Why is it that when someone is biracial
-
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.
-
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).
-
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.
-
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 -
ranmalein — 12 years ago(October 22, 2013 03:44 PM)
But wouldn't they also be asking you why you're not Black, or Asian, or Hispanic?
because white is the "default human" for most people. it's "normal" for them not to be black, asian, hispanic, etc.
Why don't you just tell them you're mix and forget about what the reaction maybe.
because - and that's my point - it's none of their business. they don't know me and don't plan2000 to get to know me, why would it matter to them what race i am?
i have NO problem with acquaintances or friends asking me about my ethnic background. but when that's the first thing they want to know about me, i wonder why that is.
Hmmm where you're from. A lot of people ask that question and it has nothing to do with race.
i speak perfect german, even have a viennese accent, there's no reason to think i'm not from here except my looks, obviously. and that's something that bothers me, too. you can be african, indian, chinese, whatever, and still be a native in your country. that's something these people (the ones who ask strangers these questions) don't really realize quite often.
do you get asked these questions a lot? are you mixed? or a minority in your country?
"Angel Investigation - we hope you're helpless" - Doyle -
ranmalein — 12 years ago(October 23, 2013 01:36 AM)
No, I'm not mixed but I am a minority in my country. And I don't see the problem of a person asking your race/ethnicity even if it's from a stranger.
so do you get that question often by people you just met? before they know anything else? especially your name?
and do you ask people that question often?
I do admit I like leave my identity (including race,gender,religion) anonymous on the internet because people tend to use it against you during an argument. But that's only on the internet.
do you really believe "that's only on the internet"? because most people out there are on the internet as well and would do the same out there if they had the anonymity they have on the internet. it's not that the internet brings the worst out of otherwise good people, it just gives bad people a space to be as much of an beep as they want to be because there's no repercussions. so you can never know if the nice guy who simply asked you where you're from really only asked because he wants to engage in small talk or finds it important that you're not a certain race.
Your entitled to your feelings but I think your sentiment confirms what I've been saying all along. That people are still very confused when it comes to race. Especially on whether or not they should acknowledge it. It's like if you acknowledge race you're a bigot and if you don't acknowledge it you're still bigot.
oh they should acknowledge it. i don't believe in the "colorblind" thing, there's studys showing that these people tend to be the most racist.
but let people themselves decide how important it is to them. by asking this question, it feels like these people can't really see beyond that, and that's where it gets problematic. all i'm saying is, get to know me first. once you know my name and maybe a little more detail about me you can ask me. before any of that, i'll be careful around you.
i'd really like to hear the opinions of some other mixed folks. because i think not-mixed POC might have much different feelings about this, yet i've read about other mixed people on the net who felt similar. being mixed brings it's own difficulties not-mixed poc's probably won't experience.
especially in my case, where i'm not really connected to that side of the family. don't speak the language, visited the country maybe three times as a child, don't live the culture, etc., it can be difficult to be identified by total strangers as a "foreigner" because i don't - and never have - feel that way about myself.
"Angel Investigation - we hope you're helpless" - Doyle -
ranmalein — 12 years ago(October 23, 2013 11:27 AM)
You're entitled to how you feel but I do think it's healthy to have perceptions challenged from time to time.
then maybe you should challenge your own right now
because
No, I don't get ask that question ever but like I said I'm not mixed.
that means you have no idea what it actually feels like to get this question asked on a regular basis. don't assume your assumptions over how it feels are more valid than my own experience. you don't know better than me what it feels like but you talk like you do. my feelings are not up for debate. whether or not people want to judge me based on my answer might be, but i think i'm good enough a judge of character to know what their intentions are when i look them in their eyes when they get the answer.
giving everyone i meet the benefit of the doubt after my experiences, now that would be naive.
Actually, it's very nave to think that people don't act differently on the internet then they normally would in real life.
that's not at all what i said. i agree, they do act differently. but only because they don't hide who they are on the internet.
so i take it you ask this question everytime you run across someone you don't know what race they are?
"Angel Investigation - we hope you're helpless" - Doylb68e