I consider myself to be someone who is mixed race and racially ambiguous meaning I don't distinctly look like either of my parents' races. For all of us out there who are mixed race and racially ambiguous, here are some struggles a lot of us have faced. For those of you who aren't, here is a step inside the world of someone racially ambiguous.
1. People mistaking you for other races
Not looking like you are of any one ethnic background, in particular, can get people curious. For some reason, strangers are just so fascinated by knowing exactly what you are before they know who you are. This can lead to them making some very out there guesses and assumptions about what race you really are. I remember one summer, a girl who I took a summer class with told me she assumed I was Mexican all summer because of how tan my skin looks when I get a lot of sun. It's a wild concept, I know, but not all tan people with dark hair are Latino.
2. Never knowing what box to check when a form doesn't have a "one or more" or "other" race option
The "one or more" and "other" boxes are my best friends on forms when it comes to identifying race. I am also a fan of forms that allow you to check as many boxes that apply to you on the inevitable race question on forms and applications. However, when forms don't have those options, I am forced to choose which part of my identity I want to claim. I am equally as white, European as I am Middle Eastern, and I have a little mini-crisis every time I am forced to choose.
3. People always want to know how your parents met
Interracial children are fascinating for some reason. When people find out your parents aren't both of the same ethnicity, some are bound to ask how/where did they meet. If you were to say you were Irish and Swedish no one would think to ask you how your parents met, but if you are a mixed society sees as out of the norm, people just have to know what strange circumstances of fate lead your parents to make you.
4. People try to compliment you by saying you are exotic
Throughout middle and high school, I had more people than I care to count describe my looks as exotic. Whenever I would try and retort by saying I am not a fruit or a fish they would insist they were complimenting me. "You're not too Arab but you're not boring white. You're perfectly exotic!"
Yikes.
5. Meeting a significant other's family can get dicey
It is always awkward to meet the family of the person you're dating for the first time, but once their family starts asking questions about your racial makeup all bets are off. The dreaded "what are you exactly?" question may pop up from an ignorant family member who can't describe you just by looking at the color of your skin which may lead to incorrect stereotyping after you explain your heritage.
6. People try and use you as a bridge between cultures
I am not an infinite source of knowledge on the Israel-Palestine conflict just because my dad is from Palestine. I am not the end-all-be-all authority on what is or isn't cultural appropriation. I can tell you my view, but I can't speak for all people of Middle Eastern descent. Also, Arab family, I don't understand Donald Trump either. I don't think most fully white people do.
7. People may make racist jokes that they don't know you are the target of around you
Being racially ambiguous means you get to see people be jerks in all of their glory sometimes. I've called people out on their "all Arabs are terrorist" jokes before to which some have replied, "If I had known you were half-Arab I wouldn't have made that joke!"
8. Finding the right shade of makeup is a painful bridging on impossible
You may also have more than one shade if you're like me and are far tanner in the summer than you are in the winter.
Blending is our best friend.
However, being mixed race and racially ambiguous isn't all bad. I get to claim awesome Middle Eastern food as my own as well as the social progress of Sweden. I have more teams to root for in the Olympics. I have a more global perspective of the world.
