When I was growing up, I thought I had a pretty typical family. Except, it was slightly different than most other families. From the time I was born until about sixth grade, I wasn't aware that I was different than most of the kids that I went to school with. However, I did notice the kids who had the same hair texture as me, didn't have the same skin tone as me. That's when I realized I was different. Not in a bad way, but just different than the rest of the kids.

Before I tell you what I am, I'll tell you what I'm not: Italian or Mexican. These are the two guesses people have made about my race for most of my life. Out of the races that I've been assumed to be, nobody has guessed what I actually am. I am biracial: 25% black, 75% white.

Often times, after telling people that I'm part black, they give me this confused look and tell me that I'm not. I've been told that I'm not "black enough to count," I'm "too white to be black," and that I don't "act black." I find it ridiculous that because I don't look a certain way, or "act" a certain way, a quarter of my identity all of a sudden disappears.

Once I finally get people to believe that I'm biracial, the questions start rolling in. These questions are mostly "Which parent is black and which one is white?" "Can I touch your hair??" " and "Are you sure you're not Mexican or Italian?"

Because I do look very much like a white person, people tend to disregard the part of me that is also black. So whenever I speak out on issues affecting the black community, I get more confused looks than I did when I was trying to explain to people that I am part black.

To further explain what I just said, there is a sad truth to all of this. The truth is I am "white enough" to experience white privilege. However, I am very well aware of the hardships and prejudice that my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my dad's side of the family may potentially face because of their skin color.

Even in 2017, interracial relationships and biracial still has this taboo stigma. It is very apparent that even if you're biracial, people only want you to identify with one of those races. All I want to know is, why does it matter? Why can't I identify with both of my races? The answers to these questions are it DOESN'T matter and I CAN identify with both of my races.