If you are half black, why are you labeled black?

soulsinging

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Particularly Barrack Obama. Everyone talks about him being black, but he's just as much white as he is black. What gives?

cos whites have no unifying cultural heritage. which is why i call myself irish and most other white americans do similar things. black implies a particular cultural upbringing. plus, when he was growing up, half meant tainted and was as good as all black. he was never purely white and thus never in the WASP camp.

know1

cornnifer wrote:

Those "white" people have never been called "N****r, so perhaps they shouldn't condemn him for anything.

Well, if I never called him that, can I condemn him for denying his white roots?

soulsinging

qtegirl wrote:

I don't agree. All he'd have to do is look in the mirror and see that he's different. Then the parents would come back with the old "everyone is different and everyone is special" spill. Also, you can't isolate this kid from all of society. He/she will watch TV, movies, MTV and be like "hey, those are the people who look like me!"

perhaps to an extent. but have a conversation with a black man who was raised in a predominantly white suburb. ask about his values and above all listen to his speech. then compare to a white guy who lives in the ghetto, ask about his values and listen to his speech. your environment when being raised has a far greater impact on who you grow up to be than your race.

soulsinging

know1 wrote:

Well, if I never called him that, can I condemn him for denying his white roots?

define white cultural heritage then. what is the common background tying all white americans together? 95% of black people in america share a common cultural background of being brought here in chains to be slaves. the whites came from all over the world for a hundred different reasons. which is why there is no "white pride" becos there is nothing to unite them aside from their skin color. black americans have far more in common than just their skin color and were defined by it from birth. whites do not.

decides2dream

Collin wrote:

Nice sweeping generalisation.

cmon now collin...without those....most of these forums/posts would simply collapse.


as to the initial Q, think it's been well covered. basically, appearances are everything.

cornnifer

know1 wrote:

Well, if I never called him that, can I condemn him for denying his white roots?

No. Until you've "walked a mile ih his shoes" you have no place to condemn him for a damn thing!
Besides, he gives ultimate credit and respect to his mother. He doesn't "deny any root".

know1

cornnifer wrote:

No. Until you've "walked a mile ih his shoes" you have no place to condemn him for a damn thing!
Besides, he gives ultimate credit and respect to his mother. He doesn't "deny any root".

(I'm discussing hypothetically here as I wouldn't label him anything or condemn him of anything).

So why is he considered black?

know1

soulsinging wrote:

define white cultural heritage then. what is the common background tying all white americans together? 95% of black people in america share a common cultural background of being brought here in chains to be slaves. the whites came from all over the world for a hundred different reasons. which is why there is no "white pride" becos there is nothing to unite them aside from their skin color. black americans have far more in common than just their skin color and were defined by it from birth. whites do not.

I don't know. I don't believe in cultural heritage.

My question is why do people who are mixed - and that includes every one of us - have to claim a race?

cornnifer

know1 wrote:

(I'm discussing hypothetically here as I wouldn't label him anything or condemn him of anything).

So why is he considered black?

For the same reason the ethiopian child raised in the white family is. Because, sadly enough, ALOT of people in the country would take one, cursory glance at the man and call him "N****r".

The "Black" gene is stronger than the "white" gene, so as others here have already said quite simply, he looks Black. Also whether you believe in it or not, cultural heritage, not only exists, it is a very powerful thing. Perhaps even more powerful than melanin or hair texture. My guess, (and i'm not sure), is that aside from looking Black, he was probably raised on a Black street. on a Blacl block, in a black neighborhood with a Black CULTURAL background. Its quite simple, and there is absolutely NOTHING wrongwith it.

CorporateWhore

cornnifer wrote:

For the same reason the ethiopian child raised in the white family is. Because, sadly enough, ALOT of people in the country would take one, cursory glance at the man and call him "N****r".

The "Black" gene is stronger than the "white" gene, so as others here have already said quite simply, he looks Black. Also whether you believe in it or not, cultural heritage, not only exists, it is a very powerful thing. Perhaps even more powerful than melanin or hair texture. My guess, (and i'm not sure), is that aside from looking Black, he was probably raised on a Black street. on a Blacl block, in a black neighborhood with a Black CULTURAL background. Its quite simple, and there is absolutely NOTHING wrongwith it.

Dude, i'm not buying this N word bullshit. Only huge hicks would ever call someone that and they are few and far between.

There aren't as many racists out there as you think.

But, there are more in some places that you wouldn't expect like, I don't know, college admissions boards?

know1

cornnifer wrote:

For the same reason the ethiopian child raised in the white family is. Because, sadly enough, ALOT of people in the country would take one, cursory glance at the man and call him "N****r".

The "Black" gene is stronger than the "white" gene, so as others here have already said quite simply, he looks Black. Also whether you believe in it or not, cultural heritage, not only exists, it is a very powerful thing. Perhaps even more powerful than melanin or hair texture. My guess, (and i'm not sure), is that aside from looking Black, he was probably raised on a Black street. on a Blacl block, in a black neighborhood with a Black CULTURAL background. Its quite simple, and there is absolutely NOTHING wrongwith it.

There is nothing wrong with being who you are.

But...I think there is something wrong with labeling yourself or others...especially when that label is inaccurate.

It's time for people on both sides of this to realize that the labels perpetuate the stereotypes. You'll always have the stereotypes if you have the labels.

know1

CorporateWhore wrote:

Dude, i'm not buying this N word bullshit. Only huge hicks would ever call someone that and they are few and far between.

There aren't as many racists out there as you think.

But, there are more in some places that you wouldn't expect like, I don't know, college admissions boards?

I'll agree with that. I think the people who would take one look at him and use that word are a very, very small minority.

cornnifer

know1 wrote:

I'll agree with that. I think the people who would take one look at him and use that word are a very, very small minority.

i'd say you both are VERY naive.

know1

cornnifer wrote:

i'd say you both are VERY naive.

Maybe that goes both ways. I honestly can only remember one or two times in my entire life where someone used that word...and maybe not even that many

(other than rappers, of course)

soulsinging

know1 wrote:

I don't know. I don't believe in cultural heritage.

My question is why do people who are mixed - and that includes every one of us - have to claim a race?

i dont think they do. but if they look more like a black man, they will have spent their whole life being treated as a black man. which would make them identify much more with that cultural heritage than the heritage neutral white upbringing.

have you seen the good sheperd? there's a great quote in there about why you probably do not understand the concept of cultural heritage.

ClimberInOz

cornnifer wrote:

The "Black" gene is stronger than the "white" gene, so as others here have already said quite simply, he looks Black.

By that I assume you mean the gene that affects skin pigmentation? Because after all, that is what we are talking about- the black or white refers to skin pigmentation alone. Everything else is a combination of nature (genetic make up affecting physiological and personality traits that are indapendent of skin pigmentation) and nurture (environmental influences which are not dictated by skin pigmentation).

soulsinging

know1 wrote:

Maybe that goes both ways. I honestly can only remember one or two times in my entire life where someone used that word...and maybe not even that many

(other than rappers, of course)

regardless of whether or not they say, most people think it. or even if they dont think "nigger" they start making assumptions about the person's characteristics based on their looks. that's just human nature. it applies to blacks, mexicans, hicks, dumb blondes. we all form judgments based on people's external appearances. and when the political process is highly dependent upon brief soundbites and video clips, it's going to be an issue.

know1

soulsinging wrote:

regardless of whether or not they say, most people think it. or even if they dont think "nigger" they start making assumptions about the person's characteristics based on their looks. that's just human nature. it applies to blacks, mexicans, hicks, dumb blondes. we all form judgments based on people's external appearances. and when the political process is highly dependent upon brief soundbites and video clips, it's going to be an issue.

OK, now you somehow know what most people are thinking? Yeah right

justam

know1 wrote:

I don't know. It's stupid. I've tried to point that out on this forum before, but people just don't get it.

Also, it's not as simple as half and half. EVERYONE of us is of mixed pedigree. There's no denying it. It's time to lose those labels as they are meaningless. It's time to just start judging people for who they are rather than what their label is.

I notice this strange need to label people whenever I fill out a form that asks about this...

It irks me that there's a slant to these forms...I have the choice of being "Caucasian" or "Non-Caucasian/Hispanic" and it seems strange to me.

What about people like me who are a mixture of Hispanic and Caucasian...WE DON'T EXIST? I have to be called a Non-Caucasian because I'm one quarter Hispanic?

And why is that made to seem like it's a negative thing?!

It burns me up whenever I see that on a form. It seems like the sub-text is "you're white and okay or you're a minority."

It makes me angry.

soulsinging

know1 wrote:

OK, now you somehow know what most people are thinking? Yeah right

pretty much, yeah. have you seen the good sheperd?