At Clutch magazine, Britni Danielle challenges cultural appropriation in a piece about a woman who grew up white in Mexico but was seen as a woman of color when she moved to the U.S. But "being white excludes her from being a woman of color. Period,"ย she writes.
Suggested Reading
I recently stumbled across an interesting essay by Ana Cecilia Alvarez about being aย โWhite Woman of Colorโย that once again highlighted the complexities (and complete arbitrary and socially constructed) issue of race.
Although the two identities seem at opposite ends of the racial spectrum, Alvarezโs experience โ growing up White in Mexico, but later being seen as a โwoman of colorโ on the basis of her nationality and language once she immigrated to the U.S. โ was both eye-opening and frustrating โฆ
Sadly, Alvarez seems to fall victim to the notion that race = nationality. And like many (particularly Americans), she seems to have bought into the thinking that being Latino automatically makes her a minority. For instance, she says her mother is โbiracialโ because she was born to a Mexican (which isnโt a race) father, and Anglo-American (read: White) mother. While Alvarez gives no details about her grandfatherโs actual race (is he Mestizo or a descendantย of Europeans like her father?), she seems to once again be muddling the terms.
But hereโs rub: being White excludes her from being a woman of color. Period.ย
Read Britni Danielle's entire piece at Clutch magazine.
The Rootย aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
Britni Danielle is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and novelist. She has covered pop culture, politics and race for outlets such as Essence, Jet and Clutch. Follow her on Twitter.ย
Straight From
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.