MIXED IDENTITY MIX-UP

[kjeneen]

Ok, I don't mean this as a knock to anyone, but I wondered how many of you (especially with BSL & longer tresses) are mistaken by strangers as being mixed with some other race due to the length of your hair?

Just curious

 

[MsBoinglicious]

i think that alot of people see long hair and think mixed. its been beat into our minds that "regular" black folk can't grow long hair. so if its long its got to be that {insert any other race besides black here} gene thats granting that long hair.

this is just not black folks that think this way. I once had a white guy ask me if i was mixed. that i had to be, because my hair was "long and not NAPPY and junk". *rolls eyes*

 

[Fine 4s]

some folks think my twist-out styles are my natural wngs. noway...

 

[dlewis]

I get that alot, esp recently. Saturday morning I went to the store with my hair looking like it does in my siggy and several of the workers asked if I was from here, Am I mixed, Am I black? My response is always, if you have to wonder if someone is black or mixed then more than likey they are black. But I am the same lady that's in this store every Saturday morning while you are restocking. I normally have a hat on my head. My husband said they prob didn't reconginze me with the weight loss and huge hair.

 

[kblc06]

I can't wait until my hair gets to hip length so people will think I mixed with east-Indian, Cherokee, & Zimbabwean










J/k (there was a hilariously similar thread to this before). But yes, and it's usually BM who are the most disappointed to find out that I'm not

 

[LaBelleLL]

I'm often mistaken for being mixed or Dominican...not because of my hair length though. Many of the times it has happened, my hair wasn't out or straigtened. I guess I understand the Dominican guess since I'm Haitian. However, for those of you who are being mistaken for something else....maybe it's a few things put together? Who knows.

ETA: In the end, what essentially matters is how you define yourself and to what extent you'll allow others to define you. It's a difficult balance but a healthy one at that.

 

[cutenss]

I get the whole "indian" correlation ALOT! It has gotten so old. I mean get real. I try to be nice about it. I even once had a girl asked me if I was mixed. I said "yea, with n***a and black". erplexed (Sorry if I offended anyone.)

 

[complexsimplicity]

I get the whole "indian" correlation ALOT! It has gotten so old. I mean get real. I try to be nice about it. I even once had a girl asked me if I was mixed. I said "yea, with n***a and black". erplexed (Sorry if I offended anyone.)

This is SOOOO smthg I would say if I get asked this question. lol. hilarious.

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

One of my friends showed a friend my facebook page and I had a picture with my hair styled exactly as it is in my siggy and his friend thought i was mixed (don't know why bc my hair is definitely NOT long). and I'm not light skinned... so idk where he got that idea from.

ETA: I decided to ask my friend why his friend said that and he said (no lie): "my friend thought you were cute and he doesn't find black girls cute so he just assumed you weren't black". WTF?!

 

[nucienuce1]

I think it's rude! I went to the Dominicans with my sister and they kept speaking to me in spanish until finally I told the lady that I am as black as they come. She said sorry. I look black, I think this site is gonna help to change the way black women and their hair are viewed.

 

[luvn_life]

Yep I have gotten that a couple of times when my hair was straightened. I was talking to this girl one time and she interrupted in the middle of my sentence to say are you mixed. I was a little thrown off but I simply replied no I'm just relaxed...

 

[complexsimplicity]

dupe post...

 

[complexsimplicity]

One of my friends showed a friend my facebook page and I had a picture with my hair styled exactly as it is in my siggy and his friend thought i was mixed (don't know why bc my hair is definitely NOT long). and I'm not light skinned... so idk where he got that idea from.

ETA: I decided to ask my friend why his friend said that and he said (no lie): "my friend thought you were cute and he doesn't find black girls cute so he just assumed you weren't black". WTF?!

Aww hell to the naw! Seriously? That irked my nerve smthg fierce. That bastard...

 

[Vshanell]

People look at me like I've grown another head when I tell them no.

I was in this one store where there were a lot of really young guys and girls working and one of the guys asked me what was I mixed with and I said nothing......the whole group got quiet. I was embarassed because no one knew what to say next, lol.

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

People look at me like I've grown another head when I tell them no.

I was in this one store where there were a lot of really young guys and girls working and one of the guys asked me what was I mixed with and I said nothing......the whole group got quiet. I was embarassed because no one knew what to say next, lol.

Yup i guess the best thing to do is ignore them. I'm good at ignoring people (ask all the guys i shot down at the club this weekend lol)

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

Aww hell to the naw! Seriously? That irked my nerve smthg fierce. That bastard...

Yup he does not like black girls but since i looked cute that day, he liked me and just assumed that i could not, in any way, be black because then his false reality would be shot to hell because now he likes a black girl... (alot of "becauses" in there - where's lil sparkle to correct me?!)

i asked him was he serious and he said that his friend insisted to him that i was mixed and just didn't want to tell them.

 

[CurlyMe08]

Well I am mixed with black and white, but it is a HUGE misconception to beleive that mixed girls= long beautiful hair! I have cousins who are mixed like me and have trouble with length retention and to be honest although we are mixed we all have various textures of hair. So it is best to give people their props for their flowing strands and show off their glory!

 

[unalteredone]

IDK, my hair has been between NL and APL my entire life, and only SL as an adult, and there have been a few occasions when people have asked if i'm mixed. I'm not really particularly light, but i do think that i have some "european" features so i can see where people would get it from maybe. I think most of the time the length of the hair isnt what makes people think you are mixed, it's the texture. I think that most people assume that black-looking people with 3b/3c hair and looser textures are mixed with something, especially if they have light-medium skin. I'll admit, sometimes I make that assumption too, not as much now as i did before LHCF, but i don't think i had ever thought about the variety of textures possible for black people.

 

[*Muffin*]

A lot of people I come in contact with think I'm mixed, and my hair length (which is only APL) seems to seal the deal for them. For instance, this fourth of July I was with my relatives and one of my little cousin's looked at me and said "she look like she mixed!" really loud and I was embarrassed . Then one of my aunt's proceeded to say "You know her momma's side got those white folks in it". I definitely think my hair had a lot to do with that.

 

[exoticmommie]

I can't wait until my hair gets to hip length so people will think I mixed with east-Indian, Cherokee, & Zimbabwean










J/k (there was a hilariously similar thread to this before). But yes, and it's usually BM who are the most disappointed to find out that I'm not

stupid men!

 

[complexsimplicity]

I can't wait until my hair gets to hip length so people will think I mixed with east-Indian, Cherokee, & Zimbabwean










J/k (there was a hilariously similar thread to this before). But yes, and it's usually BM who are the most disappointed to find out that I'm not

See this trips me out. A mixed girl with long hair comes a dime a dozen. You'd think they'd be more fascinated with a "regular" black girl with long hair since it seems so rare. I guess they just want to seem more exotic themselves if they're attached to a mixed girl.

 

[lilsparkle825]

Yup he does not like black girls but since i looked cute that day, he liked me and just assumed that i could not, in any way, be black because then his false reality would be shot to hell because now he likes a black girl... (alot of "becauses" in there - where's lil sparkle to correct me?!)

i asked him was he serious and he said that his friend insisted to him that i was mixed and just didn't want to tell them.

LMFAO!! I was thinking about the fact that it's a run-on more than anything.

Let me not say anything about being light skinned and getting this question every other day before this thread gets ugly. But that is one thing I dread about my family -- when I am BSL they will still think their hair can't grow because we are different shades of black.

 

[that_1_grrrl]

I hear people complain a lot about Latin@s talking to them in Spanish. I always wonder why everybody sees it as an insult. We come in all colors, so Latin@s sometimes assume people are Latin@ when they're not. I always wonder why people think it's a bad thing.

I think it's rude! I went to the Dominicans with my sister and they kept speaking to me in spanish until finally I told the lady that I am as black as they come. She said sorry. I look black, I think this site is gonna help to change the way black women and their hair are viewed.

 

[ceebee3]

I get asked sometimes and I just say "no I'm original". They never know what to say after that.

Also I don't find it rude when people speak other languages to me. Most people of color in the world don't speak English anyway.

 

[WantNatural]

I've gotten it my entire life, and it has nothing to do with my hair. I have hazel/green eyes and brown/auburn hair, so I was always told that I was mixed, and when I said I wasn't, of course my eyes were contacts and my hair was colored. Neither is true. Even when my hair was super short - forget it, especially right after a fresh relaxer! It's amazing to me how as black people in this country (and not just this country) we refuse to accept that we are all mixed to some extent, and really, who cares? As black people we should understand enough about our heritage to know that our genes are a combination of more colors and nationalities than we can conceive of. It's just sad that we think all black people should look/act/speak/think the same way.

Okay, I'm off my soap box now!

 

[Aviah]

I hate the fact that I am of mixed heritage and people attribute that to my hair growth/length. When I tried to tell some individuals its nothing to do with that, they kinda discredit the info, because "I'm not full black" . Of course I love my heritage and my hair but its annoying when they think your hair is "just like that" and they cannot do the same.
Mentality is at least 50% of the journey.

 

[Nayna]

I get that sometimes, and when I tell them I'm 100% African and that my parents were both born and raised in Ghana they look at me like I'm crazy. A lot of times people don't open their damn ears and mistake Ghana with Guyana and then imply that I have some Indian going on. That's when I have to remind them that Guyana is in South America and not Africa. I know some people that I've corrected but still hold on to that. It seems sometimes people just want to make excuses for others having long hair.

Even some of my cousins call me Spanish, or they try and point out stuff, like "oh ur grandfather on ur moms side is light, maybe he was mixed." I don't even get into a debate with them anymore.

 

[twinkletoes17]

I'm only APL and I get that often. Fellow Nigerians won't believe me when I say I'm 100% Nigerian (as in, the first one in my family born here) until they see both of my parents o.o

I think the wildest one I got was when someone asked "Which tribe are you from?"

...

As in Native American tribe.

 

[Jenn22588]

I get asked what I am all the time. My hair has never been longer than SL when relaxed. I think for me its because of my skin color. I had a boss at one job that was the same complexion and she was half white and black. She assumed I was and said something about "like us". I said "us?" She said "yeah mixed people". Both my parents are medium-dark skinned. She was embarrassed for assuming in front of a room full of people white and black.

My insurance agent's assistant always says my mom was sleeping with the milk man every time I see her. Luckily she's known me my whole life so I'm not offended.

Sometimes I tell people my great-grandmother's grandfather was white, way back in slave days (which is true). That shuts them up. But I usually get Jamaican, puerto rican, or dominican. I know puerto ricans that look like me and I've had people talk in spanish to me too.

 

[song_of_serenity]

yeah. When my hair hit the apl/past apl length, SUDDENLY, to people I've known for YEARS tell me I "must be mixed with something" *eyeroll*

I'm also transitioning an constantly get told I'm able to do that because I have "that kind of hair." oh please! Nappy as they come and length is just from care. PSH