MESO

I know I never wrote about the People of Color Conference (PoCC) that I attended in December, though I really should have. It was a really meaningful experience, and working with the diversity office in general has really helped me open my eyes to my own prejudices and ignorance as well as that of those around me. My work has also helped me start thinking, at least, about my own racial identity, and what it means to be multiracial in America. My mother is from Thailand and my father is white. Growing up, I didn't fell that different from my friends, who were mostly white, but now that I've been looking back on those years, I've realized that my life was significantly different from that of my peers, and not only because my mother had an accent and trouble pronouncing some English words.

So, I've been doing a lot of thinking about myself, my family, and the world in general. It's been interesting and frustrating in almost equal measure, but that's not what this post is about.

Here at the Academy, as at most high schools, there are a handful of affinity groups. Umoja is for African Americans, Alianza Latina for Hispanics, Asian Student Association is for...well...yeah. I can't remember if my high school had these groups or not, but I do remember hearing about affinity groups in general and thinking that they were stupid. That they only further segregated kids of color from white kids. I understand now the absolute need for affinity groups, and though most of my thinking came from my white-privilege upbringing, some of it came from the fact that I didn't know if I was "Asian enough" to attend the Asian affinity group meetings. I certainly didn't feel all that Asian, so I felt that it would be wrong for me to go. And because of this, I felt as if I had no racial identity.

Enter the PoCC. Each day of the conference, there is a time slot for affinity groups to meet. I was nervous about this at first, but a co-worker who is also half Asian told me that I should come with her to the multiracial affinity group. I had never heard of such a thing! In fact, I had barely ever heard the term "multiracial" or "multiethnic", though those two words describe me perfectly. So, I went. It was amazing to sit there with people from all different backgrounds -half black, half white; half Latina, half black; I even met a girl who was half black, half Thai! Despite the differences of our origins, our stories were the same. I don't feel like I fit into either racial group. I can't speak my mother's native language. I feel out of place among my non-white family. Other people don't understand why I don't understand my father's culture. The list goes on. I couldn't believe that here were people who knew exactly what I was talking about when I shared my frustrations.

Coming back from PoCC, I was determined to get involved with MESO, the fledgling multiracial student organization (MESO stands for Multi Ethnic Student Organization; only slightly more original than the Asian Students Association). With my coworker, the one who suggested I come with her to the multiracial affinity group, I've been helping the co-heads organize meetings and recruit members. It's been a bit difficult, especially since it's the end of the year, but I'm hopeful that this group will really get going. It was so incredible for me to have that venue to talk about what I went through during high school and college; how amazing would be for the kids to be able to talk about those things now, while they're experiencing them!

So, here's a cheer for multiracial people everywhere! Let's hope that we take over the world someday. :)

ciao