Being biracial has always been an interesting line to walk. Sometimes people can't tell what race I am so I'll get the question "What are you?" I understand most people don't mean it to be offensive at all, they're genuinely curious. The answer I want to give - I'm human. But that's never what happens.
I'm allowed to just say I'm black depending on who's asking. That always seems to check out. But if I just say I'm white, people look at me funny. I'm just as much white as I am black - literally half of each. So how am I supposed to know what race to choose?
Forms didn't always have a box that said "check all that apply" or "two or more races" when it came to filling out the race section. I was supposed to identify with just one race and that was that. I always just selected the "Black or African American" box because that was more accepted for me due to the shade of my skin.
Why is it I'm accepted as being just black in society, but I can't say that I'm white without getting questioned about it? My license says that I'm "African American", limiting me to one race. But what would have happened had I selected "White" when I got it? I get referred to as "African American female" when I present my license - but what would be different if instead it said I was white?
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