"I am black. My birth certificate says 'Black,' my parents' birth certificates say 'Black' and my grandparents' birth certificates say 'Black,' " writes XOJane's Kristin Booker, who says she's tired of all the questions.
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… This is a nearly daily occurrence for me and I'm here to say that I'm f[—]king sick of it. The question portion of the interview is now over. I am BLACK. My birth certificate says "Black," my parents' birth certificates say "Black" and my grandparents' birth certificates say "Black." We all have a little "B" in the race code category, so it doesn't really matter what anyone thinks …
So, I have made the firm decision that I'm not answering this question anymore. I WILL admit that I've started screwing with drunk people who ask this question for sport. Have a couple of shots of tequila and ask me what my racial background is and I might throw Star Wars references. "My father's from the Dagobah system. Met him you have? Yoda is he."
But at the end of the day, a simple answer should be sufficient, random stranger. If I decide to answer that question at all, I'm being nice. All further questions past the answer, "I'm Black," will now be met with one answer and one answer only: "I've answered your question."
I am who I am. Who my progenitors had sex with is none of your business. Kindly stop asking. This interview is now over. <throws mic down>
Read Kristin Booker's entire piece at XOJane.
The Root 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.
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