“White Passing”

White passing…that is such an interesting phrase. I have so many feelings about that phrase. Let me share what caused it to come to my attention. Halsey recently spoke about being a biracial woman who can white pass. This was a response she gave when a comment was made on social media that she wasn’t “claiming her black side”. She expressed two feelings that struck home with me, the first is that she feels she cannot use the word we when it comes to the pain the black protesters are feeling and the second is that she is a black woman. First, I laughed when I read the article because prior to this moment I’ve heard Halsey on the radio but didn’t know what she looked like. Then, a few months ago I happened to see her on SNL. I thought in my mind, oh Halsey’s biracial, cool. Am I the only one that feels a sense of pride when I see another successful biracial person and makes a mental note? I pause and savor it for a moment. But I laughed when I read the article because I knew exactly what her races were and if I was wrong at the very least I knew she wasn’t just white. So why does she have this perception that she is white passing and therefore holds no place to use the word we when it comes to systematic racism?

This is the plight of the biracial person. Claim your black side unless…. If Halsey, shouted from the roof tops, “I am a black woman who feels the same way you do. We are in pain” I guarantee you she would be called out. No you don’t know our pain, look at you. Look at some examples, Vanessa Williams, ( whose parents are black and not biracial) not the first African American Miss. America. Not black enough. Halle Berry, the first African-American to win an Oscar. No not black enough. Not we enough. It is just a given that they are not white enough. I have experienced all of this first hand. I am white enough for white people to feel comfortable to let down their guard and say racially inappropriate things, because you know, not you. We aren’t talking about you. Which once I got old enough to find my voice, I went head to head with any person in a convo that had a hint of racial discrimination.

The flip side is being called out for not claiming my black side or not being black enough. How do you qualify such a thing? Like I was trying to hide it. What is the blackness barometer? Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. That is a struggle that we deal with on a daily basis and I would love to hear about your experiences. While I appreciate Halsey’s honesty and her truth. I don’t believe in white passing. Maybe in general at a glance but when the spotlight is on and you take a moment to look, you are biracial. You are a we. We may have different experiences then a black man or woman in our society but make no mistake we are a we. So I ask you to look inside yourself and explore how you view biracial people, do you try to fit them into one race or another?