in which there is a poll and I ramble about my Cuban identity crisis

[that_september]

So, I've been having some thoughts lately on race and ethnicity, and I was curious to hear back from all of you.

Poll Race and ethnicity!

Comments

[enna_xor]

Interesting topic! When people ask what I am, I say I'm half Mexican and half white. My dad was born in Mexico, and moved to the US when he was just a few years old. I don't know the exact breakdowns on my mom's side, but I know I'm part British, Scottish, Dutch, Native American... and a few others.

But my dad never taught me or my sisters Spanish, and we weren't really raised with many influences from that culture, so I find it hard to relate to that part of my heritage. I even almost felt like a fake marking it down on college applications and stuff, like I somehow wasn't as Hispanic as others.

Plus my high school was very diverse, to the point where white students were in the minority. So I was surrounded by lots of Hispanic and Latino students who really embraced it, making me feel out of place at times for not being more connected.

It's weird... Like, I've been told a couple times that I'm basically white (because I don't speak much Spanish, or connect much with the culture), but that kind of upsets me, because it is 50% of my heritage, so I don't want it to be ignored. But at the same time, I never say I'm Mexican, it's always half-Mexican, like I don't want to claim it too much.