I Am A Biracial Person Living In A Racist World

To any biracial kids in this still racist world,

My mom is German and Italian and my dad is African American, which makes me an oreo like all of you.

We live in a world that is grouped by many things, and unfortunately race is still one of them. We, thankfully, never had a chance to be racist as we are our own category.

We fit into a category that didn't exist a century ago, especially in America, where for the longest time, people of different races weren't supposed to sit in the same area on bus, use the same bathrooms or water fountains, let alone have children together.

We are multiple races: white, black, asian, hispanic. Basically, we're different in a good way.

But in this world, being different can be awkward, strange and even scary. Trust me, I get it and it's okay to feel this way. I do, and have since I learned that my family wasn't "the norm."

There are days that I sat and cried in my dorm room because I have conflicting opinions in my life, especially regarding race. With Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem "scandal", I knew how I felt.

I knew he was doing it for people who face discrimination because of the color of their skin and I agree with him.

Unfortunately, I grew up with older generations on my mom's side of the family and some used to be against my parent's marriage. The fact that we have to deal with this in our family proves that America is not as accepting as we're made out to be.

I feel like I can't be myself. I can't be both black and white.

If any of you feel this way, I am beyond sorry. I hope to one day live in a world where people don't need to protest, where we can be happy that we have two distinct heritages.

I want to live in a world where people understand that their hair will never be as thick as a mixed girls, where professors don't look at you twice because you answer a question regarding your ethnicity that they don't believe is correct.

I want us to live in a world where we don't have to think about going out in public and seeing people's reactions. This might just be me, but every time I go out in public with my mom, I worry that we will be judged because she's white and I'm not.

I know that I shouldn't, but I can't help it.

Another moment that I struggle with is in history class when the topic turns to slavery or anything relating to civil rights.

I get the stares and the guilt filled looks and I don't know what they expect me to say. Trust me, I know how terrible things were, but people feeling guilty for something they had no control over is not helping anything.

Sometimes I wish that I was either just black or just white, but then I remember that I'm who I am because of my history.

I feel too white around my dad's side of the family and I feel too black around my mom's side of the family, but that's okay.

I'm special and so are you. In fact, we're so special that they had to create an option on standardized tests just for us, people of multiple races.

We might live in a racist world, but everyday that there are more of us, is a day that gets us closer to being how America is portrayed.

It gets us closer to no longer needing our own category. It gets us closer to everyone being classified as people, back to something that hasn't been around in thousands of years.

I hope that we can get there one day and I hope that you and I can witness it.