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Vanessa Williams doesn't fit in this category. Both her parents are Black. Halle Berry does fit into this category. Her mother is White and her father is Black. My mom used to say everyone is polynesian (many races), they just don't know it.
Vanessa Williams is biracial. Both her parents are biracial, thus making her biracial.
Race is a completely fictitious, man made category. You'll read dozens of posts that claim Obama is black because he "looks black" despite the fact that his mother is white. So is color what defines race? If so then many people of southern India would be considered the same race as Obama. Here's the problem however, Jennifer Beales, Rashida Jones and Wentworh Miller all have the same genetic makeup as Obama, so how are they not the same race?
True story; my dad wanted to volunteer so I looked up Meals on Wheels online and told him about it. He liked the idea so I filled out an online application. On it they asked the potential volunteers race (why on earth would it matter?) and it gave many choices or fill in other. I filled in other and typed human.
Then why do people say the "human race" and not the "human species"? What are we a species of? I can live with that though, more then I can this fictitious term known as "race" that seems to have as many different definitions as people you ask. Would you mind weighing in on the Barak Obama, Wentworth Miller, Jennifer Beales and Rashida Jones comment? Thanks
Well, you got me on that one big time because both my parents are bi-racial. I've never thought of myself as bi-racial and never had anyone claim I was. Wow! Okay , my son's father is bi-racial and now you're telling me I'm bi-racial. Does that mean my son is bi-racial? Yes, I guess he is. I'll have to read up on this. How odd.
Well, you got me on that one big time because both my parents are bi-racial. I've never thought of myself as bi-racial and never had anyone claim I was. Wow! Okay , my son's father is bi-racial and now you're telling me I'm bi-racial. Does that mean my son is bi-racial? Yes, I guess he is. I'll have to read up on this. How odd.
I guess it would depend on how you interpret it. That was the main point of this thread... what decides multiracial? It's very complex.
I guess it would depend on how you interpret it. That was the main point of this thread... what decides multiracial? It's very complex.
It's very stupid, is what it is. Look at my post, the 4 people that I listed have the exact same parentage, one black, one white yet most people here would say that they're of a different race. Race is fictitious.
My dad is from Greece. My mom is white, of anglo decent. My wife is Filipino. What race is my 7 month old daughter? See, the whole thing is dumb. Race is fictitious. We are of the human race, plain and simple.
Is there really such a thing as "multiracial" in American society? Do most still subscribe to the "one-drop-rule" as it pertains to those who are mixed?
Take prominent individuals such as Barack Obama, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Williams, Wentworth Miller, etc... how do you perceive them, independent of what they label themselves?
That "one drop" rule doesn't apply anymore.
But Black Americans of multi cultural heritage are never seen as anything other than "black" in the USA.
The obvious reasons like skin color, facial features, and hair texture stand out, and the only thing that matters is DNA anyhow. DNA you can't see, physical features you can.
However you feel comfortable classifying yourself do it.
It persists in Black American society in order to have kinship-culture with other black americans.
I don't like being classified as an "other" but I got a jaywalking ticket a few years ago and the cop checked "other" in the box. Really made me angry.
People in this country need to stop classifying themselves by "race" which is such an antiquated and non-scientific way of classifying human beings.
Superficial people are proud for stupid reasons such as "race". Some people honestly believe that they had something to do with being born on earth in the skin they wear.
Many blacks (and whites, as well) would not accept Obama identifying as white. Racial politics, and what it means to be black in America... all of that has to be taken into consideration. It's not as simple as "Obama is biracial, therefore, he is both black and white."
It's a visual thing, like flourchild stated. Mariah could pass, Barack really couldn't. It's not fair, but what are you going to do?
Simply stop lending credence to such absurdities. I dont have to take irrelevant things into consideration, nobody does.
Obama should be identifying as an American. By identifying as a Black man IMO he is expressing his own racism.
Racism is a tough enough nut to crack without political leaders useing it to get elected. He wont get elected anyway. McCain, as much as he makes me sick, will be the next president. My only regret is that the Republicans put him there instead of Paul given the fact that the Dems are giving the white house away. Hillery never had a chance & Obama just isn't experienced enough in the things that matter. His blackness is irrelevant.
You admit that racial identification is a more superficial thing. That makes sense. It's just interesting because in some cultures, such as Brazil (from what I've been told), Barack Obama could state that he is white, because being "white" is construed as something different there. Likewise, if you tell someone in Ghana that Mariah Carey or Vanessa Williams is black, they'll look at you like you're crazy (figuratively speaking). So it's all relative.
I am 3/8 Cherokee, which is not uncommon where I come from. The remainder is Scottish, Irish and English. I LOOK very Anglo, despite the fact that my sister and brother (who share both the same parents) look much more Cherokee. They can tell people they're almost half Indian, and be believed. I get laughed at, for the same reason that Mick Hucknall would stand out on a reservation. It's very, VERY superficial. I don't look the same as my sister and brother, but biologically, I'm of identical racial makeup. Nobody's buying a milky-skinned, auburn-haired, green-eyed Cherokee, baby.
I think what bugs about that is the fact that people like me, if we try to learn more or pursue our less-evident heritage, are shrugged off as poseurs. I'd like to attend some Indian heritage events, to learn more, but am too self-conscious to look like a silly tourist. My brother or sister could do it, but I can't.
It's not the end of the world, though.
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