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I have now officially vowed to never again call myself Black or African American (God, I hate that term) again. I could say I'm Black and European, or colored (non-white) but I am through saying I'm black and now realize I should never have identified as black.
I'm half Black American, half Italian...okay, my black father was 1/4 Cherokee and 1/8th English, but he's pretty dark. My mother was as Italian as Al Capone. My grand parents were fresh off the boat Italian, from Catania, in Sicily. We had the traditional seven fishes every Christmas and I was fed Italian wine when I was like twelve and my grandfather would play opera records while he worked around his house and I was raised Catholic. My father was black, and I spent a lot of time with my black family too.
Anyway, I was at a bar with some folks the other day and I mentioned that I always wanted to learn Italian, which I never picked up from my relatives and I said I always wanted to know my family's mother tongue. Well, a black guy overheard and gave me the look of death, but didn't say anything. I asked him what his problem was and the SAME F^^^^ fight that I've had numerous times with black people broke out. He said, and I quote, "n^^^^a, you know you ain't no damn Italian! What, you gotta problem being black?"
My chums at the bar were quite loud in their rebuttals, and the outnumbered black fellow made that hiss sound and walked away.
I've gotten this SO DAMN MUCH. Black folks, insisting I call myself black exclusively and ignore the dominate part of my DNA (My mother was all Italian, my father was not all black, hence, genetically, I'm mostly Italian) They give me this reaction of contempt and anger if I so much as acknowledge my other side.
And then, they even seem to get mad at me for the crime of being alive. Some pure black Americans look at me with hatred when they hear me talk. It's like they're afraid I'm going to pollute their Afro-Aryan gene pool, being this brown skinned fellow who has the nerve to speak proper English.
And spare me...SPARE ME that "one drop rule" crap. That was the law once upon a time, yes...but it was also against the law for anyone with black blood to learn to read, does that mean I should never go back to school? How much should I care about what some long dead bigot thinks?
Or, they say "if this was back in the day, you would be enslaved by the white man." Yes...and if I was in Haiti right after the revolution, the blacks would have gladly lopped my head off. If I was in South Africa RIGHT NOW I would be treated like dirt by the black majority who discriminate against the mixed-race coloureds. So, I shouldn't identify with a group that wants to oppress me...unless that group is the blacks, then it's okay if I identify with the oppressor.
And I don't identify as only white either, but the more I think about it...why should I be ashamed for having white blood? If I called myself black exclusively, as many mulattoes do, wouldn't being ashamed being exactly what I'm doing? I mean, if a mixed person said "I'm white" despite being light brown, people would think they're ashamed of having black blood. But, if they say "I'm black," no one thinks it's because they're ashamed of having white blood.
And the funniest part is, I've met so many people from Italy, and none of them had a problem with me being black and Italian. I say I want to learn Italian, and they think I mean right then and there and they try to teach me some words. They never seem to have any problem with a mixed race Italian...but "my brothers?" The minute they find out I am mixed and am not afraid to admit it they have problems.
As none-PC as it may be to say, in my lifetime I have found that blacks are twice as racist as whites when it comes to this. I got beaten up as a kid by the pure blacks who hated me for having lighter skin and clearly Italian features (strong cheek bones, dark under my eyes, shorter statue etc)
It was never a member of the KKK or a skinhead who chased me around calling me the "N word" and trying to kick my butt, it was the black kids who did just that. Plus, I'm not culturally ghetto, so it was even worse...
...look at it this way: a white kid wearing a T-shirt of a heavy metal band walks past some black ghetto kids. They wouldn't do anything...but a mulatto kid in a T-shirt for a heavy metal band walks past the same black thugs, and they are going to attack him for listening to "white music." I know because I WAS that mulatto kid.
I mean, is a white guy betraying his race if he prefers rap to blue grass music? No, and hardly no white people would give him any problems. But if a person of black origin, part or full, hates rap and likes heavy metal and rock? All of a sudden he's "acting white" and he's a traitor.
First of all, listening to Jimmy Hendrix as opposed to Kenya West is hardly "acting white" and second, I am half white! So I should never listen to music or experience the culture of the other side of me? (again, I should be ashamed of having white blood, and no one has a problem with that)
And yes, I hate rap...if no one is singing, playing an instrument, or composing, IT ISN'T MUSIC! I would much rather listen to rock, metal, electronic music or classical. But because that is not "orthodox Negroid thought" and it is bad enough that I am breathing while mixed and not a pure Afro-Aryan, I am a target for so many racist blacks.
I have nothing against black people, or my black blood. But, if I call myself black, I would be betraying my other half and embracing a people who so often have issues with my very existence. Hence, I am half-black, and will never call myself black again...
...and for the record, Obama isn't black either. But he lived a sheltered upperclass lifestyle in Hawaii and didn't go through what I went through on the East Coast, so he's a different story. He's also a failure of a president who should be a one term wonder...but that's another thing blacks would attack me for saying out loud.
Hey, VictorianPunk. Sad that you have to choose at all, you know? Why can't you just check the "all of the above" box on the census, y'know what I mean?
You could call yourself Cherokee, and provide an opp'ty to educate people about how Native American and Black history overlap. You sound very cosmopolitan, really--you should learn Italian. It's not hard. Sounds like you'd get a lot of satisfaction out of it. I might also suggest you try hanging out at pow-wows, you'll see other Black Indians.
OK, I have a story to beat your stories. Ready? Can't believe it? Well, fasten your seat belt!
There was a student at the university where I worked as an academic adviser. She looked Black. But she wasn't. Here's the story she told me, after she came to my office, as a last resort.
She entered university at 17, and immediately went to the Minority advising office, only it wasn't called that, I forget what it was called. She first went up to a Black adviser (or maybe that adviser chose her), and she explained that she wasn't African American, she was aboriginal Vietnamese (!!) The adviser angrily accused her of not wanting to be Black, and was rude. So she went to the Asian adviser, and tried to explain where she's from, by this time she was nervous and a little upset, so maybe she wasn't too coherent. The Asian adviser said in a nasty tone of voice, "Don't you even know what you ARE??!"
So this poor girl ran out of that advising office, and decided to take her chances with a "white" adviser, she decided to go to the office of her area of study, she wanted to declare a Russian major. Well, that adviser happened to be me, and I happen to be "Ms. Indigenous People R Us", I've always been into other cultures, Native peoples and the attendant political issues.
So into my office comes what appears to be a young Black student, and we sit down, I give her all the info about the program of study, and so forth, we're talking, and suddenly she blurts out, "I'm aboriginal Vietnamese!" And I go, WHOA!! "That is THE. COOLEST. ETHNICITY I've ever heard of!! NOBODY can out-unique YOU!" And she was so relieved, poor thing, that's when she spilled the rest of the story, what she'd been through that day.
She went on to be one of our best students, lived in our language dorm and was in a leadership position there, and did great. Her dad was a Vietnam vet (Black), and he'd found her in an orphanage when he was there, and adopted her. I was so fascinated by her story, I researched her people, and over the years I asked Vietnam vets if they knew about the Montagnards, the Hill People, and they've all said yeah, discovering those tribes was the best part of their tour of duty in the war, it was fascinating for them.
Celebrate who you are, victorianpunk, and don't let anyone get in your way of that celebration. My firm belief is that ethnic and cultural diversity is at the same time humanity's major stumbling block, but also the potential path to humanity's survival in the coming environmental, political and economic crisis. Ethnic diversity can save the world, if people would only open their hearts to listen to what the world's peoples have to say, and to study their ways. Keep on keepin' on!
Why is ebonics being recognized as the correct way of speaking by some school districts?
This is a misunderstanding of the ebonics program. The point is to recognize the way students in those schools speak without using pejorative terms like "dialect". The first point is to not put students down for the way they speak. The next point is presenting "standard" English as a second language, one that the students need to learn to "translate" Ebonics into, in order to gain fluency, competency, in the language that will get them jobs and success in mainstream life. "Ebonics" and what used to be called "standard English" are presented as two "languages" on an equal footing. Neither is held above the other. This method works. Students appreciate having their home language validated, and enjoy "translating" into the other language as if it were a foreign language. They learn better that way, they have more enthusiasm for what otherwise would be dry grammar classes that send the subtle message that their home language isn't good enough, and therefore they aren't good enough.
Who cares, no matter what you are people are going to hate, just live your life. Whoever gave you trouble have more trouble with themselves then with you.
This is a misunderstanding of the ebonics program. The point is to recognize the way students in those schools speak without using pejorative terms like "dialect". The first point is to not put students down for the way they speak. The next point is presenting "standard" English as a second language, one that the students need to learn to "translate" Ebonics into, in order to gain fluency, competency, in the language that will get them jobs and success in mainstream life. "Ebonics" and what used to be called "standard English" are presented as two "languages" on an equal footing. Neither is held above the other. This method works. Students appreciate having their home language validated, and enjoy "translating" into the other language as if it were a foreign language. They learn better that way, they have more enthusiasm for what otherwise would be dry grammar classes that send the subtle message that their home language isn't good enough, and therefore they aren't good enough.
Who cares, as long as it works? It's taking potential highschool or college dropouts, or potential unemployed people, and giving them a strong basis for success. Would you prefer they never acquire competency in "white dialect", lose any further educational or employment prospects, and come rob your house? So many people on this forum are so negative, without having any idea of the implications of what they're saying. This program is giving kids a strong shot at a good future.
Who cares, as long as it works? It's taking potential highschool or college dropouts, or potential unemployed people, and giving them a strong basis for success. Would you prefer they never acquire competency in "white dialect", lose any further educational or employment prospects, and come rob your house? So many people on this forum are so negative, without having any idea of the implications of what they're saying. This program is giving kids a strong shot at a good future.
You are trying to reason with a brick. I understand the logic behind the program, but I look at the reason that this came about. Blacks in this country cannot trace their native tongue neverless their culture so what they did was create their own. Unfortunately, urban slang is not accepted in mainstream society. There are people who took notice of this and used it to keep inner city kids revalent by giving them a chance of being biligual and accepted into main stream educational systems.
My nephew is half black and half white/mexican and our collective families love this lil tyke. I guess this is why I cannot understand why you are going through so much grief while your sister does not. Could it be your attitude or Napoleon syndrome that is the real probelm? You really need to talk to your family and like Ilovethecommunity said you should not attack the whole black community over things that a few in your own family has done. If you would travel outside of that area you being tormented in you would find that the world is a much different place
This is a misunderstanding of the ebonics program. The point is to recognize the way students in those schools speak without using pejorative terms like "dialect". The first point is to not put students down for the way they speak. The next point is presenting "standard" English as a second language, one that the students need to learn to "translate" Ebonics into, in order to gain fluency, competency, in the language that will get them jobs and success in mainstream life. "Ebonics" and what used to be called "standard English" are presented as two "languages" on an equal footing. Neither is held above the other. This method works. Students appreciate having their home language validated, and enjoy "translating" into the other language as if it were a foreign language. They learn better that way, they have more enthusiasm for what otherwise would be dry grammar classes that send the subtle message that their home language isn't good enough, and therefore they aren't good enough.
The funny part is "Ebonics" didn't start in Africa; it was lower class WHITE English of 400 years ago. I'm mostly Irish but the word is my Scots Irish ancestors spoke what would sound like Ebonics. There ain't nothing "African" about it except many Blacks here in the US claim it as "their" own. Speaking proper English WILL help a lot especially for Blacks and dark skin Hispanics. Sounds racist but it is what it is.
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