Being biracial is a branch of the extensive tree of race that is often overlooked or forgotten about. When you're biracial, you get put into a box by your community as to what you actually are. For Symphonie Crowder, that box that she was crammed into was one that she wasn't so sure about. Symphonie was born to Amy Crowder, a white female, and Paul Crowder, a black male. Little did they know that their child would soon go onto having a identity crisis most of her adolescent life. A study on biracial identity, done by Beth Beth Kleinman-Fleischer, a member of the Department of Educational Psychology at The State University of New Jersey, describes this identity crisis well by saying Multiracial (or biracial) individuals often struggle in terms of their identity as they face societal pressures to choose a single race rather than embrace their multiple backgrounds. They may also feel marginalized by the racial group(s) to which one or both of their parents belong." Belonging to a mostly white community most of her life Symphonie met this struggle on firsthand. "From about 5 years old, I remember feeling different from everyone around me. I was in this school, Rochester at the time, and seeing all these people that were so much different than me. I didn't really understand it. That stuck with me for a really long time." After her parents had a child, they moved Symphonie and her family to Lake Orion Schools, were the amount of diversity shrunk even more. "I was a bit older when I went to Lake Orion, but growing up didn't change the fact that I felt out of place, I think it even got worse by then because you're no longer a child that is kind of blind to what other people look like. This gets said a lot by biracial people I feel like but I was the one who never fit in with the white kids, and never fit in with the black." When asked if this has changed since she has left the school system, she hesitated before giving an answer. "Yes and no, I still feel like I don't belong to a community. Even my extended family seems like I'm not really apart of either one. But I have worked on coming to terms with it and loving myself for who I am. It's a bit easier to ignore it when you're not constantly reminded about it at school." Although Symphonie feels as though she doesn't belong at times, she does have a lot of hope for the future. A research study done by Pew Research Center shows that there is a lot more people that are more than one race than before. "Multiracial adults currently make up 6.9% of the adult American population." And this number continues to grow, as their estimate says that this number may triple by the year 2060. When told about this, she seemed a bit relieved for the future generation of biracial children. "I actually do see a lot more biracial couples and children out there and although they may have to go through what I go through, the fact that there is more of them is so hopeful to me. I hope they find a friend that is biracial and can feel less alone." Diversity has continued to grow and will continue on growing. Being biracial or multiracial can be a very confusing thing for many. For those like Symphonie, it caused a lot of pain growing up. Yet the future seems to shine bright for those like her.
Symphonie Crowder poses with her little sister Maya Crowder. She hopes to inspire her little sister and others who are biracial that are facing the same problems she had to go through.
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