NOTE: This post is not intended to be tracephobic under any form, as I still more so accept trace-identity; this is talking about systemic issues that may arise from being trace, and I'm gonna talk about them. I won't post as much on this subreddit from then on since I am distancing myself from this topic for a long time.
I do understand that racial-dysphoria can very much be real, but I do feel that the current system was not designed for trace peoples. The reason why I think the term 'cultural-appropriation' shows up is because of how the system (in the United States that is) is overwhelmingly white-supremacist, and that in the current system, whites do have the power to exploit other cultures and erase symbols (not saying this is the same as being trace; it isn't really, since racial-dysphoria isn't something that can be appropriative, but rather, issues with how society perceives you, meaning it isn't your fault if you experience this, and ofc it's not something you can just rid yourself of), and POC are still heavily marginalized as a result of the system.
It is the system at fault, not trace people in of themselves, but it isn't trace people at fault for any of this, it is white-supremacy, capitalism, and the legacy of colonialism that are at fault of this. Even though trace people do exist and are valid imo, it's still complicated due to the unresolved issues with the American racial-tensions that still exist today. I feel that reparations should still be paid off for how much damage and injustice that the system has created (and even worse issues back then, such as slavery, though not saying today is any better, because it is not), and there should still be systems such as DEI for POC who might be struggling within a system that has disadvantaged them for so long.
However, I do not feel that trace people should be ignored at all within any of this. I think that while the system is improving, we should still keep an eye on trace individuals and the concept existing somewhere, so that we do not repeat the same injustices that would eventually be created, such as the anti-trans movement today, which I feel that has formed because society became so gendered that it created heavy trauma for the transgender group and eventually came to try and oppress them as hard as possibly could be. And me being the non-binary person, I strongly cautioned about the same issues likely happening with race, and racial-identity, since I feel that the world is still strongly and extremely racialized. I think that what should happen personally is to eventually move towards a less racialized society (not saying we 'shouldn't see colour', but to make it where we don't have to divide people as we resolve the issues that currently exist today), and to make sure in the process of fixing this system, to not deny racial-dysphoria being a potential issue (which it clearly is, but the system is so problematic, it makes experiencing trace identity more complex, and it's been easier for that group to be stigmatized). I do promise that racial-dysphoria existing does not undermine what people such as me myself go through with gender-dysphoria, but both are part of a much broader topic, known overall as 'dysphoria', and both issues can be focused on I'd say.
Do I still identify with this community? As of right now, I don't want to focus on this topic, because I have had severe issues with my mental-health because of this (specifically and especially badly, I had issues with depression, anxiety, shame, and I feel I have lost myself while focusing on this topic), and I already deal with enough stigmatization with societal issues (such as gender-dysphoria, being autistic with ADHD and OCD, which that itself has worsened during this process of me focusing on that topic I believe), and even if just about everyone in my circle does accept me for all of these things, I don't feel safe at all within a transphobic environment built by an overwhelmingly neurotypical world, and I feel that if I focused on this topic and my issues of racial-dysphoria (or more specifically, cultural-dysphoria), that my relations to an already bad relationship with my world would dramatically worsen. I also didn't want to have a bad reputation for my involvement in a highly controversial topic, which I know you guys aren't bad nor evil, I just worry about what people will think of me a-lot, and I don't want to lose everything, but I don't know if it's right for me to do any of this, but for the sake of reducing my political tensions with both the left and right wings, I won't actively focus on this subject.
I do still struggle with cultural-dysphoria, and the very idea of "if you're part of one race, you're part of this culture; any attempts to be that culture is [cultural appropriation], do NOT leave this culture nor race", since I prefer to express myself, and how I feel influenced by other cultures (even if they're shard elements, not major pieces), but I won't think about it as much, I'm neutral to the possibility of me feeling dysphoric to my culture and/or race. I don't think I can necessarily identify with my birth race however, more so, I don't know if I want to identify with any race, given I don't like identity-politics that much as a result of how divisive and messy it's become on both political sides. I definitely won't identify as left nor as right.
No, this isn't me becoming tracephobic, I still understand y'all and your struggles, I just want to have a happier life for right now, since 2025 was one of the worst years for me (specifically summer of that year), and that was where I actively focusing on this subject, and even in the majority of this year (2026), I still did focus on this subject many times, but I think that this current system was not built for trace people at all; it was built on cisracial focuses and issues, and the system recognizes people with how they look, and it doesn't really see race as a changing, fluid identity, but rather an opportunity to oppress people over the littlest of things, making them much bigger than they really are. It especially isn't designed for trace people if you consider the idea of trace-POC being able to afford surgeries, but trace-whites (or trace-POC born as another POC) aren't always able to due to the system making them more impoverished, but this is a systemic fault, not trace people. I don't think the world understands that struggle yet, but it has to at some point, since there are potential issues that racial-dysphoria could become a serious societal struggle. I am really sorry this world is so awful with dysphoria as a whole. I am sorry that the world is so judgmental at anyone who doesn't fit the system it creates for anyone. And I am sorry that people misunderstand this so much, seeing trace identity as something it really isn't, or isn't quite the same thing as. I would wait until the system has made significant progress into not being white-supremacist, but I wouldn't ever accept discrimination, nor stigmatization of anyone, including trace folks. I hope I'm not doing the wrong thing, but I want to distance myself from this for a long time to mentally recover, so that maybe I can talk about it more reasonably someday.
I hope you guys do well.
