Definition

Roberto Santiago discusses his struggles growing up as a multiracial kid in Harlem. His story of not completely fitting in with any one group is similar to that of President Obama, and to many Americans. I would technically be considered multiracial, although I have not compartmentalized my ancestry as well as Joyce from Dreams From My Father (Obama 99). I know the feelings Mr. Santiago mentions; the feelings of bouncing around from group to group. Growing up in predominantly white environments I became the exception to my friends’ perceptions of black- but never the rule. I didn’t fulfill the expectations of a black kid, and therefore I was just an anomaly. The author wonders him being black isn’t enough when he says, “Acting black. Looking black. Being a real black. This debate among us is almost a parody. The fact is that I am black, so why do I need to prove it?” (Santiago 184). I cannot allow others to define what my race requires of me. This is the point Mr. Santiago is trying to make; he is black because he is black, just as much as he is Puerto Rican. We all must define our own lives.

Works Cited

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York, New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004. Print.

“Black and Latino” by Roberto Santiago, from Revelations