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I think it's clear to you because it's important to you. The rest of us just see an African American kid when lookig at your pics. We don't live in Brazil where they have a colored designation. Most AA don't use their skin tone to say how Black they are... sigh
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Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
Here's my daughter. I think it's pretty clear that she's biracial - unless of course you apply the old school, racist "one drop rule."
And here's my son - once again, pretty obvious he's biracial. Of course, to some people, all they can see is "one drop and they're automatically black" - whatever that means.
These people are biracial - and love being biracial. It really doesn't matter to them - or to me - what category some weirdos try to shove them into. They have a firm grasp on their own identity.
Yeah I know - they're good looking kids. I wish I could take all the credit but I can only take half.
I think it's clear to you because it's important to you. The rest of us just see an African American kid when lookig at your pics.
That's fine - I'm not going to argue with you about "what" you see when you see pictures of my kids. I can only relate what I've witnessed in real life throughout their lives and by what they tell me, as our own personal experiences. And I've already stated that some people do assume that my kids are "fully black" or "African American" or whatever designation they choose to put them into in their own minds. My point though is that it's more complex than that, and many people quickly realize that when interacting with my family.
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We don't live in Brazil where they have a colored designation. Most AA don't use their skin tone to say how Black they are... sigh
The truth is that many people - people who ARE biracial or multiracial and know that they are, and people who are raised in multi-ethnic homes - do self identify as biracial or multiracial. And I guess others choose to self identify as just one race or another. But that's THEIR choice - not YOUR choice.
My brother is half Korean and half American white guy. He looks sort of Korean and sort of white. Is he biracial? Should he have to "choose" either Asian OR white on some form or to satisfy some people? Or should it be his own choice?
That's fine - I'm not going to argue with you about "what" you see when you see pictures of my kids. I can only relate what I've witnessed in real life throughout their lives and by what they tell me, as our own personal experiences. And I've already stated that some people do assume that my kids are "fully black" or "African American" or whatever designation they choose to put them into in their own minds. My point though is that it's more complex than that, and many people quickly realize that when interacting with my family.
The truth is that many people - people who ARE biracial or multiracial and know that they are, and people who are raised in multi-ethnic homes - do self identify as biracial or multiracial. And I guess others choose to self identify as just one race or another. But that's THEIR choice - not YOUR choice.
My brother is half Korean and half American white guy. He looks sort of Korean and sort of white. Is he biracial? Should he have to "choose" either Asian OR white on some form or to satisfy some people? Or should it be his own choice?
It's going to take time for communities of people that have a very narrow backwards way of thinking to catch up they're stuck in their ways I see a change though as the older one's die off. It will take time.
It's archaic to insist that people choose to identify with EITHER one ethnic group OR the other based solely on the color of their skin.
I agree. If someone is biracial that is how they should be able to identify themselves as. Unfortunately no matter how they see themselves, it will not change the way others see them. If a biracial child looks black, then others will see that person as black. It's not fair but unfortunately it's the reality. It could be that perhaps when you were with your children, because you were a white woman with kids that looked black they immediately understood that the kids were biracial since you are their mother and that's why at school for instance they told you to check both races. Like I mentioned before I've been asked if I'm biracial and I'm not-its common for people to question any brown person-black or biracial-about what their background is because brown people tend to be very diverse in skin tone, features, hair type, etc. I wouldn't automatically assume that people can tell if a child is biracial or black, both get mistaken often.
In any case as I mentioned on another page my cousin looks like he's Mexican and he is black and white. He identifies as black. The girl I went to high school with, who looked middle eastern, but is black and white, identified as black. Nicole Ritchie recently said she was black and as you can tell she does not have a black or brown skin tone. I could go on and on by my point is that it isn't always skin tone that influences how people choose to identify themselves. While skin tone can make or break what you can essentially pass for(for instance very light black and biracial people with European features like the guy in that show Prison Escape, wentworth Miller, could call themselves white) it doesn't necessarily mean that one will claim one race over the other. It really depends on that person and how they see themselves-if they feel more connection with their blackness that is how they may identify.
I think your kids are beautiful and obviously they are just as much a part of you as they are their father.
It's going to take time for communities of people that have a very narrow backwards way of thinking to catch up they're stuck in their ways I see a change though as the older one's die off. It will take time.
We have moved to a very central, hip, part of Portland. We go to a Premier L.A. Fitness. The clientele is almost exclusively Millenial. The kids are nice to look at but the inter-racial dynamics are beyond rigid. Me and mine are the only inter race couple we've seen. Only the staff speak to us when we are together. In the lockers, by herself my wife might have someone chat with her. If I encounter a 'brother' in the lockers a greeting is mandatory. I came into the lockers one day and these two young Caucasian guys started talking about my wife in loud voices. They were challenging me to take them on. I did not. These kids have absorbed all the negative aspects of racial intolerance exhibited by their parents and are ready, willing and able to pass it on to the next generation. I don't see the change you are talking about. We don't have the time it will take. I think it is all going to end very badly.
We have moved to a very central, hip, part of Portland. We go to a Premier L.A. Fitness. The clientele is almost exclusively Millenial. The kids are nice to look at but the inter-racial dynamics are beyond rigid. Me and mine are the only inter race couple we've seen. Only the staff speak to us when we are together. In the lockers, by herself my wife might have someone chat with her. If I encounter a 'brother' in the lockers a greeting is mandatory. I came into the lockers one day and these two young Caucasian guys started talking about my wife in loud voices. They were challenging me to take them on. I did not. These kids have absorbed all the negative aspects of racial intolerance exhibited by their parents and are ready, willing and able to pass it on to the next generation. I don't see the change you are talking about. We don't have the time it will take. I think it is all going to end very badly.
I was referring to more awareness regarding people identifying as biracial/multiracial rather than the old rigid classifications of white/black anyone with any black ancestry was historically considered black, individuals have the right to choose how they idenfy themselves racially.
We have moved to a very central, hip, part of Portland. We go to a Premier L.A. Fitness. The clientele is almost exclusively Millenial. The kids are nice to look at but the inter-racial dynamics are beyond rigid. Me and mine are the only inter race couple we've seen. Only the staff speak to us when we are together. In the lockers, by herself my wife might have someone chat with her. If I encounter a 'brother' in the lockers a greeting is mandatory. I came into the lockers one day and these two young Caucasian guys started talking about my wife in loud voices. They were challenging me to take them on. I did not. These kids have absorbed all the negative aspects of racial intolerance exhibited by their parents and are ready, willing and able to pass it on to the next generation. I don't see the change you are talking about. We don't have the time it will take. I think it is all going to end very badly.
Those are some bad dynamics you describe sorry to hear that.
What are you face palming about. Everything I wrote is 100% reality. People might not like it but its the truth.
It's not the truth, and it's not reality. It is your perception, and it's skewed. Non-black women who date black men are seen as trash by "their community"? Who is "their community"? Because lots of interracial couples live just fine and are accepted in THEIR REAL communities.
Yup, there are some people out there, black and white, who don't like interracial marriages. My white sister has been with her black husband for almost 40 years. I've got some cousins who still don't like that she married a black man, and my brother-in-law has some cousins who still don't like that he married a white woman. La-di-da for them. They've built a life despite the opinions of these peripheral people, and most of the people in their lives don't give a crap one way or the other.
The problem is exactly what you are doing--lumping all the people of one group--in this case an imaginary "community" into a faceless blob that acts and thinks all in one accord, the idea that you created and imagined in YOUR mind. Not much different than "watch out for Black people, they all steal watermelons, you know."
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What are you face palming about. Everything I wrote is 100% reality. People might not like it but its the truth.
