What It Means To Be Biracial: ‘I identify As Human’ | TODAY

“What are you?” It’s a question biracial people are often asked by those who want to put them in a convenient box. We talk to 38 biracial people and find that no matter the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes or the texture of their hair, being biracial simply means being human.

About: TODAY brings you the latest headlines and expert tips on money, health and parenting. We wake up every morning to give you and your family all you need to start your day. If it matters to you, it matters to us. We are in the people business. Subscribe to our channel for exclusive TODAY archival footage & our original web series.

Connect with TODAY Online!

What It Means To Be Biracial: ‘I identify As Human’ | TODAY

[shio]

I'm am so glad I found this because I thought I was alone. People think it's the best of both worlds but really instead of being a part of both worlds your not really a part of any. This hit me hard. It's really something that I have struggled with my whole life. I am half white and half hispanic. And I especially hate when people want to fight you: "What!? Your not Mexican!" or "Your too dark to be white"

[aav]

1:08 he's the 1st person I've ever seen with truly GREEN eyes

[GarudaLegends]

My brother was half black half spanish. He was my friend before he died. I feel these ppls pain. I am full black btw. I had to deal with alot of ugly shaming as a black man. It gets better ppl. I think i am beautiful. Stay strong my mixed family.

[MerK_San]

Why as a biracial kid, am i just seeing this now? Love this

[jennyrotten]

I am biracial and have had to deal with this question my entire life.

[creativecallisthenics]

I’m at very happy I found this video. My mom is Chinese, and my dad is Caucasian. I genuinely thought I was alone, and I’m happy that our voices can be heard. As early as grade 6, there was this girl that didn’t even believe I was Asian, at all. She took one look at me and told me I was white. Who are you, to tell me, my race?! I was furious but had a crush on her so I showed my reaction in an excited, involved way. I was just happy to interact with her, and didn’t know how to act with racism first hand, because it really was my first time. I’m in grade 8 now, and brought it up to her again one day, and she told me it was a joke. She obviously wasn’t a funny person. Like I said, I’m in grade 8 now, and I have dealt with a good (actually bad) amount of racism. And just because I am only half asian, doesn’t mean I’m not asian. That is half of me. 50%. No, I’m not 100% white, no, I’m not 100% Asian, I am half of both. And nobody, NOBODY, can tell me otherwise.

[tesstinggnw]

If I’m being honest, I’m biracial but cannot really relate in any fashion.

[domosapien]

I love this conversation. My sister and I made a video about our mixed/black identities as well

[Lillykl]

I myself, am biracial. My mother is black and my father white. As a teen, I have to deal with the odd looks when I’m with my father, or questions like, “it’s hard to believe your half black”. Now my mother, it’s clear to tell she is black. But she is on the lighter side, still darker than me though. I have the hair, The voice, the understanding and astonishment of the culture, but I have never felt fully black or white. I would try to tell people my struggles, and people would tell me it was amazing and cool because I got to be too races. But it didn’t feel like it. Was I acting ghetto if I relayed to other, and hung out with other black girls? At some point I realized I wasn’t white. So then forward, how can I be more black? It felt exhausting honestly.

[theone]

As a mixed person who is frequently called mistakenly a “Mexican” or “Hispanic” I’m Nigerian and Swedish and this video was very

[zerohero]

Honestly, i tell people im mixed and they either treated it as a joke or they told me your black just accept it

[dreamyguessblocker]

People always say that I’m African American cause of my curly hair. A lot of people do not believe me when I say I’m not black and that I have to at least have some black in me? It’s like they never seen a Mexican who mixed with Native American and Italian with curly hair. Cause I’m multiracial I have a lot of genetics in me and I have different traits of all of them in my dna. Not everyone is someone who they look like. Please don’t assume my race and judge me by what I look like.

[babybird]

Wait- why is it bad to ask someone "what are you" I get asked this question all the time and I ask others as well. I ask this question to everybody, not just to people who are "ethnically ambiguous" (which I think is gorgeous) I am always curious about people's heritage. Even when someone looks "white" i'm still curious what they are: German/English/Irish/ etc?
I don't want to offend anyone with my question. I just don't understand why it's bad to ask that question 😯

[harrys]

I’m half Asian and half white and I was always told by my dads girlfriends that I looked “exotic.” Like what does that even mean?

[maserati]

I’m german and black and I have never been asked this question “what are you?” I’ve been asked “what is your ethnic background?”

[thestabbedcoathanger]

I have also been asked this "What are you?" And I say, "Im mixed." sometimes i joke and say "Im a question mark." I never fully knew what to say, but just picking one race felt wrong. So honestly, I'm me, im mixed, and i dont have to pick a side.

[khristiantoelupe]

I love this. I’m afakasi - half Samoan and half white. These are awkward conversations I have. “You don’t look very Samoan.” “You don’t really look white.” I’m both! And I look fine. Like... I’m fine.

[yani]

I‘m Swiss-Irish—Korean-Japanese

Back then I was 😩, Now I‘m 😇
Always love yourself 🙏 All the best to all biracials

[healingwitholly]

my mother is from Honduras with Indigenous ancestry and my father is from the US with European genes. i was raised around multiple races of people but was only ever asked “what are you” and “where are you from” by white people. i always felt ashamed that i’m only fluent in English (although now i recognize that this is a privilege) when there are more languages i could be speaking with others in. now i am at peace since the only reason that my mom didn’t recognize the value in speaking to me in spanish because she wanted her and her children to belong and (unfortunately) feel safe in our small, conservative, aggressively religious town. it has taken me years to heal wounds of inadequacy and loneliness but i now i know i am beautiful belonging to multiple races and “an outsider.” all of my ancestry makes me differently whole and i will always belong to me.

i see all of the humans in this video as beautiful (i’m biased but even more beautiful than monoracial) with multicolored threads running through them. we are a mosaic, a tapestry. a collection lives and is being built inside of us. as so many of us have maybe similarly felt that we’ve had no ties or roots to any one culture or heritage, we were created to create and foster our own. we are humanS Being. simple as that

[softemily_]

Being half Indian and half white A lot of people would say that I look “Mexican”. I remember one time when I was little of my siblings we were going to the grocery store with my mother who is an white woman and a lady came up to him and asked if you were all adopted