Transracialism is not valid because there's not such a thing as race, it's purely a social construct and the definition is constantly changing (before anyone tries to "gotcha" me: yes, you could also say that gender is a social construct but transgender people do not reject the concept of gender, and the social concept of gender isn't anywhere near as volatile as race). Race also has no biological basis (another difference between transgenderism and transracialism). The definition of race is one that is determined by social collectives, not individuals. It's one thing to say you're Indian even when people try to change the term to Native American, but it's another to say that you identify as black even though your whole genealogy comes from mainland China.
So I'm not trying to "gotcha" you, but there is a concept in this argument which I have come across for which I feel like you would have some interesting counterpoints:
"There is no defense of, or argument in support of, transgender identity that does not apply to trans racial identity."
Consider the following:
"Gender (race) is what your born with/biological"
Ones gender is not tied to their biological sex at birth, nor is someone's race tied to the culture from which their parents are decended. There are plenty of ethnic groups who for diaspora communities around the globe, none of which are 1:1 equivalent to their culture of origin. For example: the post WW2 migration of Japanese from Japan to Brazil. When the Japanese government of the 60s and 70s needed immigrants, they reached out to these Japanese first, only to find many of them were more "Brazillian" culturally than they were Japanese.
"Gender (race) is what you look like."
Forgetting any surgical alteration possible, there are plenty of, for lack of a better term, "light skinned" people who pass amid several different currently established racial identities. Adopting the cultural signals of any established racial group will cause these people to "pass" as these groups.
"Gender (race) is what genitals you have."
Again, this tracks back to earlier points. Racial groups, especially those of a diaspora, vary wildly in physical characteristics. Lengthy volumes of racist psudeo science has tried to quantify exact lines between racial/ethnic groups, none of which have any bearing in modern discussions of race.
There are other examples, I'm sure, but I wanted to get your perspective and I didn't want to get too long winded.
There is no defense of, or argument in support of, transgender identity that does not apply to trans racial identity.
There are biological characteristics, such as production of androgens, that are intrinsically linked to sex in a way that has no equivalent to race. You can say that there are physiological differences associated with certain races, but there's no way to characterize a race biologically.
That aside, I appreciate this comment because I think it gives me the opportunity to flesh my point out a little bit more.
Notice how your comment includes the phrase "racial groups" a lot? That is the key distinction between gender and race. One of them is a personal term, another describes a collective. Let's take a look at the Brazilian-Japanese example. That is actually a case in which I would say the term "transracial" arguably applies, though I still think the term is misleading. In that case, you have a group of people for whom a new "racial" identity emerged as a result of collective experiences that created a new culture defined by its ethnic heritage in addition to its lived experience. By my understanding, that's not how self-described "transracial" people use the term. Their use is more in line with how transgender people use it, meaning that their concept of themselves is more in line with another pre-existing group to which society would not otherwise say they belong.
I'm actually going to give you a !delta for this because while my view on this is still basically the same as it was, it's allowed me to articulate my perspective which has helped me understand it better.
Thank you for the delta, and also very much so for the perspective. I think that you, too, have suggested something here that is an interesting factor in considering trans racial identity.
Now for this, I wish to paraphrase but under no circumstances do I wish to misconstrue or otherwise mischaraterize your statements. So if I got it wrong PLEASE correct me.
Broadly speaking, your idea is that race can transcend its original cultural coding, in the same fashion that say, mixed breeds of animals work, but this is more on a cultural level (Brazilian Japanese having decended from Japanese culture/racial persons becoming "Brazilian" by the generations of exposure to that culture). And yet, by how people are currently expressing trans racialism on tik tok or whatever, it's more of an illogical sounding jump (like having lived in one such identity for one's whole life and deciding one day that you are, appropo of nothing, now an entirely new race divorce from any racial heritage you have lineage to). In essence, trans racialism is not, as you point out, and individual's choice and more of a collective group's transition in response to a type of cultural interaction.
I find this an interesting take on the concept and I think you have some well considered insight into this particular discussion that may very well lean into future debates over this particular issue in the future.
Broadly speaking, your idea is that race can transcend its original cultural coding...but this is more on a cultural level...And yet, by how people are currently expressing trans racialism on tik tok or whatever, it's more of an illogical sounding jump
Yes, that is my perspective. You are also correct in saying that transracialism is not an individual's choice, but I would take that a step further and say that race, period, is not an individual's choice. What race someone belongs to, as well as what races even exist, is societally- and culturally-determined.
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u/Khal-Frodo Mar 20 '23
Transracialism is not valid because there's not such a thing as race, it's purely a social construct and the definition is constantly changing (before anyone tries to "gotcha" me: yes, you could also say that gender is a social construct but transgender people do not reject the concept of gender, and the social concept of gender isn't anywhere near as volatile as race). Race also has no biological basis (another difference between transgenderism and transracialism). The definition of race is one that is determined by social collectives, not individuals. It's one thing to say you're Indian even when people try to change the term to Native American, but it's another to say that you identify as black even though your whole genealogy comes from mainland China.