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kianamai — Multiracial Identity
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Published: 2017-03-23 04:43:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 59296; Favourites: 2489; Downloads: 76
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EDIT: Hey! I made a kind of extension of this comic on tumblr using a little dog cat named Puppittykianamaiart.tumblr.com/post/16…
Being mixed race is an interesting experience and the experience definitely shapes who you think you are. Because I arguably look more black, despite being 50/50, and it's easier for people to categorize me as such (African American), I just kinda accepted that over time. I started identifying myself as just African American. But that's not who I am. I'm mixed. Both of these things at the same time. Also I'm not even African. I'm Jamaican/Afro-Caribbean. NOT ALL BLACK PEOPLE ARE AFRICAN AMERICAN FYI.
But even when I tried accepting that identity, it didn't feel right. I grew up in Hawaii with primarily Japanese traditions and a Japanese American way of life. So I always thought I identified with being Japanese more than anything. But because I didn't look the part, it was never really okay with other people. Same thing on the other side. I don't "sound black" or have black features other than my hair and skin tone (which is also debatable).
The world is so set on being black and white and people having to fit into specific categories. Apparently, it wasn't until 2000 Census that multiracial people could fill in more than one category for race. I remember that always being stressful during SAT tests. Having to either pick Asian or Black. Anyways, I think it's important that you don't have these black and white stereotypes of people and how they're supposed to be whether it comes to race or gender or sexuality or occupation or anything. All people are different. Yes certain stereotypes exist for a reason but don't be surprised when people don't fit them.
Also just... like don't tell multiracial people the kind of things mentioned in the comic^^^ One, it perpetuates a lot of racially charged stereotypes. And two, it just fucks with us lol. It messes with our sense of belonging and identity and for the most part we'll just take it because it happens all the time and what are we gonna do, y'know? Don't try to categorize us. We just are what we are and that's all we can be
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Comments: 653
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I have no idea what I am, people think I'm adopted when they see my mum and me together. She has tan skin, dark brown poofy hair and brown eyes. I have light skin, brown straight hair, and hazel eyes. My mum says I'm Portuguese like her but it never looks believable.
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I love this. It was super relatable. Thank you for making this!
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Yes, I hate it when people do that to bi/multiracial people. So frustrating!
I'm Australian, Greek, Russian, Turkish, British, Scottish, Welsh and Jewish.
Apparently there is no possible way to be part Greek and Turkish... because that makes 100% sense...
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I once had a girl (a clerk or some other) speak Spanish to me because I had naturally tanned skin.
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I'm mixed into three main categories, Caucasian, Korean and Spanish but I'm too mixed for any of those groups to accept me as their own.
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oh my god, thank you, my mom is black (British Guyanese) and my dad (Italian/Irish) is white so every day I have to live with people telling me who I am. it once got to the point were people would use it to bully me thinking that I'm Spanish. very time school would force me to take those dumb surveys that asked me what race I was they never had mulatto and I had to only pick one, so I sat there not knowing what to do. I'd go home and just feel a little offended and it would just remind me of it all. it sucked, a lot, and it still goes on and I hate it. also, I grew up with no one who "sounded black" not all black people inherently sound the same, it physically pains me when I say I'm black too and they tell me I'm lying just cuz of that.
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I think you are lucky to be multiracial. I mean think about this in this way; normally people have their own nationalities look, dark hair, white skin etc. They look typical, not different. But you madame, you are something NEW. Not everyone is like you. Like, you are just more special. A mix. I think that's cool. You are not just a copy. I like that. It makes you more real.
About who you are, you are who you want to be. You don't have to put a label for yourself ( like how people separate peoples in 12 type because of their signs)
So whatever you think I think you are special and taleneted. To be honest I am even jealous of you... anyway, hope you have a good day.
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My dad is a French Nebraskan while my mom is Black Kenyan, Slackjawed mentally ret*rded people with way too much time on their hands call me a wide variety of insults. I am pale skinned with brown hair like my dad and very little like my mom, but my younger sister looks everything like our mom but almost nothing like our dad....
Genetics are a kick in the gonads sometimes.
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aaa I know!!!!! I'm puerto rican/ Moroccan and people tell me I don't look the part
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Japanese and Jamaican.
That sounds like the coolest mix ever.
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that's really lame that people do that. why can nobody just say "oh you are? that's cool"
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Yeah, im half native american, but i dont have this certain accent so people say that im simply white.
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It's absolutely ridiculous when people do stuff like this. I really don't get it, I don't think this way about biracial people, one of my best friends is biracial and I never thought that way! I always knew we're all unique, the colors of our skin or the heritage we have shouldn't say anything thing about who we are. As people. And people who say they "don't fit in" that's like saying a light skinned black person, or dark skinned asian doesn't fit in! We all fit in because we all live in this world together. So why don't we start acting like that?
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ack I feel you here!!
It`s honestly horrible so many people feel the same
I`m 1/2 Asian and 1/2 a LOT of other stuff, but I look sort of
spanish? Or the classic 'islander?"
I have really tanned skin(summers' of swimming and my 'island-looking' dad), hazel/green eyes and dark brown curly/wavy hair
Considering the fact my mother is pretty light skinned, and my father looks 'somewhat asian' everyone asks where I was adopted from.
It`s pretty annoying, considering the fact I`m pretty much a carbon copy of my father and it`s pretty easy to see that.
I`m always told my younger sister looks much more Asian than me as well.
Pretty much everyone in Korea(which is where my father comes from :0)is tall, my father is 5'10 -
I`m short. around 5'0-5'4. I`ve also been told I don`t 'act Asian' which? makes no sense at all?
I`m also genderfluid, which is pretty weird on people. Despite what pronouns I prefer to use at that time, they always seem to call me by their idea of me.
anyway, no one should really judge on what they see, that`s stupid. They should judge on their personality, if they have to judge at all.
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As a black person, I hate when people say someone doesn't "sound black". The black sterotypical accent is something I don't have. It's not as heavy as you'd see it portrayed in black media. Yet, I don't "sound" black. Ugh.
I really like this comic, by the way. And I love Puppity.
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I feel you, girl. I'm half-Mexican and my last name always surprises people one way or the other. Plus I have to hear...comments from both sides of the family. At least I used to. They've gotten better about it over the years.
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Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for creating Puppity. I'm choked up now because it means so much hearing from another ParrotFish who understands how anxious it makes me to have light skin and vaguely caucasian features but to be drawn towards hairstyles and culture that's "too black" for me.
Having to ignore things that you like purely because it's embarrassing to be looked at like a "fake" or "wannabe" because you're not allowed to "pretend to be" what people can't see you as.
I'm creating a journal to promote this because it's pure and real without being preachy or pushy. Thank you so much for your voice.
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This is a great comic! I love the message and your art style. I'm honestly not sure what my race is... I've been raised in a primarily white family the majority of my life, but I don't exactly look like the rest? We're looking to see if there is any Asian descent in my family, since that's the race I resemble more so than my family's.
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my dad descends from Spanish and Arabs, and my mom descends from Haitians and Africans, we are all three Cubans...
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L
O
L
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oh my god i feel you so much on this, everyone tries to take away part of my identity cause of some racist opinion and its the fucking worse.
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WTH? Not black enough? Thats some hardcore statement right there.
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Mixed race here. I get this, I so get this. I choose to ignore those kinds of comments though. I used to worry about them and get upset but since igoring them I've been a lot happier.
I know who I am, and thats all I need.
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This is something I can partly relate to as an immigrant in Canada as I'm too Russian to ever be Canadian and too Canadian to ever be Russian. But honestly, that's great ! You're not defined by where you're from you are yourself and unique! I'd never get the race related comment though, as I'm Slav/German and no one could never tell who the heck I am, and I can't tell A N Y nationality apart(even by accents, even my own) XD
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i always liked this message. i don't know the first hand experience, since i'm 100% Asian, but i've always wondered what it would be like in the mind of a mixed-raced child. i have a friend who is a black and white mix, and either black people tell her she's white (because her lips and nose are less wide/large, she doesn't "sound black", and her skin is more tanned) or white people tell her she's black (because her skin is darker than the average European white and her hair is curly). i don't think anyone has purposefully told her that they accepted her as both races. i mean, obviously, people would have to be nice and respectful near her, addressing her as a mixed race, but in the end people still treat her as either black or white. i've been friends with her since 1st grade, and when my parents ask if i have any friends who's not Asian, my mixed friend comes up first, though in my mind i usually label her as black first.
i wish people (me included) would understand more of the biracial experience. you don't have to be biracial to be interested in learning about the biracial life. i hope that you and my friend alike will someday find stability in your identity. you're blasian, and you know what? it's awesome - rock it!! <3
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What you are is awesome and adorable for just being you
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thats stupid.. you are you it doesnt matter what race you are or if you a mix your still you and you can only be you like a unieq snow flake or what ever and yeah.
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Who is not multiracial in America these days, it is ether real obvious or not or your just unaware or you are not. No matter what others can try to place you in one category or another but, no one other than you can say who you are.
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Really, most people in the world, or at least in America, is fully "pure". We all have ancestors who were different, heck if you go back far enough all our ancestors were black! So really, no one is truly "100%".
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I was looking at genes in science class and thought I wouldn't have a kid for having a kid, it would be more of and expirement. I see how my Jamaican traits mixed with completely opposite nation's traits. Something like Japanese, asain, Russian or so on, I have never seen one so I wanted one...so seeing this I'm thinking your the best damn thing in the world,I know you exist and I'm loving your existence more than my one for being so simple.
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Although I can't relate to this on a racial level, I can on some other things. For example, my bisexuality.
I've been told by some people in the LGBT+ community that I'm not "gay enough" to stand alongside them against LGBT+phobia, and I've been told by some straight people that I'm "straight if I'm with a guy, and gay if I'm with a woman" like, no. I'm still gay, I have to deal with homophobia too, and I like dudes AND chicks, I'm not one sexuality at one time and a different one at another time. It's like the werewolf analogy; "I'm a human at day, and I'm a wolf at night, but that doesn't mean that I'm just a human at certain times, I'm still a werewolf".
I don't know if this is the right place or not to be talking about this, as it's more about racial stereotypes then sexual stereotypes, but... I don't know. I thought it be nice for you to know that despite this post didn't relate to me racially, it did relate in other ways.
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You're Japanese/Jamaican? Now that's an interesting mix^^
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I don't have a tumblr account, so I'll comment on Puppity here ...
SO. FREAKIN. CUTE.
Really opened my eyes to issues I don't see everyday (and in a great format!). Granted I'm in the boondocks, USA with very little people to begin with, this is one of the reasons I love being a part of a huge, online community of artists! I get to see things and understand other perspectives that are uncommon where I live.
Honestly, it kind of helped me too. I'll be honest, I'm as white as white gets, but I'm a mix of the Western and Northern European countries. There's a lot of differing culture there! "White" isn't a culture, but French, Irish, Dutch, English, Russian, Norwegian, etc. are! You helped me realize I don't have to pick just one to feel I belong to ... they're all my ancestors. I can belong to all of them! And I've planned on visiting the countries that make up me! I hope you get a chance to visit the countries that make up you! Thanks for being such an inspiration!
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Hey, I already commented on this, but I wanted to say that I really enjoyed your Puppitty comic. I just found out about it and it's really cute and I like its message. You've probably gotten a whole bunch of variations of this same comment, but I wanted to share my opinion on your nice little project, no matter how unoriginal I am at doing it.
Your comic was a relaxing read and it gave me warm fuzzies all over by the end.
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Whoa! Ki! You should totally put the Pupitty comic on DA! It's really amazing! I may not be multiracial, but it's really inspiring and greatly informative! I love it!
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I would but it's too long haha
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Maybe a journal deviation?
Still, it's an amazing comic.
It super sucks that people have to go through stuff like that. I'm sorry you have to. You seem totally awesome no matter your race(s) or stereotypes;3 and your art is astounding:3
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Just because black people have certain voice patterns or personality traits that other races identify with, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's stereotypical or racist. I actually find certain African American vernacular kinda cool. It's not offensive that blacks in America are associated with a particular vernacular. The same could be said of other races who have certain personality traits or voice patterns they are associated with.
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Well obviously. But people shouldn't be berated if they don't sound like what people THINK they should sound like. That's stereotyping.
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Can we draw Puppitty? Just in cute innocent situations? Since you haven't posted them on here, I just.. wondered. Because they're absolutely pure and I just want to draw their lovely adorableness.
I just don't wanna do anything wrong with them, just want to draw them being cute, but I don't want to end up pulling some unfortunate implications.
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AHHHH!!!!!!!!!
<3
I just wanna draw a cute puppitty doing cute puppitty things
happy and cute
btw if i never draw them sorry i just forget things I just wanna know if I can
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