RACIAL IDENTITY

Over the years of our existence, human beings have developed different physical features to cope with the environmental factors of our regions. Here is where the diversity we currently enjoy originates. Despite each of us being beautiful in our own way, there has always been that stubborn notion that sets us apart from one another instead of uniting us. As a migrant in a place where predominantly white people live, I haven’t been able to avoid being influenced to act—in a somewhat stereotypical way—more “white” in order to fit in. That’s when the question arises: Why did I change the way I am to fit in? What led me to do it?

As mentioned previously, humans have developed this system for survival, and over the years—this belief that we are each different based on our physical traits has been passed down, giving rise to concepts that will primarily discuss in this article: racial identity and ethnicity. As a current definition of what racial identity is, it can be described as: the individual sense of belonging to a particular racial group. And with modern concepts like these, we can point to how race has been a label developed to distinguish certain people within a specific group, whether to justify demeaning actions against those groups or to maintain one’s own power imbalance—but are there really so many barriers that set us apart? From a biological standpoint, there is no genetic change that differentiates one race from another, for example: people from Africa have the same genetic code as Europeans. And beside the fact that this is a scientific fact, they still demand these beliefs that originated in that horrific era of slavery—beliefs that divide us and isolate a single group of people. In addition to the complicity inherent in racial identity, there are equally complex concepts, such as one’s ethnicity. As its definition describes, ethnicity is not the same as race—although they are often conflated. Ethnicity is an identity from a more cultural and social standpoint; things like religion and practices that are inherited from our surroundings.

Now that we have a foundation, I’d like to delve deeper into the topic. What aspects define and influence our identity? And specifically, our racial identity? There are multiple factors at play here, and as a Wikipedia article describes, these can include things like: racial socialization, community demographics, peer interactions, media, education, and individual experiences with racism. And although it can be tough, racism can shape how one identifies individually—experiences like these can push an individual to feel isolated and drawn to a group of people, fostering the belief that one belongs there. And although belonging to a specific group isn’t inherently negative, why is there this tendency to push away and exclude those who are different with so little consideration and tolerance? Why create barriers that are so hard to break? A very present example of this still exists in the United States, with a difference that can be considered systematic. When this idea that race sets us apart exists, it creates a bubble of stereotypes that only breeds prejudice against an ethnic or racial group—and that’s why such injustices as murder, discrimination, and segregation occur.

And if we analyze all these horrific actions perpetrated over the years, we can trace their origin back to the founding of the nation—it bears the stain of genocide perpetrated against the slaves and the Native Americans of that time.

Unlike the United States, there are other nations with significant cultural and racial diversity. A prime example of such diversity is Brazil—boasting a wide range of ethnicities. Yet, despite this, racism is also systematically present, with the Afro-Brazilian community facing disproportionate disadvantages. Comparing these two countries reveals that the root of the problem lies deeper—in the ideas and prejudices that one race is less deserving than another.

With all this isolation, one might assume that, as individuals, this margin of racial differences is created and reinforced, but what happens when one is placed in an environment where there truly is no place to belong? As I mentioned before, as an immigrant myself, I have faced the question of where I belong. Never Latina enough to belong in the country where I was born, nor white enough to enjoy the privileges afforded to me. Being placed in a spot where a racial identity other than your own predominates is difficult; you feel you have nowhere to belong and you resort to acting in certain ways to fit in—and this is where terms like ‘whitewashing’ can be used. Its clearest definition describes adopting practices considered whiter, setting aside what is inherited and present within us. And this is where a question arises: Why does changing some practices become ‘whitewashing’? Why are these stereotypes assigned to each race? Why must one act in a certain way to fit in? Where does this need to pretend to be something else just to fit in come from?

A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT FACES, BUT ALL ARE HUMAN; GRAPHIC BY LILI NANDELL

Race has only ever been a social construct, one that has shaped ideologies that prevent us from thriving as a truly diverse community. Racism will always be present because of those radical ideas that disregard diversity, which is the very reason we continue to exist as humanity. Biologically, there are no barriers that differentiate us, so why do we choose to ignore this scientific fact?