What Truly Defines Me? Jesus Christ

What truly defines who I am? My race is something I write about because it has affected me in huge way, but it by no means makes me who I am. My belief in Jesus it what makes me the person that I am today. My mother made sure I knew about the Lord from the time I was little. That is what has taught me to fear and Love the Lord above all else; give to others; respect others; to love; to forgive though it may be hard; and to pray. Believing Jesus has also given me strength, perseverance, and comfort through the troubled times in my life. Could you really ask for anything more in life? In the end we are people and when it comes down to it, race does not matter to God. We are all equally sinners who need the Salvation of Jesus Christ. All of us were put on this earth for a reason, and that has always been to meet and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. This earth and all that is in it is temporary, but the Lord is not.

My name is different not ghetto!

As you can see my name is very different. My mother had a best friend in college and her name was Arlinda. My mom loved this friend so much she wanted to name me after her. Arlinda itself is a very unusual name. My mother's friend had been named after an old movie star her parents admired. My dad's name is Sheldon. I was the first child and for some reason my dad wanted me to be named after him too. He put an sh at the beginning of Arlinda, and that's how I got my name. My whole life I've had mixed feelings about my name because it was so different. There have been lots of people that said they thought it was a pretty or beautiful name, but that hasn't changed the frustration I feel over it. It's been misspelled and mispronounced so many times I have lost count! I can understand the misspelling of it, ( my grandfather for some reason has always spelled it Charlinda), but pronouncing should be easy. My number one pet peeve is when people mispronounce my name and call me Sholonda or Sharonda, just because they know I am part black.Lately this lady at work calls me Sholonda no matter how many times I correct her or show her my name badge.It's getting extremely annoying.I guess that is why I just had to write about it! Most of the time it's been black people that try to make my name ghetto although a few white people have done it. A white guy I once knew called me Sharqwanda as a joke. It was never a joke to me though, because I could always feel something racial coming from it.
My name has been spelled or pronounced as: Starlinda,Shartinda,Charlinda,Sholonda,Sharonda ect. There's another one I know , but I can't seem to remember it at this time. The only people that seem to pronounce it right half of the time are foriegners! Anyway just to let people know, my name is different not ghetto!

Sharlinda
Pronounced: ( shahr Lin dah )
It sounds exactly like its spelled.

Explanation

Before I write anymore, I want to address a few things so that there are no misunderstandings of about what I write or who I am as a person. Anything I write about racism from blacks or whites, is not an attempt to stereotype a a whole group of people. I need anyone reading this to understand that. I'm not a stuck up biracial person who is trying to be white. I've heard this said to me, and also behind my back. If that was so I would not acknowledge where I come from. I'm used to people getting offended at me for not choosing to identify as a black woman. They view calling myself biracial as a way of saying that I am better. I believe in the truth and the truth is that Lord made me who I am. My father is black and my mother is white. Half of my genes come from my father and half from my mother. This means 23 of my 46 chromosomes come from my father and the other 23 come from my mother. My mother carried me in her womb for 9 months and she is equally apart of me just as my father is. Having a black father does not automatically erase all of my mother's DNA. I don't want to be accepted for being something society thinks I ought to be, but as who I truly am. To deny any of this would be also to deny my life's experiences. My whole life I've lived in a home with parents of two different backgrounds, and also dealt with racism from both sides because of it. Those experiences come from being biracial and not black. That's why I choose to be biracial and be proud of all that I come from.

The One Drop Rule is racist and it belongs in the past where it came from. It is sad to me that in our day in time whites and blacks alike still apply this rule to people. It still shows how racist American society really is. The One Drop Rule is a way to deny the existence of people like me, and sweep the issues that come with it under a rug. Blacks and whites use the rule for different reasons. I won't further delve into this, but just know I have saved it for a future post.