I don't know about you, but
when I fill out applications
I never know which race box to check
I know, I know... You're probably saying to yourself:
It's obvious, dude, you're black.
Well, I just got the MyHerritageDNA results back and it showed me that actually
I'm 72 % West African
14 % British
7 % West European
3 % East European and 3 % Finnish and now
you tell me which race
box do I pick?
And if I pick that one, should the others get dismissed?
Simply because society has created a box that limits my full herritage?
See, growing up at our race was real
Society told me, it was us versus them, them versus us
and my race must stick together and be strong
But after my DNA results, I asked myself: is race as real as I thought?
After all...
Now pause. Before some of you get upset and abrasive,
let me say this:
Racism is very real.
Who can deny such a statement?
You look at housing, prison, health care and education.
Not to mention the things I'm personally faced with
Then it is clear that there is racial discrimination
But race, my friends, ...
Is a figment of our collective imagination.
Simply a learnt categorization
But...
If you take pride in your race, I'm not telling you to stop
I'm just saying: did you really want to define all of who you are
by this tiny box?
I mean, would you define the sky by a cloud?
How about the ocean by a drop?
Maybe a house by its curtains?
No...
See, there is more to your story
Than society's abridged version
And just as we must never judge a book by its cover
We must never judge a person by their skin,
Because when we use MyHerritageDNA
We find amazing chapters
hidden within
Each one co-authored by our ancestors.
I say our, because human kind is interconnected
and intertwined like wine springing up from the woods of one tree.
One family tree.
That goes by the name.
Humanity.
