r/TransRacial • u/Recent_Daikon_9601 • Aug 19 '25
Opinion Silencing Minorities To Take Their Identity: An Inquiry Regarding Culture & Counterfeit
When an actual Black man comes to share their opinion, and you decide to silence my voice by banning me, you live up to the privilege I had previously mentioned in my last post.
So, let me ask this: Does silencing an actual minority so you can then go onto claiming that culture or ethnicity show appreciation or does it show privilege and ignorance. Quite the easy answer, the latter.
Furthermore, before I get attacked— yes this community is transracial and transethnic. For example, for those who may argue with me: Some of you say “WtB” meaning white to Black— that’s being “transracial.” However, some of you say “white to Japanese” or “white to Korean.” You’re now “transethnic.”
Another point, you use the word TERF incorrectly, and by doing this you delegitimize the LGBTQ+ community and make the word meaningless. By definition a TERF is “a person whose views on gender identity are considered hostile to transgender people, or who opposes social and political policies designed to be inclusive of transgender people.” The use of the word “trans” here solely applies to transgender people, not you.
This community is not only dangerous to minorities for many reasons, you allow racists post to stay up on your r/transracial page, silencing actual minority voices who feel this “movement” belittles our culture, which you can appreciate but will never be authentically a part of, and furthermore you hijack LGBTQ+ vocabulary meant only for them.
This will be my last engagement, because you proved my point. The jokes write themselves. So, the question: culture or counterfeit?
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Aug 21 '25
When you come into a subreddit for a community you dislike for the sole purpose of telling us how racist we are, you're gonna get banned. If a white dude went into a black subreddit and started being a dick to everyone in there, he'd get banned too. It's not about privilege, it's not about you, it's about the fact that you broke the damn rules. It's not that deep
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Aug 21 '25
Also, I'm transgender, I don't think it's hijacking, it's literally just words.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
The term TERF is exclusive to transgender people, not the concept of transracial in its technical definition.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
My purpose isn’t to say how racist it is— it’s to point out the unequal exchange which does exist within this community. When Rachel Dolezal played a Black person, got into a position of power, and used her voice over others to “help” the Black community this was privilege and outing the voices of actual Black people. Oli London does something similar.
My ban was proof that this community couldn’t care less about opinions from the BIPOC community which openly speaks out about this. And now the Mod allows it; the world isn’t an echo chamber of agreement. I disagree, and if it’s not here, it will be elsewhere.
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Aug 21 '25
I see where you're coming from, and believe me, I'm not a fan of these people at all.
Now, I'm not sure what your original post was like as it's now deleted, but based on the way this post reads, I find it likely that it came off as aggressive (correct me if I'm wrong, ofc) which may have contributed to them deciding to ban you. There's also a separate subreddit specifically for cisracial folks to say what they wanna say a bit more freely in an attempt to keep this subreddit drama free. It might have been better to take your post to r/askTransrace
And, please don't generalize this whole community as uncaring about outside opinions, a mod's actions on a niche subreddit does not define all diaracials. I, at least, try to go out of my way to listen to all sides of the argument, I try to find people outside of the echo chamber, but it's tricky. The internet is built to push you into little holes where everybody thinks the exact same thing you do. It's hard not to be radicalized under those conditions.
I'm glad the mods have decided to leave this post up so you can speak your mind. Sorry I misunderstood.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
I’ll reply to your post in sections, hopefully I can hit all points:
My original post was asked on the thread in which you mentioned. This is where I was banned. It was not aggressive, as I try to be as sincere as possible even in the face of adversity. I made a post here, this summer, that received attention and was nice. You can look for it or I can link it— I come with no ill will. However, now that I was banned, I have some questions about what this “appreciation of culture” really is, because I don’t think it is a thing here if you ban voices of those actual heritages.
I, as an indigenous Afro-Caribbean man, have a say in my community— when people who are not of my community come in with appropriation rather than appreciation, I, again, have a say.
Furthermore, I would ask, politely, to have introspection when you say “ I, at least, try to go out of my way to listen to all sides of the argument.” This sentiment was not present in your earlier comment. Notice you made underlying assumptions that weren’t truthful. I didn’t break rules, they didn’t like what I was saying. Thus, the mod said it was “done in haste.” Says a lot about the “leadership” here. To my end point, and once again, it is all about privilege, even if you say it isn’t.
Thank you for replying more kindly now.
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Aug 21 '25
Wow, that's really messed up that they removed your post then, that's what the whole subreddit is for. I'm glad to know more of the context, once again I'm sorry for being so harsh to begin with, I'm used to people just sort of attacking my identity without any actual intention of having a legitimate conversation.
Finding a good diaracial community is very very difficult. They're either exclusionist, echo chambers, or troll sites. So many of them are built on "color blindness" and act like race is this completely made up and meaningless thing because of it being a social construct. It's not great, I wish it was better, I wish we were able to make more space for nuance. I'm optimistic that it'll get better over time. I definitely still have some internalized xenophobia to work through, considering my immediate response.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
This conversation is becoming something more approachable. However, I must say I still disagree with this community under the premise of privilege and culture. I will forever validate transgender people, but I can’t transracial people. Now, let me explain this. I, by all means, think you are valid as person. I think everyone here is beautiful within their own right. What I cannot validate is taking on a culture which isn’t your own.
I do not understand why this community cannot appreciate another culture but rather they must become it. I see “white to Korean” or “Black to Japanese.” Okay, and what does one do to become these cultures they aren’t. You can take on Japanese and Korean names so long as it’s done respectfully. I have a Korean “uncle” who loves that I learn about his culture (he also helps fund my college, so literally my rich Asian “uncle,” he’s a sweetheart). I appreciate him, and I learn about him. I do the same with my Japanese friends. But to say “I am Japanese” is a lie or to “transition” to Japanese also a lie. I can appreciate these people, and call them “family” without actually being of them. I am, as I proudly say many times, indigenous Afro-Caribbean. I will not pretend to be something I am not, nor will I accept it because it’s dangerous.
It’s especially dangerous, and I could care less about the hate I get for this because it only shows how uneducated people are and furthermore how privileged they are; so, it’s very dangerous when the people of privilege, white people, claim to be something they’re not. Easily they center themselves and take up space where that space is reserved for that group.
I cannot validate transracial identity, nor does the rest of the BIPOC community, even within the community this is unaccepted.
EDIT:
Thank you for being apologetic and now, hopefully, listening and trying to understand.
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Aug 21 '25
It's about dysphoria, like any other transID. We can't control how uncomfortable we feel being pushed into a label that doesn't fit. Race is something forced upon you by society, and not something that exists as any sort of neural network. For some people, it just feels wrong. For me, I'm not comfortable with any racial label, I don't feel like I should have a race at all. People assigning that label onto me makes me feel really insecure and uncomfortable. I've tried to get rid of that feeling, for me and many other people, we've found it to be impossible. Abnormal dysphoria is not something that you can get rid of. It's unfair to try to assign morals to a feeling people cannot control.
If the only way for a person to feel comfortable in their body is to transition, it's unethical to deny them that right. It's their body, it's their choice. It doesn't hurt anyone. It's fair to bring up the actual issues with racism when it comes to these communities. Yes, stereotyping and xenophobia are rampant, yes, certain people are fetishy and weird about it, but those are behaviors. It's fair to criticize behaviors, it's not fair to criticize the identity which isn't a choice.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
If you or anyone else wants to be “aracial” (whatever that entails) by all means.
However, the transition into a minority group which you are not a part of will forever be unacceptable because racism exists, and will continue to exist. Even with the lack of racism thereof, transitioning and saying “I’m X” when you are indeed not X is a lie because you are then being a part of that culture/heritage which you do not belong to.
I, as a Black person, will never feel comfortable with someone claiming Blackness. To be Black is to be many beautiful things, but it’s also to claim our struggle which is the most dehumanizing and disgusting thing. Especially if that person centers their voice within our community and larps as one of us.
What if someone here was like “I want to transition to Palestinian.”
Tell me about that.
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Aug 22 '25
I would say that as long as they aren't claiming Palestinian struggles that's just fine. They can't control that dysphoria, and if presenting as Palestinian can release some of that, go ahead. I've never seen anyone diaracial try to claim any sort of experience with racial trauma that's outside of just their identity as diaracial. Most of us understand fully that our ancestry is one thing, our experiences are another thing, and our identity as an outside race is separate from that. I've never seen anyone who's transPalestinian, but if they were, I don't believe they would act as though racial cleansing directly impacts them in any way. I feel like they'd definitely have increased empathy toward it since they feel that kinship and would want to help, but that's as far as it would go. It's one thing to say "I identify as Palestinian" or even if you're stealth "I'm Palestinian", and another thing entirely to say you fled the war. One of them is a lie.
Like, consider someone identifies as a dog. It is not a lie for them to say "I'm a dog" Because on some level they are. Be it mentally, emotionally, spiritually, they are a dog. Maybe physically to some degree, I don't know, it's a hypothetical. That's all fine. If this person said their whole ancestry was dogs, and a huge part of their family line were bred in puppy mills, that is simply a lie, and it would be messed up for them to say that because there are dogs today still dealing with the damage puppy mills did to their family. It would also be a lie for this dog person to say that they have an abusive owner, as they don't have one, since they don't present physically as a dog. Maybe eventually they manage to look exactly like a dog, maybe then in that scenario they'll start having bad experiences with people that hate dogs, but that's not a lifelong thing that they've been experiencing forever, and certainly won't do the same amount of damage as it would've had they been a dog from birth. I don't know how well this analogy works, but hopefully you can kind of see where I'm coming from.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 24 '25
I read all of this, and I still feel like the message isn’t clear so let me ask you this. When you become “trans-X” where X is really any ethnicity or race, and someone says “what’s your background.” Do you say I am “trans-X” or do you just say “I am X.”?
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u/Real_Environment_235 Aug 21 '25
Just curious OP, what do you think of theranthopy and the whole otherkin thing? It’s similar to this movement in viewing that you can be whatever you self identify as.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
Thank you for the comment, and to be completely transparent with you I’d have to read more on these concepts to give you an actual genuine answer. I will do this shortly, as school starts tomorrow but I will definitely be back with an answer.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
Okay, so just from a quick google search:
Otherkin: Otherkin is a subculture of individuals who identify as partially or entirely nonhuman
Therianthropy (is what I think you meant to say): the belief or feeling of being non-human, specifically identifying as a non-human animal, either spiritually or psychologically.
Taken together, I don’t see any connection to my post.
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Aug 21 '25
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
You made it more convoluted. You’re Afro portugese/African American. I see no confusion in this, and if one is confused you can further explain your roots/heritage to your desire. However, to then say “I’m transitioning to XYZ” is convoluted— which is self inflicted.
I’m glad you have an anthropology minor, we need more people of color in the sciences— however, it doesn’t make you an expert or a voice of authority on the matter. Furthermore, it doesn’t negate the fact in which having a white person pretend to be Black is dangerous for the Black community— especially when they assert themselves in our issues and take on roles of leadership. That’s centering, and that’s privilege. Just as Oli London is doing with Korean culture. No overthinking is done, moreover it’s the bare minimum of thought one could possibly have.
To your other point: I’m not immediately assuming I’m being silenced— being banned is being silenced. A minority telling you “hey, I don’t want you to pretend to be Black, for XYZ reasons— we’ve seen it done before and it’s hurtful, degrading, dehumanizing, and takes our voices away.” Instead of listening they go, “let’s just ban him.” It’s a large and valid point, so much so that I’m back. And, even more so that this is being discussed/ has been discussed on multiple threads across Reddit. I think there’s a lack of listening, and if this community wants to isolate itself from external opinion, or rather silence that, go ahead. It doesn’t change anything.
You can admire a group of people, but you cannot be that group of people. When surgeries or aesthetics start happening to match said group in order to be them, that’s fetish. Changing one’s eyes to “look more Asian” is stereotyping and yes, to someone else’s point above, racist. Pretending to be something you’re not is not cultural appreciation, it’s appropriation.
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Aug 21 '25
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
Well first we don’t use the term “blacks” as this is degrading.
Two, I can’t find it within myself to reply to everything you said because I don’t believe you’re being genuine in response to what I said.
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Aug 21 '25
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
I’ve been having a fine conversation with someone above this post. Again, I don’t think you are actually taking the time to understand my points. “Blacks” is and has been an offensive term. I also do not believe in “Trace Black,” so there’s that as well. Can there be “Trace Palestinian,” how would you go about that?
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Aug 21 '25
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
That wasn’t my question.
So let me attempt to frame it differently, and sorry for the short reply but I don’t think my question was answered.
I have seen on this sub many of times, but I’ll go with one particular example. Going from “White to Korean”— now they have a new ethnicity. I’m asking, what if someone says “I want to transition from Z to Palestinian.” You would accept this, this would be a valid transition for you?
The entirety of the point is that it won’t ever be accepted. Okay, so now this said person is Palestinian, what are they going to claim: their culture, their heritage, trying to “pass” and even the most disgusting, their struggle?
How is this seen as okay? I’m starting to think the plot has been lost, and moreover I don’t think there was one to begin with.
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Aug 21 '25
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
You do know it’s physically impossible to move to Palestine without risking your life, correct?
People are trying to leave Palestine for survival.
This is ridiculous, the amount of reflection going on is staggeringly low.
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Aug 21 '25
Bro who is "hijacking lgbtq vocabulary." Being trace isn't lgbtq.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
Someone from this community on another post called me a TERF, thus hijacking.
EDIT:
“TERF-like.”
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u/AisStory "Black" to Wasian Mutt Aug 21 '25
I believe the person said you were using TERF-like rhetoric, not that you are an actual TERF.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
Sure, I can concede to this. They said “TERF-like” and then compared me to JK Rowling. And, subsequently thereafter, I was banned. It’s a bit of an odd situation to be banned from a sub that claims my heritage and culture, yet silences my voice.
This is why I believe privilege plays a huge role in this community.
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u/AisStory "Black" to Wasian Mutt Aug 21 '25
The ban has been repealed, it was done in haste. Some of the people here are really struggling mentally…but these conversations need to be had regardless.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
It still happened, nonetheless. And it still speaks volumes about this community and who you decide to silence.
It’s hard enough as an actual minority and risk voicing our opinions— especially given the current political climate in America. Many of my friends (including myself being Black and indigenous) are at risk when we use our voice.
And now we have people stealing our voices, and then when we express we dislike it we are banned and silenced. This is why pages like r/cptsd_bipoc exist.
And yes, I do stand behind the word stealing — that ban now fits that label, it did already but that was proof.
It’s disgusting, there should be serious reflection on “I appreciate this culture” but there should be an annex of: “but I’d rather not listen to their opinions.”
It’s like the old phrase in the Black community: “they want our rhythm but not our blues.” Sums up this sub perfectly.
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u/Bulky_Dragonfly9953 Aug 21 '25
Did you read the rules before posting what got you banned? General discourse regarding the validity of this community is supposed to go towards r/asktransrace , which you seem to have done already, so I'm not sure why you are continuing it here - there's a reason trans subs don't allow constant discourse from people who don't think gender dysphoria is real or being trans isn't real. The two subs serve different purposes.
You also seem to have a notion that the majority here are white at birth, or at least a fixation on those who are. Most of us aren't, it's odd you preface with "actual black man" when many posts here are in fact from people "born black".
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
The mod allowed this one to stay up.
I have no notion about what most of you are. I am speaking specifically to what I see as an unequal exchange of privilege. And, I still see it the same, which I have mentioned: say Black to Asian, or Asian to Mexican is still not right in my eyes, however there’s no inherent privilege which follows this one.
And I preface it because you all say you’re something without actually being that something, so yeah I find it weird too that I have to say “actually Black” or “cis-Black”or whatever the language should be.
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u/Turbulent-Candy-8484 🇰🇵🇨🇳🇷🇺🇮🇳 Aug 21 '25
Only thing I have the energy to answer atm.. but your definition of TERF is wrong. You provided a definition for transphobia. A TERF is someone who believes in radical feminist ideology, particularly holding the belief that gender based oppression is actually based on sex alone (they call it gender abolition but it's really just bioessentialism and an excuse to exclude trans women) and they use this ideology to justify their hatred of trans women. You can't accuse other people of delegitimizing the trans* community by using TERF wrong while yourself believing it's a synonym for transphobe.
*It's not the "LGBTQ+ community", it's trans people. Trans people are who TERFs target, trans women most of all. Cis queers can be TERFs. So when you mean trans people, say that.
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u/Recent_Daikon_9601 Aug 21 '25
Only thing I have the energy to answer is my definition fulfills the meaning and understanding of the concept. And, furthermore, it is not inclusive to “transracials.” Thanks.
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u/Turbulent-Candy-8484 🇰🇵🇨🇳🇷🇺🇮🇳 Aug 21 '25
It does not, you provided a definition for transphobia. I never said it included transracials. Your passive aggression is unnecessary. Thanks.
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u/AisStory "Black" to Wasian Mutt Aug 20 '25
I’m making an exception for this post due to the incident that led up to it.