People of Mixed Race Should Be Able to Define Themselves for Themselves

A little over a week ago, we published the article "What it Means to be Mixed Race During the Fight for Black Lives" by Shannon Luders-Manuel, which sparked a lot of discussion and was shared nearly 2,000 times.


Part of the discussion was a heavy critique of Shannon and her words. It included questions and statements such as:

• "Why is she using police brutality as a platform to discuss being mixed race?"
• "She thinks she's better than us by saying she has good hair."
• "So she only wants to claim blackness when black people are brutalized?"
• "You're not mixed, you're black." / "You're not black."
• "Why is this important?"

She shared a video response with For Harriet. Check it out below and if you're interested in reading more of her response to the questions and statements above, check out her blog post "My Response to Critics Regarding My For Harriet Article about Mixed Race Identity."



Shannon adds, "And thanks for listening!"

Photo: YouTube

Deonna Anderson is Junior Editor at For Harriet. Follow her on Twitter @iamDEONNA.