#ethinicity

The Kalash people are a Pakistani ethnoreligious group. Having a population of only around 3500, they are one of the smallest ethnic groups in Pakistan.

Where do the Kalash people live?

The Kalash people live in the Kalasha valleys of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, bordering the Afghan province of Nuristan. The Nuristanis of that region are considered to be ethnically and culturally related to the Kalash.

Who are the Kalash people descended from?

The Kalash people believe themselves to be descended from Alexander the Great's troops. Some genetic evidence however, claims the contrary (while some affirms it). Other scientists claim that the Kalash people are purely South Asian.

How do the Kalash people identify religiously?

Roughly half of the Kalash people are mostly muslim, after historically being forcibly converted as result of Abdul Rahman Khan's rule. The rest are mostly practicioners of the polytheistic, animist Kalash religion

Kalash celebrations / Chilam Joshi

The Kalash people have three main festivals, listed and described below:

Chilam Joshi

Chilam Joshi (also called "milk day" or "yogurt drink day"). During Chilam Joshi, men and women meet in hopes of finding a spouse. This festival is celebrated with drums and dancing. In 2022, this festival was celebrated from 14 May - 18 May.

2. Uchau

Uchau is celebrated during summer to "thank nature for blessing [the Kalash people] with the harvest season". This festival will be celebrated in 2022 from August 20th to August 24th.

3. Chawmos

During this festival, the Kalash people chant to the Balmain spirit of the Kalash religion. The Kalash people feast, up until the community elders declare the new year. Once they have declared the new year, boys and girls divide and make a bonfire. In 2022, this festival will be celebrated from 16 December to 22 December.

Kalash Clothing

Kalash clothing is very vibrant, often characterized by it's bright designs on dark fabric.

Yeah but it’s different.

Based on my research of I-am-also-half-Asian-and-grew-up-in-a-mostly-white-area, I don’t feel the “same” as my peers and neighbors; there is a difference in the way I live my life and see things and think of myself and others. I don’t think of myself as white, I think of myself as Asian.

It’s hard to explain if you haven’t experienced it, but it probably has something to do with majority culture vs minority culture? Not really in an “us vs them” kind of way, but more like a difference in customs. Being half white doesn’t make much of a difference or impact on my life because I grew up around white people (in my case it’s more complicated because of where I went to school but that’s not relevant right now), but being half Asian in the same scenario DOES.

I feel like a lot of multiracial kids and people (and probably later gen immigrants too) feel like this because there’s a sort of split identity. You don’t “belong” with any group. You are unique, made of unique experiences of culture and environment that mixes your ethnic backgrounds so you have knowledge of all of the pieces but can also see them in context of your other parts.

Okay, another sensitive question 😌. Before I answer this, I should tell you few things. 

First, I come from a rather monoethnic island (not country, yet) compared with the US and most Europe countries I believe. Though there are more and more people from different countries come to Taiwan, and there are native Taiwanese as well, our education lacks the ethnic issues part to a terrible level. So please pardon me if I make any mistakes, and correct me if you may.

And second, I know absolutely nothing about Romani people or Latinos, and I don’t know how they are and how people viewed them in the US. So I can only answer this with a vague and definitely incorrect image.

Last, what I say is 100% personal. It’s nothing about Taiwanese people or Asians. I don’t represent anyone but myself.

Sorry if I’m being neurotic, Tumblr can be scary sometimes.

Back to the question, I think you can read this and this first. I agree with them mostly.

Romani Dick: Yes, it’s canon. But by who? Devin Grayson! ( we meet again!)  How she wrote Dick and his heritage is totally not okay, but it doesn’t mean it should be erased for good ( Though to me there is no problem if someone want to write Dick as a white in their fics or arts), I saw that DC is bring it back since N52 and Rebirth, it can be a good thing if the writers are willing to do their homework and write his Romani traits properly, not just using it as a bait or something. ( I hearty doubt them) 

Latino Jason: I really have no idea where does this come from, and I don’t know why people are into it. In my mind Jason has been clearly white all the time ( redheaed, pale, get burnt and freckles easily), I would rather headcanon he got Irish heritage than Hispanic. And as the second post above said, I don’t think it’s a good way to show you’re an ally by headcanoning characters’ ethnicity or gender. For example, a while ago I saw something about Tim being Asian, and I, an Asian, was like 😦🤔🤔???👀🤔❓🙃so very confused. For me it’s 100% unnecessary to make Tim Asian, and I didn’t feel the Support™ from it.

Generally, yes, people can headcanon and write/ draw whatever they like, as long as they know what they’re doing. Hell, there are even fics that Batfamily live in ancient China, being Chinese and having Chinese names, and I enjoyed them very much. Just remember to be responsible to our headcanon/ works, do the research before writing/ drawing if we’re not familiar with the background, not merely using the stereotypes to picture the other groups of people. And the headcanons should show their effects on the characters, if we gonna write it, write it like we mean it. Show the traits on characters’ personality and not just write it in the tags, if not, what’s the meaning then? A headcanon will not just be “ cool”, the creators gotta try hard and make it work.

but she did tell me even to this day she struggles with a sort of identity issue. she asks her husband if she’s black to him and he responds “no you’re mixed”.

it’s always crazy how some mixed people have the issue of choosing as did i.

I was going to make a video on my high school experience. I haven’t spoken about my high school experience at all since I’ve been out of school in 2017. I went to high school in Fort Myers, Florida. I did the IB program at Riverdale. I started freshman year in 2013 and it was actually quite fine. I was actually a little happy for new experiences. There was specific people who I went to middle school who were also at the school. There was one of my close friends since middle school that I knew since middle school. I didn’t have any classes with her which was fine. So fast forward to sophomore year. It was okay but I still felt a lot of pressure being in the program. I did feel a lot of emotions an unhappiness and sadness. Fast forward to junior year it was fine and I truly only had one friend. I did feel a lot of loneliness and I felt isolated. My sister was also at the school but she was a year older and we never had any classes together. Next to senior year my sister graduated already so I was basically alone. During the period of time I was in a bad place in life. I felt a lot of people started to be disrespectful towards me which caused me a lot of stress. The gist of high school was that black men prefer white women over black women. There was essentially people that I felt were targeting me because I was alone but I essentially ignored it.  There was a guy who wouldn’t leave me alone. There were people who would tell my friend taught up that they didn’t like me. I was not popular in high school AT ALL. I was in the middle but I was part of a group of people who were smart. I do have a strong family and my mom used to talk me through things when I would open up to her about what I was going through. After high school I held a job that was stressful and I received the same exact treatment. I was fortunate to have graduated and I’m in a better place in life. To this day there are people in the city who continue to be intentionally disrespectful towards me. The narrative is continually flipped. However, from my experiences I have learned a lot. I’ve learned to be in an environment that puts you in a position to win and heals you. I’ve learned to also keep things private and not to overshare with anyone because your enemies will out you. Do not let anyone assume your sexuality. Do not let anyone assume your ethnicity. Do not let anyone use you. Do not let anyone prey on your weaknesses. Do not let anyone pretend they don’t know you so they can sleep with you. You don’t get to plan my life. I have also learned that anything you do will return back to you in one way or another. It’s really important to have a strong mind and to be in an environment that heals you and helps you grow as a person. Also don’t let anyone play mind games.