Rants, Raves, and Rhetoric v4

Half-Blood

As I have previously written here, I am biracial. One parent is European descent while the other is of African descent. When I was born, I was the first biracial child many had ever seen. Thankfully, it was just the start of a trend, so these days plenty are around for people to notice us.

This morning, I noticed several different book series all with protagonists who are of mixed blood. One even has a character who is half human and half dragon, which ought to be interesting for the parents to explain conception. (For the D&D nerds out there, in AD&D 2nd Edition some dragons could transform into human shape, which is how half-dragons became a thing. I had a few NPCs as a DM who were half-dragons.)

Pretty consistently these half-blood characters found rejection in larger society in not fitting one race or the other. Society wants them to choose. Really, it is a false choice as the characters, like I did, find honoring both is the only real viable path. Rejection of one or the other just leads to painful experiences. The reality is I am neither white nor black and can never be either. So I will always be something in-between. That’s OK.

Well, that’s what I have to explain to some people.

Anyway, fantasy and science fiction novels were a great source of reading about half-anything. Some of my favorites:

  • Spock from Star Trek who was half-human and half-vulcan.
  • Tanis from Dragonlance who was half-human and half-elf.
  • Smash from Xanth who was half-human and half-ogre.

Maybe with these new books I can find a few new favorites.

 


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5 responses to “Half-Blood”

  1. Frances Polk Robson Avatar
    Frances Polk Robson

    In high school, you were one of the most imaginative students I encountered. Being an avid reader, you were in the library a lot and often challenged my mind with your wisdom. You have only matured in this wisdom and I am so proud to call you a friend.

    1. Ezra S F Avatar

      Thanks! You are still my favorite librarian. Of course, you always treated me as a responsible individual rather than a dumb kid. I suspect your influence encouraged my working at the university library as a student.

  2. Ezra S F Avatar

    Hm. Neither Hagrid nor Snape from Harry Potter made the above list. Maybe if I’d had read them as a young adult?

  3. […] ago, I wrote about half-blood characters being role models. I missed one. B-Elanna Torres was half Klingon and half human. I was […]

  4. […] ago, I wrote about half-blood characters being role models. I missed one. B-Elanna Torres was half Klingon and half human. I was […]

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