A freelancer for the Huffington Post came out as transracial/questioning yesterday, writing that even though he was born “very white and very Jewish,” he “can’t help but feel that my racial and cultural identity has changed.”
Joshua Marcus, a Johannesburg-based freelancer, said that dating a mixed-race boyfriend has not only made him more woke about white privilege; it has also exposed him to “racism by proxy.” He says that he’s witnessed his boyfriend experience prejudice, including both day-to-day racism and systemic racism.
But racism against his significant other has also begun to affect him personally, Marcus says. For example, he fears that if he ever visits Israel, his boyfriend, who has a Muslim name, may face additional hassle.
“My point is that, as much as my white skin will always convey upon me a privilege not extended to non-whites, thinking of myself in binary racial terms is disingenuous,” he says.
Marcus gives a handful of examples of people who do not fit the “racial binary” category, including black children adopted by white parents, as well as a set of siblings who grew up the only white children in a black orphanage.
“We have the problem with racial binaries,” Marcus concludes. “In order to accuse someone of cultural appropriation, you have to draw a clear line as to what black or Indian or coloured culture is. You have to homogenize the experience of every member of that race. And once you’re doing that, you undermine personal experience. You create exclusion. … Even I, an undeniably privileged white boy, am unsure of my racial identity.”
