Social Justice for Mixed Folks

Mixed Folks and Social Justice: Intersection!

Hi friends!  I noticed that the “Mixed Lingo” posts have been pretty popular (part 1, part 2, part 3).  My work as an intern at my school’s multicultural center introduced me to social justice and the terms that I put in the “Mixed Lingo” series.

In this post, we’ll get acquainted with social justice and how it applies to multiracial, multiethnic, blended, mixed folks.

Social Justice: (definition found here)

Race-Related Intersection

As someone who identifies with various racial and/or ethnic groups, the issues of race in social justice discussions may seem directly related to you.  And they are!

In social and political matters, mixed folks are often underrepresented.  Society privileges those who 1) are not of color 2) fall into "easy" categories (see the "Race Reporting on University Applications").

Gender-Related Intersection

According to the 2010 US Census, women made up 50.8% of the country's population (2010 US Census).  Do women earn half the incoming wages?  You'd like to think so, wouldn't you?  Nope.  In financial, political, social, etc. equality, there's still large areas of improvement that leave women underprivileged compared to men.

Overlapping with race and ethnicity issues, women are privileged differently, racial and/or ethnic identities being one of these factors.  Different communities have different views on women.  I'm not saying that any community has the "right answer" and others don't.  But as a mixed person, you or the mixed women you know might encounter difficulty with different racial/ethnic identities and their corresponding privileges (or lack thereof).

Queer-Related Intersection

LGBTQIA/queer rights are picking up steam in major political circles these days (check out MSNBC's report on California's Prop 8 and DOMA in the Supreme Court).

The intersection between queer issues and the issues of those with mixed heritage may seem distant at first.  But similar to issues of gender equality, different racial and ethnic communities interact with the queer identity differently.  Someone who identifies as multiracial and/or multiethnic as well as queer can face different types of oppression.

No matter your sexuality, you cannot deny that queer folks and mixed folks have long gone underrepresented.

We barely scratched the surface of social justice in this post, but I hope that you've been motivated into researching social justice (even just a little bit :P ).  

You don't have to join protest marches to be a part of social justice.  Next time you have to think about a mixed race/ethnicity-related issue, try to find an overlap or intersection with another underprivileged identity.

That's all for this post, folks!  Feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion in the box below.  As always, "Growing Up Mixed" is a safe space.

Happy Easter!

<3 Elise "The Mixed Blogging Chick"