Ready to go!

After having our first class meeting, I’m really excited about this Race, Gender and the Media course. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a class like this, so I’m ready to get things going, and I am especially excited to hear what other students have to say. I’m sure somewhere down the line someone will push someone else’s buttons or just make you have to shake your head. It’s natural. Because “race” is a word that carries so much weight behind it, when someone says how he or she really feels about it (which is SO important in a class like this), someone else may take exception to it. It has happened in every one of the race-related classes I have ever taken, so I’m bracing myself for it.

I’ve always loved talking about race relations. I’ve loved it not only because I am a minority, but also because I’m bi-racial. My dad is black and my mom is white. It’s something that I embrace, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m lucky enough to have a black side of the family and white side of the family who had no problems with my parents being together at all! It’s amazing to me that my family thought that way that long ago, especially in Oklahoma. It’s also pretty amazing/funny to see them get along so well with each other. Thanksgiving is a trip at my house.

Outside of my family, it was always a different story. Growing up, I was called every name in the book: halfrican, zebra, beige, point-five and a personal favorite, cookies and cream. I never really understood what the big deal was. Do I sit at the lunch table with the black kids or at the table with the white kids? Ahhhh….thank you, Jesus, for the empty seat at the Asian table. At times it was hard finding an identity, but as I got older, my anxiety went away.

I think being bi-racial gives me a very unique outlook on race relations because I can see where both parties are coming from. It’s an outlook that I think is invaluable in today’s world, especially in the mass communication field.