"So... what are you exactly?" PART 2

So a friend of mine recently brought this video to my attention:

This sums up my last post pretty well. Ha Ha.  I've gotten every single one of these at least twice. Thanks to the people that made this! Keep fighting the good fight.

"So... What are you exactly?"

So one of the many awkward about being biracial is that it's kind of a pain in the ass to introduce yourself to someone new. This is mainly because the question that usually first comes up is: "So, what ethnicity are you, exactly?" (there are different, more common ways people ask that question, but this is the nicer, more socially conscious version). Now, if you're most half-black, half-white people (i.e. Halle Berry, Beyonce, President Obama), you can usually get away with just saying "I'm black", because most black and white people look mostly black. It's cool, because it's a quick, simple answer, and you can move forward and move on to a much more interesting subjects, because, quite frankly, speaking about topic of "race/ethnicity" almost always ends up becoming annoyingly awkward or argumentative, unless both people in said conversation are of the exact same race (from personal experience, at least). The same thing happens with topics of conflicting religions, sports teams, video game consoles, or James Bond actors. No good can come of talking about any of these things for extended periods of time..

So when you're a biracial dude, or half-black, half-white, and your appearance doesn't particularly lean towards either of the two ethnicities that you are (i.e. Vin Diesel, The Rock, or yours truly), things can get a little hairy when racially identifying yourself to other people. Especially when you're part white, because that adds yet another annoying part of the identifying process, like "are you Italian, German, Irish, etc"? It turns into you having to speak a very long and weird run-on sentence to someone you barely know. And it gets a little more irritating every time you have to do it.

Personally, I probably could try to get away with just saying "I'm black" and leave it as that, quickly changing the subject to something like how retarded the Twilight movies are (something neutral that we can all see eye-to-eye on), but then said person would most likely pause the riveting conversation about lame movies to ask "hey, if you're black then why do you have extremely light skin and green eyes?" (or they say, "you're so well spoken", but I usually just leave the room after that... unless I'm trying to get laid, but that's another topic) and then the conversation becomes awkward again. So then I have to explain how "I'm actually black and white, with a little german (still not 100% sure about that) and native american splashed in". After I say that, the other guy or gal usually stairs blankly at me for a few seconds processing the weird mixture I just said (not that I blame them) and says either "oh..." followed up with an either longer pause or says "wow, what's that like?".

So, basically, the response to my awkward explanation of why I look the way I do is just as awkward as the explanation yourself, especially when they say "what's that like", because, I mean, what do you say to that? I usually just say "Its cool", because I really want this conversation to move onto something more interesting than my complexion and so I can stop feeling like a piece of lame art at a museum. Though the actual honest answer to that question for me would be "It's cool, until someone like you asks me 'what's that like?', then it's annoying as F**K and makes me lose my train of thought. What ethnicity are you?" I'd probably have no friends and be a virgin if I went with the latter response though.

Really, I just wish we, as a society would stop putting such a huge importance on race and, instead, would just focus on people as...just people. I'll admit, even I do the same thing every once in awhile (yes, I'm a giant hypocrite... Sorry) when I meet someone new, but it's just because the subject of "race/ethnicity" is engraved so far into my mind, in ALL our minds, that I/we can't help it. And I think that's a shame.

On the other hand, "Hey, guess what ethnicity I am!" could be an excellent ice breaker at parties.

Student Strikes

So recently, I temporarily moved back in with my father (NEVER do that), after 6 years of being on my own, in order to save some money while I look for a better job. My dad is a college professor and today we have our annual "student protest" on campus. This is where a bunch of students gather together and block off the entrance of campus (aka my way back home) in order to fight the high rise of tuition fees they are forced to pay. These protests usually last a full day or two.


Let me just be straight up with this. I think these "protests" are dumb. VERY dumb. One day of blocking the entrance to a college doesn't prove anything to anyone except that you are annoying and unemployed (which could also describe me, but at least I'm not messing with people's livelihoods). It's a waste of everyone's time and it just serves to make wannabe hippies and bored cops feel better about themselves without actually changing anything. 


Now before you all start hating on me let me say this: I'm a very liberal guy. I'm also a recent college graduate, myself. I paid my own way through school, so I understand how crappy these fees are. They're ridiculous and they keep getting worse. The only thing probably more outlandish as tuition costs is the price of gas these days (seriously, $4.50 per gallon? Come on, Obama. I thought we was homies).  


The problem is that these kids are not thinking the right way. The only way to hurt the fat-cats that are in charge of Universities is to hit them where it hurts: Their wallet. Here's a suggestion on what you crazy kids should do if you REALLY ACTUALLY want to make a difference with your protest (write this down): Drop out of school for a semester. Collectively. The school will then lose TONS of money from this and will be forced to accommodate to the students' demands. 


Sounds simple, right? Well... maybe you students should do it. And faculty, y'all should do the same thing. Stop teaching for a semester the same time the students drop out. One semester is enough to hurt school cash flow and cause change. Blocking the entrance to a school does not. Plus its dumb and makes you look like a douche.

Assasin's Creed 3 reveal

Glad to see a person of color staring in a video game, which almost never happens. Only two games I remember, in recent memory, where I've played as someone other than a white person or a talking animal are Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Prey. Kinda messed up when you think about it. Makes me feel a slight bit better about movies these days...

This link is via ign.com
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/121/1219789p1.html