Is Mixed Race “really” better?<\/h3>\n I came across this video by Dr Aarathi Prasad which claims to investigate the scientific advantage of being \u2018mixed race\u2019 and asks the question \u201cIt is better to be mixed race?\u201d As a \u2018mixed-race\u2019 person I couldn\u2019t help but feel a bit \u2018special\u2019 at the notion that I might in some way have an \u2018advantage\u2019 over the homozygous counterparts, but the whole argument of the video left me unsettled. Having a background in colonialism and Orientalism theory, it also made me feel guilty about being who I am.<\/p>\n
Science has been used for many years to prove the dominant discourse of the time. We have been presented with \u201cscientific evidence\u201d attesting to the ostensible intellectual inferiority of Blacks and other ethnic minorities to whites (most recently, scientific racism has been noted the work of \u201cworld renowned\u201d scientist and Nobel Prize winner Mr. James Watson). Although I believe that the creator of this video intended it to provide as a counter to racist and colonial theories such as \u201cracial purity\u201d and anti-miscegenation, I still think that in an inadvertent way, it reinforces the logic and ideals of scientific racism. For example, if we were to accept \u201cscientific\u201d validity of the presented argument of this video that mixed race people or people who are considered to be \u2018heterozygous\u2019 are afforded certain \u201cadvantages\u201d over those who are \u201chomozygous\u201d or not mixed, then one will not necessarily be wrong in declaring non-mixed race people to be \u2018inferior.\u2019<\/p>\n
I also have qualms with the augment presented in this video because in many non-white communities, particularly the Black community, \u201cmixed-race\u201d people (especially those of \u2018Black\u201d and white or European decent), are often regarded a \u201cprettier\u201d because of their \u201clighter skin\u201d and \u201cgood hair\u201d, while none-mixed people with darker complexions are often considered to be \u201cless attractive.\u201d As a mixed race person, after locking my hair, I was often bombarded with questions from family members and random strangers as to \u201cwhy\u201d I chose to ruin my \u201cgood hair.\u201d In the media today, many of the Black main stream female artists have \u201clighter skins\u201d and long straight hair (examples include Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Rihanna, Halle Berry ect). The fact is, colonial ideology and its embedded notions of European features (straight hair, lighter skin, straighter noses etc) as being \u201cprettier\u201d or \u201cmore attractive\u201d or \u201cdesirable\u201d still permeates the very fabric of Black and many non-white cultures and in many ways, videos like this help to reinforce this mentality.<\/p>\n
Despite my noted \u201cissues\u201d with the above video, being a product of a bi-racial union I can attest to many of the \u201cadvantages\u201d afforded mixed race people. For example, I am constantly being complimented on my \u2018beautiful hair\u2019 and \u2018nice complexion.\u2019 Growing up in the Caribbean where many still adhere to a colonial mentality, being mixed race with \u2018lighter skin\u2019 and curly hair often meant that I was the chosen one to \u2018represent\u2019 my school or classroom on various platforms. Despite these minor \u2018perks\u2019 there are also certain noted disadvantages of being \u2018mixed race.\u2019 We are often told that we are not \u2018Black\u2019 enough and since we are obviously not \u2018white,\u2019 we are often left to question our identities and our positions in the world, which inevitably leads to insecurity.