Bill of Rights For Racially Mixed People
I have the right
not to justify my existence in this world
not to keep the races separate within me
not to be responsible for people's discomfort with my physical
ambiguity
not to justify my ethnic legitimacy
I have the right
To identify myself differently than strangers expect me to identify
To identify myself differently than how my parents identify me
To identify myself differently than my brothers and sisters
To identify myself differently in different situations
I have the right
To create a vocabulary to communicate about being multiracial
To change my identity over my lifetime--and more than once
To have loyalties and identify with more than one group of people
To freely choose whom I befriend and love
Maria Root (1996)
|
