Many of our individual dimensions of identity are birthrights, specifically, ethnic, cultural, gender, and racial identities. What do I mean by birthright?

National conversations about Vice President Kamala Harris, a woman of East Indian and Jamaican heritage, are indicative of how easy it is to make assumptions about another person’s intersecting, intercultural, identity—especially if that person is not visibly white. As has been widely communicated, she did not “become” Black a few years ago. Her East Indian and Jamaican heritages are her birthright, and she has never denied this. Appearance and identity are not the same.

My heritage

I was born in an immigrant city in northern Ohio to a Galva, Illinois-born mother of Mexican heritage and to an immigrant father born in Mexico. My heritage is my birthright. It does not change; it is always a part of me. In the U.S., Mexican heritage does not hold the same status as European heritage and because of earned privileges through education and my professional career, I can deny my Mexican heritage. However, I never have because I am proud of this family heritage as well as my U.S.-born identity. Even if I wanted to deny that I am U.S.-born and of Mexican heritage, the reality of who I am would not change. I “became” Mexican-American when I was born.

The Color of Fear

In a powerful DEI-related video, The Color of Fear, a multicultural group of men is meeting in a facilitated group to examine their intersecting gender, ethnic, racial, and professional identities. Emotions are stirred and vulnerabilities are felt and shared. One of the most poignant moments for me in this video was the tearful statement made by Loren, an African American man. He stated calmly but clearly with vulnerability (and I paraphrase)—When I look into the mirror every morning, I see this face. I cannot take it off, it is with me forever. I go to work and this face goes with me and so do the perceptions of others who do not know me. They just see a Black man. Color and other physical attributes every person possesses are immutable, they cannot be changed. Loren was born African American, and it is a permanent essence of his identity and his lived experience. No amount of education or money can change the lived experiences of people of color as ‘other.’

What about your heritage?

Perhaps we can all take a few minutes to examine our historic roots and what this means in the larger context of a multicultural, multiracial United States. The reality is that we are all different and unique human beings, with heritages that enrich our workplaces, schools, and communities where we live. To label Kamala Harris  a DEI hire or to question her multiracial identity is insulting. To have our personal identities questioned does not happen to everyone. How often have you been asked about where you or your family are from?