The news this week was filled with stories about the arrest of Professor Gates, the response of the officer, the response of President Obama and the response of the American public.  People have been jabbering back and forth about whether racial profiling is a “card” used by black people or whether it actually still exists.  I’m not about to weigh in on that here.  This is about finding Ashley, after all.  However, as I spent the weekend walking the streets of Cambridge- blocks from Mr. Gates’ home, as it were- I found that my subconscious was racially profiling every individual I passed.  Why?  Because I was playing my favorite game: Find the Mixed Person!

Many of you may not be familiar with version 1.0 of this game: Find the Black Person.  The autobiographical genius Angela Nissel aptly describes the game in her book “Mixed,” as “…a very popular African American game… It’s mostly played at opera houses, exclusive restaurants (busboys don’t count), watching Nascar races on television, and when you move into a new suburban neighborhood.”  Find the Mixed Person can also be played in those contexts, but there’s the added challenge of knowing how to identify a Mixed Person in the first place.  My siblings and I- being Mixed People ourselves- are always on the look out for hair with that *special* texture, features that look just a deviation or two from the norm, eye colors that are unique when paired with the hair and skin colors… and when we see those traits we get SO EXCITED!  We make eye contact with the spotted MP, we nod, give a slight smile and- without fail- the subject gives us a knowing nod and smile back.  We each make a tally mark on our mental scorecard- mixed person spotted!!!!- and go on with our day, with a bit of a spring in our step knowing that- like aliens- we’re not the only ones out there. 

I bring this up because as I walked around this weekend I realized that throughout my adolescence the thrill of Find the Mixed Person for me has not only been about validation of my racial identity, but also the thrill of potentially one day spotting and finding Ashley.  Get ready for a revelation: A Wish for Ashley is like Find the Mixed Person... on steroids!  Don’t get me wrong, I want to find her because ever since the age of six I have considered her to be a sister, and I have loved and missed her as a sister- not because I'm looking for another tally mark.  But also because, while not conflicted (really, popular media, mixed people are not confused. They just think in more dimensions than you're able to deal with at the moment- catch up, will you?), many Mixed People I know come to understand themselves better by understanding the stories of their families and hybridizing them in a way that is meaningful and personal.

Ashley may be playing Find the Mixed Person too, and if she's anything like my siblings, she's probably pretty good at it.  However, she probably doesn’t have the luxury of debriefing the days’ scorecard with a bunch of others who truly understand what it's like to be asked 'what are you?' on a daily basis and she surely doesn't have a chance to listen to and hybridize the stories that I'm able to with my sisters and brother.  Many of the stories that have helped me better conceptualize my identity are closely tied to my Uncle Will and I just wish she had the opportunity to hear those stories about her dad and figure out what, if anything, they mean to her and her understanding of self.  

So while I don’t advocate racial profiling by any means… for the success of A Wish for Ashley I am, in fact, encouraging you to play my favorite game.  Now I realize many of my helpers may not be Mixed People who can play the game properly (by giving and receiving the secret ‘ah ha! There’s one!’ smile and nod) so for the sake of racial unity and inclusion, I’ll suggest a modification: If you’re walking around and spot a possible Ashley Mixed Person, yell out her first name.  Loud. If she turns around, send her my way.  If it’s my cousin, I’ll owe you forever.  If it’s not, at the very least you can rest easy that you gave this crazed mixed girl a reason to believe she’s not the only strange haired, oddly featured, weirdly eyed person out there…  

With love (and no naivety that we are a post-racial society in the Obama era... ha),
Audra

 


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