I am mixed race. I grew up in a family made up by people of multiple different skin colors, cultures, and beliefs.
As a child, the term racism meant nothing to me. I was raised in an environment, that made it so that I had no reason to even recognise the color of another person's skin, as anything more than an aesthetic quality.
The beautiful golden skin and almond shaped eyes of my mother and her siblings. The wonderful vibrant red of my father and brother's hair, coupled with the striking background of their pale skin. The long, glossy, black hair and flawless tan skin of my cousins. My own ambiguous coloring, that fell somewhere inbetween.
They were simply beautiful traits to be admired. Something that in my childish eyes, made them unique and lovely in their own ways.
Then I moved to a large city. A place where racial differences, were a reason to be separated from your peers. A reason for hate, prejudice, and racism. In this environment I learned very quickly, that I had inherited the wrong skin color. At least according to my newfound peers.
I was marginalised. Treated like I was somehow different or worse than the other children who had different skin colors from my own. Especially so, as I didn't take fully after either my mother, or my father. I was in no man's land. Not accepted by any demographic, because I didn't look like any of them.
I'm sure by this point, if you're reading this, you are probably starting to question what I look like, and there in lay the problem.
Why does it matter what I look like? Why do you feel the need to validate your opinion on my writing, by my physical appearance? I'll tell you why.
Because no matter how certain you are that you are "not a racist", within your own mind right now, you are most likely withholding your acceptance of my words, until you know whether or not my skin color is one that you feel is validated to have experienced or have an opinion about racism.
I would like you to consider for a moment, the fact that throughout human history, every single racial demographic has at some point been a slave. Some in significantly greater numbers, and for longer periods of time, than others, but without exception, we are all the descendents of a people that were once enslaved. Shockingly enough, the racial demographic that has been subjected to slavery in the greatest numbers, and for the longest period of time, are actually not the African people.
If you belong to the demographic of which I speak, I'm sure you are already well aware of this historical fact. For those of you who do not, I encourage you to research the subject yourself. As experience has taught me that people are far more receptive to information found, than information told.
I would also like you to consider for a moment, that within western culture, every single racial demographic is not only allowed, but in fact encouraged to show public pride for their heritage. They can have clubs just for their race or culture, parades, and days of the year federally dedicated to the history of their people. Every race that is, except for one.
I would now like to draw your attention for a moment, to a recently coined term, known as "white washing". This term is in reference to any white persons, who take on a role playing a character that is traditionally of a different ethnicity. A recent film that drew particular attention on this subject, was the new Pan movie.
The creators of the film were called out for having cast the role of Tiger Lily, with a white woman. A character traditionally portrayed as a young indigenous woman.
The film received a large degree of prejudice for this casting choice. They were called white washers, racists, and perpetuators of the white privilege culture.
I would now like to point out, that mister Smee(a traditionally British man), was in fact portrayed by a middle eastern man. Not to mention that the chief of Tiger Lily's tribe(who is in fact supposed to be her father), is portrayed by an Australian aborigine. Yet there was no backlash whatsoever, for the directorial casting choices, of either of those characters.
Another perfect example of the same such racism, is the recent release of the film, Ghost in the Shell. The lovely Scarlett Johansson, received a huge amount of backlash, for having taken on the role playing the iconic character of Major. A role that I feel I must point out, is never once given a specific racial origin, throughout the entirety of the the original Ghost in a Shell series. People simply assumed that Major was a Japanese woman, because of her name. Which I must point out, is not the name she was given at birth, but merely the title she adopted after being implanted in her cyborg body. An assumption in itself, that is an act of racism.
I would now like to turn your attention, to an alternate parallel of another extremely popular anime, that was recently made into a film. A franchise known as Full Metal Alchemist. Despite the fact that the series follows the journey of two white, German brothers, named Edward and Alphonse Elric. The movie was produced using an entirely Asian cast, despite the fact that there are very few(if any), Asian characters in the entirety of the FMA series. One of the brothers is in fact a natural straw colored blonde, who is played by Ryosuke Yamada. A Japanese man from Tokyo. In the FMA series, the leader of their military organization is even known as the Fuhrer. A German word meaning leader.
Yet again, there was no backlash whatsoever, for the choice to cast the entirety of a traditionally white, German, character group, with predominantly Japanese actors. A mentality that I personally feel, should apply to any cinematic casting choice. Who cares what the heritage of an actor is? So long as they do their best to represent the character they have been chosen to play.
If you are wondering why I am specifically referring to these characters as German, and not just "white", it is to establish my next point.
The fact that multiple racial demographics are crying racism, when they see a Korean woman, playing a Chinese character, or a Jamaican man, playing a Zulu. They claim it is an act of racism. That white privilege and racism, has white Hollywood thinking that other races are culturally interchangeable.
Now ask yourself this question. Do you know if Mandy Moore is German? Or if Kristen Bell is Norwegian? Or if Dan Stevens is French? Now another question. Do you care, or even understand the significance of my previous three questions? Odds are, probably not.
So why is it that it is only racism, if the person who is culturally interchangeable is not white?
Perhaps you should spend a bit of time and self reflection, asking yourself why that is. Or why you think I should only be able to dress as Moana, or Merida if I want to be a Disney princess? If my little girl wants to dress up as her favorite Disney princess, who in the hell are you, to say that she can't, because she has the wrong heritage?
In closing, the point I have tried to make with this writing, is that if you believe ANY race deserves to be treated differently, either because of ancestry, or skin color, then you are a racist. It doesn't matter if you are targeting someone who is Indonesian, Sudanese, Cree, or Swiss. You are still a racist.
Its time we were all color blind, and start viewing each other as people, and not races. Take pride in your own ancestry and heritage, not in your ability to marginalize another person for theirs. Most of all remember, that the moment you start to pass any kind of judgment on another human being because of the color of their skin or the nation they may descend from, then you are the racist. Even if the person you are passing judgment upon is white.
And for those of you who are still wondering. I apologise, but my skin color, and heritage, are of no concern to anyone but me. So if you think you need to know what color of skin I have, in order to validate my words, then you are a racist.
Sincerely, a color blind person, of mixed race.
