{"id":63381,"date":"2022-03-11T04:25:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T04:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=63381"},"modified":"2022-03-11T04:25:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T04:25:10","slug":"now-when-i-look-at-the-words-pick-one-with-a-pen-in-my-hand-i-feel-like-the-other-i-feel-alienated-and-ostracized-thrust-into-a-dilemma-that-i-have-no-solution-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=63381","title":{"rendered":"Now, when I look at the words \u201cPick One\u201d with a pen in my hand, I feel like the Other. I feel alienated and ostracized, thrust into a dilemma that I have no solution for."},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Ever since I started living in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S.<\/a>, I\u2019ve felt a constant underlying pressure to choose a side. To be white or to be Black. On every form I\u2019ve ever filled out in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Canada\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canada<\/a>, I\u2019ve always had the chance to pick All That Apply \u2014 Black, White, etc., when asked about my race. On the first form I filled out for my student visa application, they asked me to Pick One \u2014 Black, White, or Other. Though I didn\u2019t give it much thought at the time, the very use of the word \u201cOther\u201d demonstrates how the multiracial experience is far more marginalized in the United States than in Canada. Now, when I look at the words \u201cPick One\u201d with a pen in my hand, I feel like the Other. I feel alienated and ostracized, thrust into a dilemma that I have no solution for.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Zach Bayfield, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=63373\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Canadian\u2019s Perspective On The American Multiracial Experience<\/a>,\u201d <em>The Oberlin Review<\/em>, March 4, 2022. <a href=\"https:\/\/oberlinreview.org\/26143\/opinions\/a-canadians-perspective-on-the-american-multiracial-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/oberlinreview.org\/26143\/opinions\/a-canadians-perspective-on-the-american-multiracial-experience\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since I started living in the U.S., I\u2019ve felt a constant underlying pressure to choose a side. To be white or to be Black. On every form I\u2019ve ever filled out in Canada, I\u2019ve always had the chance to pick All That Apply \u2014 Black, White, etc., when asked about my race. On the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[22100,22099,33221],"class_list":["post-63381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpts","tag-oberlin-review","tag-the-oberlin-review","tag-zach-bayfield"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63382,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63381\/revisions\/63382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}