mixed individuals. Either Way, their attitude towards a person of perceived racial hybridity was quite degrading and I can only imagine how I would have felt if I actually was mixed.
As someone who is often associated with hybridity, I have come to realize that this concept is heavily intertwined with citizenship to not only this country, but also to race. Historically, hybridity has been a grounds for denying citizenship, specifically in colonial times. According to the colonizers “destroying racial purity had made obsolete the criteria of jus soli (place of birth) and jus sanguinis (blood descent) for determining nationality…mixing or blending had produced a new category of ‘wavering classes’” (Brah and Coombes 35). People who fall into the liminal space of race were not seen as “pure” enough to belong to this country as actual citizens; it would seem that race and politics are quite interconnected in this way. Today, people are not as blatantly racist, however the fact that some people are hesitant to claim hybrids as a member of both races seems to be reminiscent of this ideology. I have come into contact with both white and black people who do not consider mixed people fully apart of their perceptive races. This year even an African American girl at Occidental got quite drunk and said that Black people do not need anymore “half-breeds” like me and my light-skinned friend. Comments like this link hybridity with citizenship by belittling the sense of belong that we feel to our Black community and heritage.
The dynamics between people of varying skin colors within the black community has become a source of tension due to the social pressures on light and dark people. In the Black community a notable division arises regarding skin color and privilege. According to Patricia Hill, a notable Black feminist, “African-American women who are members of the ‘Brights [light-skinned Blacks]’ fare little better, for they too receive special treatment because of their skin color and hair texture” (Collins 91). To be honest, color was actually a source of shame for me as a child because I was uncomfortable being caught between this institutionalized binary between ‘light’ and ‘dark’ skinned African Americans. This notion of “a lighter, brighter, better African American” does not only afflict Black people though, the idea is so ingrained in our society that has seeped into the minds of most people, as displayed by the following statistics:
A study published in 2006 in the Race, Gender and Class Journal, indicated that lighter complexions were considered more attractive. The results were taken from a sample of 100 students who indicated that 96 percent of men preferred a medium to light complexion in women, while 70 percent of women found light skin of value in men. It is hard to understand how a people who shared a history of oppression can trouble one another (http://www.thefamuanonline.com/).This comparisons between light and dark skinned African Americans plays into the social construction of race as well by portraying those of us who are darker as more negative and less attractive. Adversely, black people who are lighter skinned are viewed in a more positive light. This places one section of our race above the other, a tendency that makes race seem more substantive in our lives by causing tension.
Other people’s desire to attribute my negative qualities to my black side and my positive qualities to my non-existence white side, is an irritating reoccurrence that magnifies my awareness of race. As a child, many of my friends were under the impression that Black women are loud and obnoxious. Because I am quiet and shy, they often assumed that I must be half white. The conventional scripts placed upon Whites and Blacks leave society “responsible not only for deciding who was white, but why someone was white” (Lopez 543); a task that unfortunately reinforces preconceived notions. Both of my parents are African American and it is because of genetics that I just happen to be light skinned. Yet despite this fact I am continuously lumped into this category, an act that makes me not a “racial hybrid,” but instead a “social hybrid” coping with an imposed identity created by long-standing American customs. Trapped between the liminal space of the Black/White binary, I am like “the new mestiza, [who] copes by developing a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity” (Anzaldua 79). I find that I often must embrace a forced compliance with the outdated expectations and scripts of racial identity. Whether it was my friends or just the people who surrounded me, others often attributed to my self-awareness of race by insisting that my race defined my personality traits. Because so many people are blinded by racial scripts, they are sometimes unable to see a person for who they truly are.
Like gender, I suspect that the reason race is my most dominant quality is because it is, in many ways, an external feature. For this reason, race intersects with gender, because they are both often judged and categorized at first sight. It is initial judgment and the associated scripts that reinforce “the inter-relatedness of sex, race, and class oppression” (Hooks 14); these elements coexist because they all play a role in creating an individual identity. I personally relate to the notion that race intersects with my gender because, “racist stereotypes…are operative myths in the minds of many white women, allowing them to ignore the extent to which black women are likely to be victimized” (Hooks 13). In my opinion, views of the socially constructed woman surpass white women to include women of all races, creating unattainable and impractical ideals for us all to live up to. This is an issue that I often encountered in my single-sex high school feminist classes, for not many of my peers could grapple with feminism outside the realm of Whiteness. It is because of this I believe the intersection of these topics are so closely connected because they are so easily discernible by sight.
The intersectionality of my race and gender has heightened my alertness to the prejudices of both of these identifying characteristics simply because they are so intertwined. As Myaisha Hayes noted, “when it comes to politics, I always think from a perspective that considers how this political issue would affect marginalized groups of people such as, people of color and women.” I too evaluate political repercussions within the context of my race and gender, for the two qualities hold great significance and importance in who I am. As humans tend to prioritize what affects ourselves and our people and, in this way, weighing my these factors when making political decisions is a natural inclination. Author Patricia Hill Collins observes that “Black women are uniquely situated in that they stand at the focal point where two exceptionally powerful and prevalent systems of oppression come together: race and gender” (.www.uk.sage pub.com). In my personal experience, of all of my identifying qualities (race, class, gender, sexuality…etc.) these to are most commonly seen in a negative light, even if the comments are not directed towards me. Take for example the common insult “nappy-headed hoes,” a phase that finds its way into too many rap songs and is far more common than it actually should be. Not only does it target black people, specifically those who are darker and more African looking, but it also attacks women and the female sexuality. Though I have never personally been attacked for my race and gender simultaneously, I do feel it in popular culture, specifically in music and television. The interconnectedness of both of these qualities makes for a intensified my sense of discrimination and marginalization in society.
Whether it be race, color, gender or any other identifiers, society has a way of forcing its own scripts on people based on the external appearance. This superficial method of assessing the individual debilitates our ability to truly see one another for who we actually are. As, Gaby Marquez so poignantly stated, “...I am the one that chooses what parts of my dual culture I integrate into who I am;” I should be the one to decide which categories I do or do not fit into, no one else. In examining the intersections of my own identity, I have come to realize that qualities like race and gender are defining factors of my own making, instead of society’s constructed, imposed fabrication.
Work Cited
"APS Observer - How Many Seconds to a First Impression?" Association for Psychological Science. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=2010.
Anzaldúa, Gloria. "
Taking Stock: Counting By Race." Racial Subjects: Writing on Race in America. New York: Routledge, 1997. 27-58.
Bledsoe, By Courtney. "Animosity between Light and Dark-skinned African Americans Causes Division." The Famuan. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. http://www.thefamuanonline.com/opinions/animosity-between-light-and-dark-skinned-african-americans-causes-division-1.2213505.
Brah, A., and Annie E. Coombes. Hybridity and Its Discontents: Politics, Science, Culture. London: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Goldberg, David Theo. "
The Social Construction of Race." Critical Race Theory:The Cutting Edge. Ed. Richard Delgado. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995. 191-203.
Haney López, Ian F. "
White By Law." Critical Race Theory:The Cutting Edge. Ed. Richard Delgado. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995. 542-550.
Haney López, Ian F. "
The Social Construction of Gender." Women's Voices, Feminist Visions. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company. 2001. 121-124.
Jordan Jordan
Hill, Collins Patricia. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Collins, Patricia. "Intersecting Oppression." SagePub: 1-11. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. http://www.uk.sagepub.com/.../13299_Chapter_16_Web_Byte_Patricia_Hill_%20Collins.pdf%20-%20United%20Kingdom.
Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory from Margin to Center. Boston, MA: South End, 1984. Print.
Lorber, Judith. "
La conciencia de la mestiza." Borderlands: La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Press. 1987. 77-91.
