In our society, having fairer features has been seen as advantageous throughout history. During the time of slavery, we saw many people of color trying to pass as the white majority to obtain rights and overall better quality of life. Those that were most successful in doing so were, you guessed it, mixed. Not too much has changed today. We still view being mixed or "light skin" as being more desirable than dark skin.
Thank you social media... more specifically, Instagram. With hundreds of accounts dedicated to interracial couples and mixed children, it's easy to get swept up in the fascination. Currently, people are experiencing what I would call "mixed-kid madness." I couldn't even begin to count how many times I've heard something along the lines of "This baby is so cute! I would love to have a mixed baby." People have even gone as far as to specifically choose their romantic partner to help tailor the look of their child.
This is objectifying children. They're being used as trophies and baby dolls for show on the internet.
Being mixed isn't as universal as people think it is. It produces a wide variety of diverse people, there is no specific "mixed" feature. Many times a mixed person is equated to "good" hair, not-brown eyes, caramel complexion-among other things. However, there are mixed people with dark, kinky hair. There are mixed people with the deepest brown eyes, and some who you might not even realize are mixed with beautiful dark skin.
Having lighter skin doesn't make you beautiful, in the same way having dark skin doesn't make you ugly. But when we have people walking around saying, "You're so exotic! What are you mixed with?" We further ideas of colorism and mixed privilege. In a world that has such an obsession with beauty, nobody can ever catch a damn break. If I, a mixed woman, is seen as pretty then I'm taking away from the women of color who are darker than me.
This creates a HUGE divide in the colored community.
I've come to notice that it's not just society or white people who are fetishizing mixed people, it's also black people. We're making each other resentful because we are seeing one group valued more than another. We need to normalize the idea that all people are beautiful. One's beauty should never mean the dimming of another's.
There's nothing flattering about being held on a shelf constructed of biased standards of beauty and worth.
Mixed people are not the answer to racism. Humanity is. Our views on race need to evolve and it begins with the end of this fantasy. Date someone because you love them, not because you are trying to hit the genetic lottery. Have children and hope that they are healthy, not that they have green eyes. Compliment someone because they are funny, not because they look exotic.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder needs a new pair of eyes.
