Biracial: Black People and Biracial Individual Essay

Submitted By pdw856
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Pages: 3
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Paul Wilson
Professor Callahan
Writing III
October 5th 2014 Biracial “The Untranslatable word ‘Macho’", written by Rose del Castillo Guilbault, describes the word “Macho” and its meaning within two different cultures. In the Hispanic community, the word “macho” is mainly used for someone who is manly, responsible, and in charge. However, in America, “macho” describes a selfish and loud person, who is able to inflict pain. Like the misconception of the word Macho, in my world the word “biracial” and its misconceptions come to mind. In its true form, biracial describes a person who is mixed with two different races. I am the son of a father who is black, and a mother who is white, and am therefore considered by most as biracial. In my case, some people assumes my biracial background automatically identifies me as black, which is not necessarily the case. As a biracial person it is hard to fit into a black and white world. For myself, I have never questioned my blackness or my whiteness; however, some people are unable to see me as biracial and can only see me as either black or white. If you think about it, some of the most well known people in the world are biracial, such as: Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, and President Barack Obama. A recent article in The New York Times stated that "Mixed race individuals are constantly in conflict between social and personal definitions of self" (Rockquemore 37). I wonder if at any point these well know biracial individuals felt as misidentified as I do. As a biracial individual who primarily grew up with my father embracing the black community, my natural point of view is from the black community. However, I am able to fully appreciate my white heritage. In research done by Lisa Tessman, she discovered, "that if a biracial individual is pressured into choosing one race over another it could have detrimental affects on self concept, self esteem, and development" (Tessman 1). As I am a biracial person, I have never felt like I belong to any race. I feel like I am somewhere in between black and white. My skin tone is not black enough to be black, and not white enough to be white. Here is the
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