Why is it that when someone is biracial
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andyofne — 9 years ago(May 07, 2016 01:55 PM)
Well, you hit on it towards the end 'race shouldn't matter' but some people will never let it not matter.
Rashida Jones is one of my favorite actresses and before today I didn't know anything about her racial background never thought about it for a second. -
benmasta — 12 years ago(October 08, 2013 10:09 AM)
shows what you know. if ur 3/4 white then you can say ur white but if ur not then you cant.
and who doesnt feel like their life is lacking if they cant go around telling people they are white instead of having a rich biracial culture.
YAY HOMOGENEOUS -
vanity6_2000 — 12 years ago(October 04, 2013 02:19 PM)
Yes you can have Black ancestry and be considered White. Just deny it. Millions call us Indian or Cherokee blood and no one cares. I can tell you so many hiding black relatives but you wouldn't believe it.
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Xcalat3 — 14 years ago(September 01, 2011 10:05 AM)
For the same reason Obama is considered "black" by the general public. People don't care what your origins actually are, it's what you look like at first glance. Halle Berry, Lauren London and Paula Patton all look black. Rashida Jones doesn't.
Personally I don't care what someone wants to call themselves. But whatever you look like at first glance is what most people will perceive you as. Not really a big deal.
Exactly.
When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth -
activista — 12 years ago(May 17, 2013 08:40 PM)
@dbrazee
Do your research,dearit was recently discovered that Obama in fact,does have an African-American ancestor who WAS, in fact, a slave. And his dad was straight-up black Africanhe only had an Arabic middle name, that's all. Also, he's blackwhen you look at him, are you really going to tell me you actually see a person whose race you can't identify? GTFOOH with that BS-he dosen't look like anything BUT a black man, and you know it. Quit thinking that just because someone is part white they're automatically white in you r eyes, because that same person might not even identify themselves as white to begin with, depending on how or when they were raised, or what culture they were exposed to. -
Diamond97 — 12 years ago(November 11, 2013 02:34 PM)
For the record, obama's dad is half black and half arab, his mom is white, so he's only 1/4 black w/no slave history.
Wrong. Obama's dad is from Kenya and is not half black and half arab. His father is just black and his mother is white. Which makes President Obama half white and half black.
However, President Obama does, indeed, have a slave history. But it's on his mother's side. His white mother has black ancestry. -
kyle-sharp — 13 years ago(June 17, 2012 12:38 PM)
I remember reading Halle Berry's biography and she said that her mother (who's white) told her at a young age that people were always going to consider her bl5b4ack so she should grow up thinking of herself that way which is why she's never felt connected to her white heritage even though she's much closer with her mother than her father (who I believe is now dead).
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Tha_Shiznit — 13 years ago(October 02, 2012 03:10 AM)
For the same reason Obama is considered "black" by the general public. People don't care what your origins actually are, it's what you look like at first glance. Halle Berry, Lauren London and Paula Patton all look black. Rashida Jones doesn't.
Personally I don't care what someone wants to call themselves. But whatever you look like at first glance is what most people will perceive you as. Not really a big deal.- I notice, as I'm sure many others have, that as soon as you tell people that you do have (a drop of) white in you they expect you to act different. they forget they grew up with a different experience.
It's all fun and games until someone gets a boner - Daniel Tosh
- I notice, as I'm sure many others have, that as soon as you tell people that you do have (a drop of) white in you they expect you to act different. they forget they grew up with a different experience.
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ranmalein — 12 years ago(October 21, 2013 03:47 PM)
But it does cause a lot of confusion. Especially when people don't seem to recognize certain features of a race/ethnicity.
but what kind of people get "confused" by the fact that some people don't "look" their ethnicity?
i hate when people keep asking "what" you are. i'm mixed (not black in the mix, though) and i get that a lot. "you look like this, you look like that. WHAT are you exactly?" sometimes the first thing people say to me when they meet me. if we know each other, i'll tell them, otherwise i don't see why they should care. i don't deny my heritage or feel ashamed, but i know how most of these people tick. it's not that they're simply interested in you or in genetics, ethnics or whatever. they judge you based on your race.
"Angel Investigation - we hope you're helpless" - Doyle -
ranmalein — 12 years ago(October 22, 2013 02:04 PM)
but why are they so interested in other people's race/ethnicity?
i had a guy in a club who i talked two sentences with ask me "where i'm from". why does he care so much that he's asking that question before he knows my name? (he was gay, so it's not like he was interested in me)
and that wasn't the first time this happened, so no, i'm not willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this, because i've seen their reaction whenever i implied i was just white or when i gave a true answer. when i claim to be white, they look at me all doubtful as if i'm withholding information that's important to their wellbeing. when i tell them my background they look judgy. no, not every person who ever asked me gave me either one of these reactions, obviously, but i'm not giving everyone the benefit of the doubt when maybe 20% didn't react like that and didn't ask that way.
and with judging i don't necessarily mean in a negative way, it's just that they perceive you differently - not necessarily worse than before.
and once they know, they sometimes hold certain expectations to your "ethnicness" and get all confused again when you don't speak any languages besides your mother tongue and english etc.
the guy i wrote about above, when i told him, he said his best friend had the same background and acted like this should be a big deal to me
it's just that when some people ask this question (before they know you! asking an acquaintance or even friend is totally different) they seem to be asking why you're not white and i think i have every right not to be
by the way, this is just my personal experience. it might strongly differ from other people, maybe even depending on the country they live in (i'm from Austria) but maybe you should keep that in mind next time you ask a stranger about their race. they might not perceive that question as postive, open-minded and friendly as you might think.
"Angel Investigation - we hope you're helpless" - Doyle