The LOOK


Every now and then, I get this look from people. They tilt their head and ask,
“what are you?” By “what” they mean, what’s my race or ethnicity. I get this question a lot because of the way I look. When people see me, they don’t know what to think. I always ask them to guess, or ask, “ what do you think?”

I’m actually multi-racial. I’m British, Jamaican, Putter Rican, and Inca Indian, which actually descends from Peru. So I guess I’m Peruvian. Some people think I look more black, some think I look more Hispanic, some think white, etc.

The fact is, sometimes I get a little tired of people asking. Now sometimes I do like telling people what I am. It makes good conversation. That and I’m virtually immune to being discriminated by many races. But I don’t understand is why its so important to people to know my race. I think we all know we live in a prejudice and judgmental world. People instantly judge you due to your social status, your name, your race. I guess people feel they can come to instant conclusions about you if they know your race. Regardless that all of our DNA is 99.99% the same. Maybe next time, when people ask me what I am, I’ll just say, “ I’m a human. A person. Just like you.”