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Also, while I think I could easily pass for African, I think the fact that AAs aren't fully African is clear in their appearance
This is not true. There are many very Black AAs, and what does an African look like? You are aware that not all Africans are even Black? People from Africa can be of any color and they can be mixed as well.
Fully African in appearance is based on ignorant stereotypes.
This is not true. There are many very Black AAs, and what does an African look like? You are aware that not all Africans are even Black? People from Africa can be of any color and they can be mixed as well.
Fully African in appearance is based on ignorant stereotypes.
Well, sure, in North Africa. It's common knowledge that North Africans can be very racially different from sub-Saharan Africans. I'm not sure if you're also including immigrants, such as Afrikaans. Can you show me some evidence of people of predominately sub-Saharan African decent who don't look like 'typical Acricans'?
I'll just add this really great documentary from a few years ago: Black in Latin America | PBS
@amazinmets73 I think you'd like the DNA testing at the end where a brazilian woman who would be called black is actually of majority white european ancestry, DNA is an amazing thing.
And this: Afro-Colombian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4th largest african population in the western hemisphere. It's influence is in every aspect of our culture, Cumbia was originally an African Courting dance, Just look up the city of Buenaventura which is a mostly of African descent population.
Outside of North America racial definitions tend to be different especially in South America and Latin Caribbean, since theres so much mixture and almost everyone has a little something else in there you can't apply the USA's definitions. The British cared more about racial purity/separation and since many Spanish & Portuguese are mixed with North African (Afro-Arab)via the Moors they had no problem with mixing or darker skin.
There are black Colombians in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. Many are quite Sub-Saharan in terms of strong features, I would say more so on average than the black Dominican population in NYC.
Just look at the 2014 Colombian Soccer team, If most NYers saw our black players walking down the street they would think they were African American or default to Dominican.
When I was down in Brazil a few years back most people thought my cousin was Brazilian and when he said he was Colombian they would go "oh yeah" but when I said i'm also Colombian they would look at me puzzled and say "but you're too white to be Colombian" some still wouldn't believe me even when we told them we are related (First Cousins). Their perception of Colombians are darker were as in NY most people think of Colombians as "Lighter".
Outside of North America racial definitions tend to be different especially in South America and Latin Caribbean, since theres so much mixture and almost everyone has a little something else in there you can't apply the USA's definitions. The British cared more about racial purity/separation and since many Spanish & Portuguese are mixed with North African (Afro-Arab)via the Moors they had no problem with mixing or darker skin.
There's a certain amount of fiction here. While there may be many "mixed" race people, the top at the top of South America in terms of money (and those who rule the government) are white. Brazil has never had a Black president, and ironically the US has. In the Latin Caribbean you do have more mixed people with a higher percentage of white than you would in the US (after slavery racial mixing slowed down in the US, it was illegal under the Jim Crow laws). Yes, it's true in Latin America in the 20th century you weren't going to go to jail for miscegenation, unlike in the US where you could go to jail (or worse) until 1969. But this obsession with preventing miscegenation actually got a lot worse long after the British were gone (the US was independent). It had more to do with the politics that went on after the US civil war. After slavery was abolished, certain people in the Southern states were determined to restore a system that would disenfranchise Blacks as much as they possibly could.
But yes, it's a stark difference you'll see in a place like NYC, with the poor and uneducated darker Latinos, as opposed to wealthy white ones who came directly here to study at top universities and then got corporate jobs. So it seems like racial mixing was somehow minimized among the upper classes, which kept themselves disproportionately white (as represented in government, media, business, etc). It was only until the 21st century Brazil decided to do affirmative action and mandate that a certain percentage of students had to be visibly Black (students had to send in their pictures with their applications to prove that they were identifiably Black in order to qualify for an aa admission).
I should also point out in the context of Africa, Black Subsaharan Africans and the whites of North Afric (yes, they call North African Arabs white) hate each other. Islam came to Africa as conquerors, and there's a lot of racism/hatred there today. Even many Black African Muslims do not like Arabs and complain of racism.
Last edited by NyWriterdude; 10-20-2014 at 09:18 PM..
Just look at the 2014 Colombian Soccer team, If most NYers saw our black players walking down the street they would think they were African American or default to Dominican.
When I was down in Brazil a few years back most people thought my cousin was Brazilian and when he said he was Colombian they would go "oh yeah" but when I said i'm also Colombian they would look at me puzzled and say "but you're too white to be Colombian" some still wouldn't believe me even when we told them we are related (First Cousins). Their perception of Colombians are darker were as in NY most people think of Colombians as "Lighter".
People from Paraguay tended to stereotype Blacks as being from Brazil or Colombia. They associated the US more with white people. So different people have different stereotypes about what people in other countries look like.
Well, sure, in North Africa. It's common knowledge that North Africans can be very racially different from sub-Saharan Africans. I'm not sure if you're also including immigrants, such as Afrikaans. Can you show me some evidence of people of predominately sub-Saharan African decent who don't look like 'typical Acricans'?
Yes, I am including immigrants. All over Africa you have Indian, Chinese, Arab, and European immigrants and some of these people have married "native" Africans.
Therefore, you cannot say that you can look at someone from Africa and tell that they are African. It's an ignorant and racist stereotype. I've met Black Africans who are lighter than some Black Americans. There are pitch Black people who are AA, and not all Black Africans (mixed or not) are pitch Black. There are complexion differences among Blacks even when they are not mixed.
And people in the horn of Africa have very caucasian features. Look at Iman and other Somalis. People in Eritrea and Ethiopia often look like this as well.
Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, was Black, but he wasn't pitch Black or even close. Seal, Nigerian singer, if he lost his accent nobody would be able to tell the difference between him and any other Black person in the US.
Well, sure, in North Africa. It's common knowledge that North Africans can be very racially different from sub-Saharan Africans. I'm not sure if you're also including immigrants, such as Afrikaans. Can you show me some evidence of people of predominately sub-Saharan African decent who don't look like 'typical Acricans'?
look at Cape Verdeans vs Ibgos in Nigeria vs Ethiopians. all in SSA but with varying phenotypes
Just look at the 2014 Colombian Soccer team, If most NYers saw our black players walking down the street they would think they were African American or default to Dominican.
When I was down in Brazil a few years back most people thought my cousin was Brazilian and when he said he was Colombian they would go "oh yeah" but when I said i'm also Colombian they would look at me puzzled and say "but you're too white to be Colombian" some still wouldn't believe me even when we told them we are related (First Cousins). Their perception of Colombians are darker were as in NY most people think of Colombians as "Lighter".
Kind of funny someone in Brazil would think that way when Brazilians come in all shapes, colors, and sizes.
Except that every individual human does NOT fend for themselves. Those who operate in tight cliques to defend and advocate for their COLLECTIVE interests will love for you to naively believe that.
Uh, in many ways it does come back to the individual because when situations get real, all you really have is every person/individual for themselves.
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