This must have something to do with my fifth annotation. In this scenario, I believe society expectations push these individuals with high socioeconomic backgrounds to not want to be themselves or make them feel as though expressing who they truly are disrupts the flow of things. When you come from a lower or middle socioeconomic background, you have more freedom to concentrate on yourself and your role in other people's lives. I'm guessing that if you grow up in a more well-kept, orderly community, you learn these established ideals and expectations, which lead to race and identification.

I have a feeling that all of these people have something in common, whether it's prejudice, racial oppression, or confusion about another aspect of their identity. I'm glad to learn that people feel comfortable identifying with multiple races, and I believe that they should be free to do so as long as their finding does not cause harm to others.

I'm wondering if it's because of societal expectations. When you say you're middle class, you're saying you're better than working class but not quite as wealthy as upper class. Some families may believe that their children look better if they are labeled as biracial rather than half this and half that.

This is something I completely understand. I can't recall ever meeting someone who didn't ask this question right away. Because I've spent a lot of my alone time thinking about how I want to appear and connect with people, having ongoing questions about my identity has made me a more intuitive person.

I've never really thought about biracial identity as a matter with two distinct groups of individuals, white and black, as well as other minorities; I assumed that all multiracial minorities experienced the same issues. It's intriguing to learn that mixed race people without black ancestry have an easier time defining themselves and interacting with society. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but on the surface, being a mixed race individual without black or white ancestry appears to be simpler. This whole race situation seems to imply that as long as the African-American race is involved, things become more complicated or there is fuel added to the issue.

Reading this line made me feel a little emotional because I've been through it and it plays a huge part in the ongoing identity crisis I've experienced. I am Mexican and Black and when I was in 6th grade I went through a traumatic discrimination experience where my own peers (who were Mexican) cornered me and told me I wasn't worthy of being Mexican and told me "You're nothing but a worthless nigger" while spitting on me. Ever since that day I have never wanted anything to do with my Mexican heritage and I prefer to be seen as black since that is the race that has excepted and embraced who I am regardless of who I really am ethnically.

While reading this section, I was stunned to learn about this study. I find it particularly unfortunate that if you're mixed with black ancestors, you're more likely to be discriminated against, regardless of whether you look black or not. This study is especially intriguing since individuals who aren't completely black and suffer with psychological adjustments may be more affected by discrimination than those who are. I'm curious about how biracial and fully black people are treated in different parts of the United States and if there are locations where both are perceived as the exact same.

This author's term is accurate, and it reminds me a lot of how I've interacted with people throughout my life. Since I was ten years old, I've occasionally considered myself fortunate to be biracial since I was able to "race switch" depending on who I was with. Though "race switching" may appear to be a negative trait, it actually helped me to be more versatile and appealing to the people I met. I appreciate the author opening this essay with this topic since it removes the notion that being biracial is a character flaw. Lastly, throughout the rest of this term I hope to shine light on the positives of being biracial rather than the negatives.