Do mixed race people have to pick a side? (Houston: public school, live in)

[ethanw]

I know is a bit controversial but I was wondering how mixed race folks in Houston are handling this? Do they pick a side?

My kids are half European and half Asian and I sometime wonder how are they going handle their race, heritage and diversity in this great city of ours. Please read the article bellow which sparked my interest in the first place. And lastly please keep a positive and constructive tone. This is not a test, is just curiosity and an opportunity to grow even more diverse

Do mixed race people have to pick a side?

[RPEP09]

my son already gets asked "what he is"...and he answers american.
he knows knows his mom is mexican and dad vietnamese but he wants to be only american. that's fine by me.

[LizzySWW]

I read the article & understand your interest about how Houstonians feel about mixed raced kids.

Personally, I see mixed raced kids as the race that seems most obvious. When whites mix with darker races, the daker race shows up most.

I generally see a half white & half black kid as a.....black kid. Same with your situation, I think most people will see your children as Asians.

Do you have to select Asian as their race for public school enrollment? It used to be that way when I was a kid. I had a friend who was 25% hispanic- his Grandfather was Mexican.....my friend was 75% white, but he was/is legally considered hispanic.

IMO you live in the right place.......there are more mixed race people in Houston than I've ever seen in my life....your kids will be fine here.

[nana053]

We had this discussion when I lived in Evanston, IL when the school forms asked for race. Many, many parents chose to check both boxes. Seriously, if you are mixed, picking one has you denying one of your parents. That's not a good thing. I think there ought to be biracial boxes on the forms and I think we need to see people as mixtures of whatever they are. I also think that the kids should be the ones to choose what they identify as.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by RPEP09

my son already gets asked "what he is"...and he answers american.
he knows knows his mom is mexican and dad vietnamese but he wants to be only american. that's fine by me.

I bet that's an exotic/modely look!

However, the Census gets confusing when they label a race with Hispanic blood a Hispanice. If black and Hispanic mix together, I will describe that offspring as being black because it's very dominant. It's soooo confusing.

[blkgiraffe]

I thought it always depended on the race of the father. It annoys me how in the media; many mixed celebrities [like Halle Berry and Mariah Carey] claim to be black only when it's beneficial to them and their career. Halle Berry walking around claiming her daughter is black, but the little girl is clearly mixed. It's annoying and unfair to the other parent.

[descovy]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

I thought it always depended on the nationality of the father.

Ha... seems like it should be the other way around. You can "question" who's the daddy, but there's no doubt who your momma is!

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by descovy

Ha... seems like it should be the other way around. You can "question" who's the daddy, but there's no doubt who your momma is!

True, but that's what I've always heard. Whenever mixed kids would ask in class which ethnicity do they pick; the instructor always said pick the ethnicity of what your father is.

[SouthernBoy205]

I think it should be which one is dominant. An Asian mixed with Hispanic should be Asian, because (if Chinese, Japanese, Korean) an Asian has dominant features (eyes, facial structure). African American is sooo dominant. Kimora Lee Simmons is Japanese, but you can tell that she is black (hair, voice, a wider nose).

[Dopo]

Coming from a very diverse society, Venezuela, where everybody has black, white, native American blood, maybe a little, a lot or whatever.

The 1st step that American society has to stop seeing people by their race first and start seeing people as people.
There's been times that I wonder how many black/white/hispanic people I work with.
Guess what? I don't know, because I don't see them that way, it takes me a while to think about it.

Now, if somebody asks that, and somebody knows the answer instantly....
There's your problem.