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I think there is also a kind of a "translation problem" here.
When a Brazilian, for example, says he is "branco", what he is trying to say is that he is "light-skinned". The word "branco" here should be translated as "light-skinned", and not "white", because in this context it doesn't have the same meaning that "white" has for Americans.
As I said, Latin Americans don't care about ancestry, and when they're asked to classify people in categories like "black" or "white" they do it based solely on the color of the skin.
So my question to white Latins is if most are mixed, but yet call themselves white, why are they so insulting towards African Americans who might be mixed but call themselves black? They self identify in a way that suits them as do you.
The bold is the bottom line. Coming from backgrounds such as ours, it may seem like there isn't much difference in the identification choices of "White" Latin Americans and "Black/African" Americans. Both deal with the Euro/Afro or Euro/Indio dichotomies similarly and differently. Depends on how you look at it. Both groups (Latinos & AAs), at least on this board, need to let each other be.
The bold is the bottom line. Coming from backgrounds such as ours, it may seem like there isn't much difference in the identification choices of "White" Latin Americans and "Black/African" Americans. Both deal with the Euro/Afro or Euro/Indio dichotomies similarly and differently. Depends on how you look at it. Both groups (Latinos & AAs), at least on this board, need to let each other be.
Word. So true, and at the same time, both Latinos and AAs and other Afrodiasporic groups and mixed race groups of people also need to respect the mixed race identities of people that choose to identify as mixed or otherwise. I can't stand identity police and ppl say that you are not enough of this or that etc. All humans need to let others be. Identity is personal and belongs to the individual. To each their own. Ppl need to respect everyone's identity.
Word. So true, and at the same time, both Latinos and AAs and other Afrodiasporic groups and mixed race groups of people also need to respect the mixed race identities of people that choose to identify as mixed or otherwise. I can't stand identity police and ppl say that you are not enough of this or that etc. All humans need to let others be. Identity is personal and belongs to the individual. To each their own. Ppl need to respect everyone's identity.
I agree with you
I'm an identity police for sure. Damn proud of it. I think people should choose one thing and stick with it. The whole mixed thing shows a lack of commitment.
Latin Americans are just as racist as the USA is. Although each nation has it's own unique cultures and histories. However there is much more percieved racial tension in the USA, even though race is really just a crutch and barrier taking the guise of class.
Latin Americans tend to stress class more than race and racism. Latin America has a great deal of colorism though.
And there is no one drop rule. The USA is just as mixed race if not more, than all of the Latin American nations combined. USA is also racially diverse while at the same time mixed race.
As for the misnomers and terms of African American (AA) and Black, people need to keep in mind that AA and black do NOT mean the same thing.
AAs are an ETHNIC group comprised of mostly multiracially mixed race peoples. AAs can be of any race. Black is more so a sociopolitical term that corresponds to an ethnic like usage in it's semantics. A person is either a member of an ethnicity/ethnic group or NOT. So therefore, one's ethnicity can not be diluted or broken down into fractions. A person never loses membership from an/their ethnic group or ethnicity. You can belong to more than one ethnicity or ethnic group. A person's race or racial admixtures can be broken down into factions or or degrees. So technically most AAs are NOT racially black people. They are all mostly mixed race. Some AAs are racially black, but they make up a minority of the AA ethnic community. And in some cases AAs are and can be white. In fact about 5% of AAs have been found to have absolutely little or NO African ancestry at all. That's because being AA is about a shared experience, having gone through surviving chattel slavery, and surviving Jim Crow and later on the imposition of racist segrationist one droppism and of course the positive uplifting and unifying Civil Rights movement, and thus a unique AA experience.
As for Latin America, if a person is raised in the black community or black culture and is mixed, then they are in fact black and often by choice identify as black because it's what they are raised in or as.
In addition, Afrodescendant and black do NOT mean the same thing.
Here is a controversial topic. Afro-Latinos. Many equate it to Black Latinos. Others see it as Latino Afrodescendientes of all looks. For me, as Latino is an ethnic term, Afro-Latino is such as well. A Latino who has strong African ties in his culture/heritage. Not all Latino Afrodescendientes are Afro-Latino. Many have been completely absorbed by the mainstream. But here is a consideration, many Latinos that are not Afrodescendientes, especially in places like Cuba, adopted African practices, like Santeria, or joining societies like Abakuá and Ékpè. We could argue that many are Afro-Latinos as well. Their culture and identity is definitely Latino with heavy African overtones.
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-08-2014 at 09:38 AM..
Latin Americans are just as racist as the USA is. Although each nation has it's own unique cultures and histories. However there is much more percieved racial tension in the USA, even though race is really just a crutch and barrier taking the guise of class.
Latin Americans tend to stress class more than race and racism.
And there is no one drop rule. The USA is just as mixed race if not more, than all of the Latin American nations combined. USA is also racially diverse while at the same time mixed race.
As for the misnomer and terms of African American (AA) and Black, people need to keep in mind that AA and black do NOT mean the same thing.
AAs are an ETHNIC group comprised of mostly multiracially mixed race peoples. AAs can be of any race. Black is more so a sociopolitical term that corresponds to an ethnic like usage in it's semantics. A person is either a member of an ethnicity or NOT. So technically most AAs are NOT racially black people. They are all mostly mixed race. Some AAs are racially black, but they make up a minority of the AA ethnic community. And in some cases AAs are and can be white. In fact about 5% of AAs have been found to have absolutely little or NO African ancestry at all. That's because being AA is about a shared experience, having gone through surviving chattel slavery, and surviving Jim Crow and later on one droppism, and thus a unique AA experience.
As for Latin America, if a person is raised in the black community or black culture and is mixed, then they are in fact black and often by choice identify as black because it's what they are raised in or as.
In addition, Afrodescendant and black do NOT mean the same thing
Wow, so are we just making up stuff as we go along. I've been black my entire life, and I've never heard anything so ridiculous. You claim to be "anti-racist" but you want to further create categories i.e more levels of separation. So in your world, me and my light skinned cousin should be of two totally different races. This is the reason why I really don't dig this whole "mixed" thing. When everyone was black and when everyone was white, people had better unity and sense of community. All this mixed thing does is create isolation in already flimsy communities. In my opinion the whole "mixed" thing does have a major impact on people. Especially when it comes to people with weak personalities and mentalities. People can just use their "mix" card for whatever perceived advantages they think comes with being "mixed" over black.
I'm an identity police for sure. Damn proud of it. I think people should choose one thing and stick with it. The whole mixed thing shows a lack of commitment.
No it doesn't. That's ignorant.
Please, ppl should identify as human being and leave it at that since that's the only race that there is. Humans have not evolved enough to where there are different subhumans or subspecies.
In addition, if we follow your logic, you and others still would complain. For example, an ambiguous mixed race looking person that is mixer that doesn't look like any one particular stereotypical "race" walks among one race of people, that person might get told that they are not white enough or black enough or Asian enough or whatever else enough, which is why mixed often form their own category, because they get reject and hate from both sides.
Among the so called black communities, many may shun or tell the lighter or mixed child that they are not black enough and they often have to prove that they are black enough to others whose blackness is not questioned. So you have to keep in mind that the antagonisms can be mutual and go both ways.
For example, Mariah Carey's father is half Venezuelan and half U.S. American. Her paternal Venezuelan grandfather was mixed race ancestral lineage, and her grandmother had mixed ancrstry but was of ethnic African American (and possibly Creole roots) from Alabama. Mariah Carey's father was born and raised in New York. Growing up, Mariah Carey said her grandmother didn't accept her as hers because she came out the whitest of her two other siblings, since Mariah had blonde to dirty blonde hair while her older sister and older brother had darker hair colors. Mariah was shunned as being a sign of infidelity even though she was in fact biologically related. It was simply paranoia of her black identified grandmother feeling that mixed is not really black enough.
Also George Zimmerman is part black so why aren't you and others claiming him as your "brotha" and kin, hmm?
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-08-2014 at 09:32 AM..
Wow, so are we just making up stuff as we go along. I've been black my entire life, and I've never heard anything so ridiculous. You claim to be "anti-racist" but you want to further create categories i.e more levels of separation. So in your world, me and my light skinned cousin should be of two totally different races. This is the reason why I really don't dig this whole "mixed" thing. When everyone was black and when everyone was white, people had better unity and sense of community. All this mixed thing does is create isolation in already flimsy communities. In my opinion the whole "mixed" thing does have a major impact on people. Especially when it comes to people with weak personalities and mentalities. People can just use their "mix" card for whatever perceived advantages they think comes with being "mixed" over black.
One group’s perception of what is “White”, “Black”, “Asian”, “Mixed” whatever might not be anothers. In one culture you might be seen as Black, in another you wouldn’t. The Masses vary by region.
Ultimately, the dichotomy of Black and White introduced in Jim Crow (believe it or not, one droppism and what not was not a part of slavery) has caused a lot of these antagonisms. Forcing people to pick sides.
Yep, no reading comprehension. I told you you had a choice, but that African American choice was influenced by what its cultural parameters for Black are. Jim Crow created a much larger community that identifies as Black as it fused in mixed groups as well. So your choice is still affected by what you see growing up. And again, it is not just you the individual, it is about general trends.
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-08-2014 at 09:26 AM..
Wow, so are we just making up stuff as we go along. I've been black my entire life, and I've never heard anything so ridiculous. You claim to be "anti-racist" but you want to further create categories i.e more levels of separation. So in your world, me and my light skinned cousin should be of two totally different races. This is the reason why I really don't dig this whole "mixed" thing. When everyone was black and when everyone was white, people had better unity and sense of community. All this mixed thing does is create isolation in already flimsy communities. In my opinion the whole "mixed" thing does have a major impact on people. Especially when it comes to people with weak personalities and mentalities. People can just use their "mix" card for whatever perceived advantages they think comes with being "mixed" over black.
You can't have it both ways. So it's obvious that you don't like it when ppl play identity police and police your identity or the identities of people and those close to you.
Why not identify a person by their name and as an individual? And ultimately as long as humanity continues to breakdown race labels and other barriers presented towards us in our way. As long as we continue to break them down. I am a supporter of human self identity. You have no right to tell anyone to identify and neither does anyone have any right to tell you how to identify. Equal opportunism.
Also, if you are against mixed identity, I urge you to not have children with people outside of your race, because that would be counterproductive to your beliefs and spread much afrocentrist clap trap hypocritical and hypocrisy delusion. Halle Berry and Paula Patton are great examples of that, and they are more than half white themselves. IDIOTS. And they have the nerve to denounce and police others identities. Smh. It's just bull****
Then meanwhile they keep on having sex with whites and white men and want sexual access to whites. If many of these black women and black men are so proud to be black why arent they having children with other fellow black people? Can't have it both ways. It's hypocritical.
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-08-2014 at 09:44 AM..
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