Am I Black or Biracial?

Recently I had a biracial woman watching some videos on my YouTube channel where I was discussing issues pertaining to biracials. One particular video I made was about me ranting on how black people are obsessed with biracial people due to way too many black people going all out to mandate to the best of their abilities that biracials who are mixed with black (especially those of who are black & white) are seen as nothing but just black. The other was a podcast I recorded 3 years ago where I was talking with another biracial guy about growing up mixed to where I told this dude basically that no matter how hard he attempts to run from his blackness in order to declare that he is ONLY biracial, he will still ultimately be seen as black. As a result, I got biracial people in my comments who pretty much only want to be viewed and seen as biracial declaring that I am a hypocrite. One could accurately come to that conclusion if all you had to go off of was 2 YouTube videos. But the reality is, it’s more complicated than that for a biracial person in this country.

You see, I am biracial. Can’t hide it even if I wanted to. I’m not one of these biracials who doesn’t look like he’s mixed. I’m mixed all day long from the texture of my hair to facial features to light skin. I’m mixed to the point where people often mistake me for being Hispanic (especially since I live in Florida). But on the other hand, I live in a country where historically biracial people have been classified as simply just black. Can’t deny it or even attempt to argue that point. It is what it is. So basically…I’m both and I claim both. One day I might say I’m just black and the next day I might say I’m just a mulatto. And the reason I do this is mainly thanks to social media. What I mean is (and I’ve said this numerous times on this site), depending upon what the topic is on social media that day that has black folks all in a frenzy will dictate how I choose to identify. If black people are out there on some positive shit, then I’m black. If niggas are out there on some nigga shit, then I’m mixed. It is what it is. I got those options and I use them at my discretion.

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