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My dad is half Native American, and I'm a quarter. I don't consider my race to be Native American, I consider it to be white cause I'm "mostly white." However, my dad is considered Native American. I've heard a lot of people (and not in a negative way) say that I'm "passing" and that since my dad identifies as a minority, that makes me that minority. But idk. It doesn't bother me, really. I just find the construct of race to be so fluid it's confusing. My dad "looks" Native American, and I "look" white. I know race goes deeper, but since I'm 75% white and look white, I don't think there's much "passing" going on on my part.

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One quarter of your genetic makeup reflects a particular descent. If you think about it, that's actually a pretty decent amount.

Unbeatable Survivor

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Why is it that you feel like completely disregarding a full quarter of your heritage? Hell, I'm made up of so many cultures and I deeply desire to learn about all of them [Although, being mostly Italian, I like to learn more about that].

Maybe I feel your pushing your culture aside as sad because one day I will have children and they will be half black and half white, and if one of my children 'looks' white, I'd be sad if they automatically called themselves white and didn't want anything to do with my husband's culture [Which is, in this case, Puerto Rican and St Thomas <--That's literally what he calls the other half of his culture].

Sure, maybe they could pass just like you pass. But it's a part of your heritage, and that's a beautiful thing.

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I can see where your coming from.

It was difficult for me to identify with being "half" and even when I did pursue my native side, everyone was like "what's this cracker doing here?" Bro I'm half and half come on.

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It's always annoying how people try to shoehorn mixed folks into one specific category which we might not even particularly identify with. Some things simply are more fluid.

What's most annoying is when people think that our natural looks are some kind of political message. I haven't received any of that myself but it's happened to some people I know.

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You're biracial. Half Caucasian and half American Indian. Embrace the truth.

Timid Combatant

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Tuah
It's always annoying how people try to shoehorn mixed folks into one specific category which we might not even particularly identify with. Some things simply are more fluid.

What's most annoying is when people think that our natural looks are some kind of political message. I haven't received any of that myself but it's happened to some people I know.

Like what sort of political message? I am confus.

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Raven Winter
Tuah
It's always annoying how people try to shoehorn mixed folks into one specific category which we might not even particularly identify with. Some things simply are more fluid.

What's most annoying is when people think that our natural looks are some kind of political message. I haven't received any of that myself but it's happened to some people I know.

Like what sort of political message? I am confus.


"You're trying blend in with white people for your own advantage, betraying us," sort of thing. My friend who is half-black half-white said he used to get this from time to time.

And hell, I've had a lot of people say I had too much white privilege to identify with my other backgrounds. Not exactly in those words, but that's basically what they meant.

Timid Combatant

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Tuah
Raven Winter
Tuah
It's always annoying how people try to shoehorn mixed folks into one specific category which we might not even particularly identify with. Some things simply are more fluid.

What's most annoying is when people think that our natural looks are some kind of political message. I haven't received any of that myself but it's happened to some people I know.

Like what sort of political message? I am confus.


"You're trying blend in with white people for your own advantage, betraying us," sort of thing. My friend who is half-black half-white said he used to get this from time to time.

And hell, I've had a lot of people say I had too much white privilege to identify with my other backgrounds. Not exactly in those words, but that's basically what they meant.

It's weird how people get super upset about some genetics when the majority of them don't really understand how they work, often being entirely unfamiliar with even basic concepts. Seems odd to get mad about something you actually don't understand.

Also, lolprivilege.

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I'm half black and half white. I identify as both, though I'm pretty sure no one is going to describe me as "that white girl."

Lucky Star

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My husband is part native American, and the only thing that really reflects it is his skin tone.

My poor little sister in law who is on elementary school has really dark skin... all the kids at school make fun of her telling her she's Mexican not native American =( idk what's wrong with children.

But anyways on forms and stuff my husband checks white. We don't know exactly how much native American is in him and how much you need to actually identify as the race, his mom did live on a reservation briefly as a child though.

Can't you get free schooling if you're a certain percentage?

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violette lumineux
Why is it that you feel like completely disregarding a full quarter of your heritage? Hell, I'm made up of so many cultures and I deeply desire to learn about all of them [Although, being mostly Italian, I like to learn more about that].

Maybe I feel your pushing your culture aside as sad because one day I will have children and they will be half black and half white, and if one of my children 'looks' white, I'd be sad if they automatically called themselves white and didn't want anything to do with my husband's culture [Which is, in this case, Puerto Rican and St Thomas <--That's literally what he calls the other half of his culture].

Sure, maybe they could pass just like you pass. But it's a part of your heritage, and that's a beautiful thing.


I'm not disregarding... Perhaps I worded things badly. I identify as Native American, but, if told I could only check off one race to identify myself as, I would chose white. My dad is half native, half white, and my mom is all white. I pass as white and receive the privileges of being white, so I don't want to try and claim that I am full native because I never really went through what my dad and grandparents went through.

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Faerie Dreams
My husband is part native American, and the only thing that really reflects it is his skin tone.

My poor little sister in law who is on elementary school has really dark skin... all the kids at school make fun of her telling her she's Mexican not native American =( idk what's wrong with children.

But anyways on forms and stuff my husband checks white. We don't know exactly how much native American is in him and how much you need to actually identify as the race, his mom did live on a reservation briefly as a child though.

Can't you get free schooling if you're a certain percentage?


My dad has the skin tone, except he freckles haha. All I have is the dark hair and I have the facial structure of my dad's side of the family.

Poor girl, though. Not that it's bad being Mexican, but being ridiculed in school is tough, no matter what they call you. :C And yes, you can get help with school, but I'm certainly not going for free lol.

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Tuah
Raven Winter
Tuah
It's always annoying how people try to shoehorn mixed folks into one specific category which we might not even particularly identify with. Some things simply are more fluid.

What's most annoying is when people think that our natural looks are some kind of political message. I haven't received any of that myself but it's happened to some people I know.

Like what sort of political message? I am confus.


"You're trying blend in with white people for your own advantage, betraying us," sort of thing. My friend who is half-black half-white said he used to get this from time to time.

And hell, I've had a lot of people say I had too much white privilege to identify with my other backgrounds. Not exactly in those words, but that's basically what they meant.


I get that sometimes too, but mostly I get really uninformed generalizations. "So do you not drink?" "Are you good at riding horses because you're part Native American?" Like. What?

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anyone who says that to you is racist and needs a slap in the face.
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