Does The Colour Of My Skin Offend You?

As a biracial and queer woman who is both black and white, I can’t pretend to have all the same struggles black individuals do, but I do have some of my own. Recently I’ve been struggling with my identity and my race. Struggling with whether I should be calling myself black, when I am biracial. Too white to be considered black and too black to be considered white.

From a young age I received comments from other kids asking why my hair was the way it was, why my skin was darker than theirs. The comments that stuck with me the most were the ones in regards to my hair. For 20 years I was ashamed and embarrassed of my hair, because of comments like; “your hair looks like pubes”

Strangers have asked me on numerous occasions, “Where are you from?” and “What are you?” When what they really want to know concerns my race. I’m often seen as racially ambiguous. But having experienced these dehumanizing questions most of my life made me feel less then.

Your words hurt. They have an affect on ones perception of themselves.

BLACK LIVES MATTER