Pretending We Don't Exist

I remember when I was a young kid how my parents didn't make a big deal of race issues, but at the same time made me very aware of who I was as a mixed race individual. Part of this included pointing out well known mixed race people in the media for me to look up to. I'll never forget being a little girl and my father pointing out mixed race Mariah Carey to me on the television.  This was my first memory of  learning of  another person who had something in common with me. It made me feel special and comfortable being myself. I continued what my parents started with me, and in my teen years discovered and followed up on other famous biracial people. I picked some of my own role models.


 There was something that always nagged at me though. It was the fact that even though we as biracial people exist , no one really wants to admit it. I saw it on commercials, TV shows, movies ,and magazine. It has always caused me great irritation and I recall broaching the subject with my mom and talking about it on more than one occasion.  For example, I'd see a mixed race kid on television cast with two black parents, or a white parent cast with a clearly black child as their "biracial kid". 
I saw how everything was done in a way so as not to depict mixed race persons as they were.


If you've heard of Tiffany Jones ( "Biracial Tiffany" ) on youtube , then you know she tapes many videos of interviews she has with other biracial people. One in particular relates to this post. It's a 3 part interview with a young biracial guy named Phillip Handy, and he really hits the nail on the head with this issue. He expressed what I couldn't fully express all these years and the racism that's behind it.