Racial Identity

By: Laura Madariaga

There is often a moment among BIPOC youth where identity becomes a challenging aspect to face. Becoming conscious of the cultural aspects and experiences, which set one apart from one’s peers is something that can be life altering. Often, this is a period that only offers few options on how to view the sudden awareness of racial group/identity differences. Options are often limited to either surrounding oneself with those who are of the same racial or ethnic background or to assimilate oneself completely into a different culture, oftentimes white culture.

In middle school, when my own journey of questioning my identity began, I chose the latter option. Hearing how my white peers chose to speak and thought of the Latine community, I felt as though I never had a chance to fully accept who I was. My desires to be accepted went as far as to create a multiple set of personas, one which was for my white peers and one which was for my home. These persona’s often clashed with one another. Part of me wanted to be accepted by my white peers, to be seen for so much more than being Latine. I wanted to be someone who could fit in… who could be “normal”. The other part of me felt guilt and could only view what I was doing as “weak”. How could it be that I would go as far as sacrificing my individuality, my uniqueness, my traditions, my culture, my language in order to “fit in”. This realization fueled my desire to embody the idea of being normal. My journey eventually went as far as to excuse my white friends when they made racist remarks about the few Latine students which attended our school.It was this moment where I realized that I no longer wanted to be someone who hid behind a persona in order to please others who viewed me just as different. Who viewed those a part of a community that I was a part of as “lesser” than.

I began to actively pursue those within the Latine community to understand every aspect of my identity, choosing to submerge myself into who I was. Taking in pride instead of shame. Though my experience is not the only one or that which can only be experienced by those who identify as Latine... it is one which tends to be common upon BIPOC youth. Navigating through white spaces can be difficult, being faced with stereotypes, and being placed with a multitude of labels can be hard to accept or to fully understand. The journey of accepting one’s identity is not a perfect one, it entails facing the hard truths, the struggles which continuously face one’s community, but it is important to understand that it is possible to be proud of who one is. Embrace who you are! Take a stand against those who make it difficult for others to have a strong sense of their racial identity. In the end, it is far better to take pride than to fit within the standards of others.

Sources

https://parentandteen.com/identity-development-teens-of-color/