I am a biracial woman in the United States.
Being biracial has never been easy, especially in the south. There were times growing up when people asked if my older sister was my friend because her skin was white and mine was brown. Strangers often looked between my parents to figure out if I was related to them.
The sad part of being biracial is a sense of rejection from both sides of my racial identity. During high school, I was criticized by each race because I spent more time with one crowd than the other. If I hung out with friends, who were white, I was always known as the "black girl" and vice versa.
The last thing anyone wants to do is stand out. When in a crowd of people, you want to blend in as much as possible. When you are biracial, that is not possible. Ironically, biracial people do not blend into both of their races. It feels as though I have spent my entire life trying to choose whether I wanted to be black or white.
With the Black Lives Matter movement thriving right now more than ever, I have witnessed both sides. I have experienced what it is like to be black during the movement and what it is like to be white. Although I have had a taste of both the hate and love, I have stood as neither black or white. I am grey.
The Black Lives Matter movement is more than what those who oppose believe. Black individuals are not wanting sympathy. We are not wanting anyone to give us anything but justice and equality. When a young man tells me he cannot date me because I am half black, something is wrong. Am I saying all people are like this? No. Am I saying every police officer is racist? No, I am not.
"If we are all God's people, all lives should matter." Yes, all lives do matter. As someone who is both black and white, I believe in this time we need to reflect on the inequality that is happening because my skin is darker than yours.
With that being said, I do believe in ending police brutality and racism. But murdering police officers and bashing every white person does nothing either. That makes us just as wrong as killing a man on the street in cold blood for selling CD's.
I do not stand to say that I am grey because I cannot choose a side. I stand to be grey in a time of segregation and racism. I stand to be both black and white.
