When Brown People are mistaken for “White”

White Passing in Indigenous Communities

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Indigenous people who grew up in Reservation are clearly indigenous but their skin is white and some of them can easily pass for a White person in White contexts.

Even some indigenous people from Urban areas, who grew up outside of the territory and had racial features like their indigenous peers, but were born with white skin talk about this issue of being “White Passing”.

There are White people, who are white. And there are Indigenous people or black people who are people of color and have White passing. White people do not have white-passing, because they are already white.

“White-passing is when someone perceives a BIPOC person (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) as a white person, for whatever reason. Some BIPOC people labeled white-passing are viewed as having more privilege than other individuals in their community.

Historically and today, people have used white-passing to their advantage for safety and opportunities (like education, jobs, or travel access) and uplift others in their community who might not have the space to speak out.” Chelsea Candelario

“Phrases like “You’re not Black, Latinx, etc,” or “You talk so white” have become go-to remarks toward biracial or mixed-raced individuals as a way to question and ignore their Blackness or POC background.” Chelsea Candelario

Or “You are not brown”, but “You look more like Spaniard or European than Indigenous” are harmful and violent towards people of color.

This is a complicated topic that a lot of Natives feel offended with, a lot of indigenous people and black people do not feel comfortable with this term and do not feel it is appropriate to address the fact that there is a big possibility of them having “White privilege” in racialized communities.

Also the word “White” gets scrutinized, what is white? How can a person of color can look “White”?

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Your Native friend is a writer and an artist. She likes to drink coffee with milk and a little brown sugar. Always brown, never white.

She has been traveling for the past 5 years, lived in 4 countries, and had art exhibitions in Indonesia, Mexico, Italy, Argentina, Spain, Chile, and Peru.