Malaika Bhullar no longer lets herself think about ethnicity. A blend of Filipino, Chinese, and Indian, she has Kenyan and U.S. citizenship and speaks English, Swahili, and Korean. Bhullar has never had a one-word answer to describe herself.
“I mean, I’m Asian,” said Bhullar, hesitating, “but it’s formed as a question, not as an answer.”
Coming from a predominantly white middle school to Central High School’s diverse hallways, she saw Central as her chance to blend in.
Yet, four years later, blending in isn’t the same as being known. Frustrated that she still hasn’t found community in a school with almost 30 cultural clubs, the 17-year-old senior has called it quits on trying.
“I could join five or six clubs and still not feel like I had an identity,” she said, “so I’ve put myself on the side.”
Bhullar is just one of many multiracial students at Central and part of the larger, rapidly growing multiracial population in the United States that increased 276% from 2010 to 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Students and administrators have found that creating more inclusive spaces for these individuals to find community is challenging, but it’s also an opportunity for cultural expansion and education.
Central’s student body of around 2,500 students has allowed dozens of culturally diverse clubs to flourish. Yet for many multiracial students, the disconnect between each club is also a dividing factor, pressuring them to feel like they can only be one, or none, of their identities.
For Central sophomore Marquez Browne-Rosario, the divide between his Puerto Rican and Vincentian sides affects his relationship to community and identity.
Even though his middle school and the school where he spent his freshman year were majority Black, Browne-Rosario said there was a lack of Black unity because of the strong divisions that nationality created. As a result, he felt the need to divide his own identity.
“I didn’t feel like both of those worlds mixed,” Browne-Rosario said. Separation of his different identities led to feelings that he was not enough to fully belong to either side.
Now a member of Central’s African American Student Union, Browne-Rosario has encountered more unity, helping him gain confidence in himself. But connecting with his Puerto Rican side is still hard.
For half-Puerto Rican, half-white Rafaela Rodríguez, the desire to embrace her Puerto Rican side is new.
She spent the majority of her life trying to hide any resemblance to her Puerto Rican family, with whom she was not close. But now as a senior, she’s realized that hiding part of her background was also hiding a major part of her identity: her style.
Pride in her bold fashion choices and red hair is a result of learning to love her unique heritage. However, sticking out in the Hispanic and Latino United club still scares her.
Since coming to Central, both Rodríguez and Browne-Rosario have felt the positive impacts of a school that celebrates diversity.
But they have also faced the challenge of being multiracial and struggling to connect with parts of themselves they aren’t as comfortable with.
“Sometimes ‘mixed’ feels embarrassing, because I’m not fully Puerto Rican,” Rodríguez said. “Like getting insecure if my accent is too bad, if I sound too white. And that added pressure if I say I’m Puerto Rican but have ‘white girl hobbies.’”
The pressure to be enough for a cultural club affects many multiracial students.
“If you’re not one or the other, there’s nothing between,” Bhullar said.
One idea, floated by students and school officials, is increasing interactions between clubs to help students feel more comfortable existing “in between.”
Browne-Rosario said he wants to see “cultural bonding without the definition of identity.” Music, culture, and language are ways that he wants to combine his heritages to create his own cultural identity.
“Community makes you feel prideful of where you are from,” he said.
As the multiracial population grows, Assistant Principal Walter Myrick said one step in promoting inclusion is embracing cultural expansion. He sees multiple benefits in facilitating interactions between cultural clubs.
“It’s a waste to be here with so many different cultures and communities and not get to know how they live,” he said.
As a member of the Anti-Defamation League, Myrick focuses on the role education can play in combating hate.
“Having a chance to talk about things that impact my group and your group, maybe find similarities, educate and learn, and challenge stereotypes,” is what Myrick said he envisions.
“Education about others creates more empathetic, inclusive people,” he said.
Students have found bridging and building multiracial communities with emphasis on shared learning can help them find belonging. And Myrick said that promoting interactions between cultures also has the potential to challenge stereotypes and build connections that extend outside of high school.
Browne-Rosario said that viewing culture as an ever-adapting and growing idea allows for identity to be a question that can be explored without having to be justified.
Bhullar, Browne-Rosario, Rodríguez, and Myrick all agreed that Central, like the world, has a long way to go in truly achieving inclusivity for all, but also that the diverse and culturally rich student body at Central makes it a great place to start.
“I’m so happy I came to Central,” said Browne-Rosario. “If I didn’t, I would have never discovered the joy of being ambiguous together. That is prideful and uplifting.”