Welcome to Lissette Cruz's website on biracial identity and experiences!
Questions I will answer in my essay:
1. What is life like for biracial people in the U.S.?
2. What is it like to be me ?
3. The definition of self.
4. What is it like to be black and white?
Hopefully in this essay I will answer these four questions and many other questions that you may have in mind. I would like to start by saying that by being bi-racial or multi-ethnic is very much a blessing,sometimes it's so hard when someone asks you "what are you"? and you wonder that yourself sometimes. Being Biracial has it's consequences also because you feel so confused and sometimes you don't know which race to choose. At times I say I'm more than the other so that they can get sort of an idea what I am and who I am. Instead of then asking me alot of questions,but other than that I am very proud of my ethnicity. Being Biracial has it's benefits because I can enjoy two cultures,Puertorican culture and Dominican culture.
It's really hard to answer that question "whats it like to be me"? because I think that it is kind of a good thing for me, because first of all my beauty,my personality and I have so much determanation just for life itself. Being me is waking up every morning and going to school working very hard at that, making friends everyday and coming home and doing the things that are necessary to make everyone around me happy.But one of my flaws are that I have a very bad attitude and I have no patience whatsoever,but those are things that I can change about myself gradually.
The defintion of self is something I would like to explain, it's basically defining myself which is being Puertorican and Dominican.Also being smart beautiful and having like I said before a great personality and sometimes outgoing.I think that one of the hardest races is to be Black and White I mean they are so opposite of each other. I saw this show on Sunday it's called "Any Day now" on lifetime now there is a white mother who has a white daughter who had a child with a black father so the results were a black and white child. it showed how the family dealt with this situation and the probelms it brang.
Emmy the mother of her white daughter cannot understand why on the birth certificate it says race:black.She wants it to say white and black but the person at the hospital says that there is nothing that they can do that she would have to take it to court.Now the black grandmother is happy with the idea that it says black becasue she feels that one drop of black in you no matter what you are mixed with you are black. Emmy feels this is wrong. Now there is one incident in the restauraunt that makes Emmy see cleary what everyone is talking about, they are sitiing at a table with thier grandchild and the waiter is admiring the child meanwhile the child is sitting on his black grandmothers lap and the waiter says"aww he is so adorable and handsome he looks just like you" speaking to the black grandmother and emmy sits there and looks at the waiter and says"well I hope that he looks like me too since I am his grandmother too". The waiter looks astonished and apologizes and runs off.The black grandmother tells Emmy "see I told you so" and Emmy says "I guess you are right but the world might not except him but I want him to know two sides of his family the black and the white side and if the world will not except him I want him to know that we will his family I mean and that he knows that we will always love him" and the grandmother smiles and understands.
The purpose of me telling you this story is becasue I want to give you an exsample of what life is like for a bi-racial kid even when he is such a little kid. also how Family is so strong and loving that you know that everything will be ok as long as they are there. I never knew that people thought like that, after seeing that show I was so shocked but I've come to an understanding,you can be black white,asian ,chinese,indian,spanish but if YOU know who you are and love who you are than it does not matter what people say beacause you have the right to name yourself and you have the right to be you! Hopefully you learned as much as I did in reading this essay as I learned in doing the project.
In Conclusion I would like to add that by being biracial it gives me so many benefits in life. I am allowed to live two ways and two different cultures and I am allowed to choose which one I would like to be on certian days.I love being me I love being able to be two nationalites and I think that I am truly blessed.
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