Personal Piece
My racial composition is African-American and Irish. My mother is African-American and my father is Irish. I have a very blended family. My sister is from my mother’s previous relationship and is essentially 100% African-American. Being very fair skinned myself, this family dynamic created some social issues. My family often received stares from others from what I assumed to be because of our races. Growing up I had people tell me my mother was not my biological mother because I was so fair skinned. Peers also sometimes told me that I was not “really” black, again because my shade of skin.
Situations like these led to some personal identity issues. I felt that I had to put myself in a box of one race. In doing so I then felt like I had to deny one of my parents. As I grew older, I became more comfortable in my skin and have come to the realization that I do not have to choose one race and can identify as both races. Bryn Mawr College has positively influenced me in this realization. My college experience has exposed me to friends who are similar to me racially and accept my ethnicity. The Bryn Mawr culture and community also supports me in differing from the norm in being a biracial student.
This experience led me to look into research that Bryn Mawr College has conductd in the past. When I found that there was no research, I decided to conduct some research of my own on other Bryn Mawr students and alumna. I was eager to see if Bryn Mawr has supported any other students in their experience being multiracial.