With the outrage following Rachel Dolezal's falsified claims of being African American in 2015, the question of racial identity has been raised. Should we have the right to identify as a different race than the one assigned at birth? And is transracial identity legitimate, or another means of cultural appropriation?
Being transracial is a legitimate identity
Just like being transgender, it is valid for someone to feel as though they identify more with a race different to the one assigned to them at birth.
'Transracial' used to refer to transracial adoption
Before Rachel Dolezal used to term transracial to mean transitioning from one race to another, the word was most commonly associated with transracial adoption.
Transracialism should be rejected as invalid and as cultural appropriation
This newly coined term only gives way to racial frauding, deception and forms of cultural appropriation, which often cause offence to both races involved.
Identifying as transracial is a form of cultural appropriation
Identifying as a different race other than your own is cultural appropriation.
Being transracial cannot compare to being transgender
The argument that transracial people should be accepted because transgender people are is invalid. Transgendered people have experienced hate crime and violence, so it is unfair to compare them to transracial people.
