Using any combination of articles/videos listed above and below answer these questions: What visual cues do we use to determine someone’s race or gender? And, what has shaped your ideas of race and gender that inform how you perceive someone’s racial or gender identity?

Rachel Dolezal’s story was eye opening to me. I have never been someone that stayed super ep-to-date on things happening in the news. So, this was the first time I had heard about this.

To identify race, we often use visuals to determine what we believe someone’s race is. The biggest contender is skin color. In our country’s past, the color of someone’s skin has been the basis of discrimination and a civil war. Let’s be honest, sometimes it still is used for discrimination and racism. Hair can also be an indication of race. I have never thought about this so deeply before, and maybe that is a problem in itself. But the color of someone’s skin doesn’t actually mean anything. And many of us are mixed race anyways.

My family is white. Our ancestors are from all over Europe. During my mom’s freshman year of college, she was asked to be a part of a minority group. She is so tan skinned that many people think she is Mexican, however, we do not have any Mexican descent in our family. The color of her skin made people think she is a different descent than what she is.

My idea of race has been shaped by my surroundings growing up. I grew up in a rural, white community. There were a total of five people in my high school that were not white. My parents traveled with me and my siblings a lot, so I knew that there were different races, but I didn’t think much of it.

I grew up around a lot of racist people. I did not realize this until I was old enough to know what racism was and to notice it. I went to cedar point with a group of friends. In this group, there were four 15 year old boys. We were waiting in line for a roller coaster and a group of African Americans were on the ride. The boys started laughing and when I asked why they said it was funny that the whole cart was black people. What was sad was how they did not even know how wrong their minds were.

I was raised that race was apparent by just skin color and outward looks. I have since met people that were Mexican or Indian or another race that I assumed was white. So, in that regard, I was also raised to believe that race is based on your DNA. I think that is what I would believe mostly today. Skin color can be altered in changed, but DNA cannot. Being one race is not better than another. Race itself is based of where your ancestors came from, not necessarily skin color. I think it’s interesting that people in other countries identify with where they are. People who live in Asia are Asian. People who live in Europe are European. People who live in Africa are African. But in America, we don’t really say we are American. We talk about our descent instead. It is necessarily a bad thing, but I just thought it was interesting.

Sources:

Cohen, I. (2015, June 17). Watch Rachel Dolezal’s Long, Unbelievably Incoherent Interview with Melissa Harris-Perry. National Review.

McCall, L. (2005). The Complexity of Intersectionality.

Yuhas, A. (2015, June 16). Rachel Dolezal defiantly maintains ‘I identify as black’ in TV interview. The Guardian.