The Mysterious Biracial Baby

[Susa]

Yeah but on a daily basis, you have many more instances where being yourself is more important than how others see you.

[Simone]

well my point is that vin diesel is fine as hell - i'll take him no matter what

[Draigyn]

It is my opinion that for the safety of the child, they should be taught to accept themselves as blacks. Let's be honest, we don't live in a nice world. To a racist, the slightest resemblance to black makes you "just another nig*er". I'm not saying that one should completely cut out their white heritage, but lets be honest...raising the child to believe they are anything other than black will be harmful in the long run. Yes a child *should* have the right to choose, but the problem is that the child will let society choose for them. If they are darker and have faced racism, they will choose black. If they are rich and in a white neighborhood, they will choose white. I have found that the ones who choose white tend to hurt the most when they are faced with racism. There was an article not long ago about a local restaurant who refused to accept three models into a party they booked because upon arrival the restaurant owner discovered that they were black. There was one with white skin, the only thing tying her to black was her hair and surprisingly she was the one most devastated by it. (She stated in the article "Most of my family is Caucasian) This experience obviously propelled her into a spiral of self doubt, and identity crisis.


The tragic milato is a bunch of bull. Tiger Woods isn't the best example. To me, he personifies a self hating Negro. Mariah Carey is full of crap, she claims to be torn however when she's not accepting awards on BET she is clearly associating herself with the white part of her heritage. Other than a rapper or fellow black artist I have never seen a black man staring as Mariah's love interest in one of her videos.

[Kim22]

Vin Diesel looks mixed to me.  He has a yellowing of his skin and when he grows hair, he looks more black.  However, he can be made up to look white.  I don't think he is attractive.

Mariah looked more ethnic in her earlier years then she does now.  She straightens and colors her hair blonde. Still, she can pass for white. I have a hard time buying Mariah's story of her so called conflict growing up "bi-racial." 

I don't know if it is fair to say that black/white people are not "bi-racial", as they are a mixture of two races.  I do believe that society considers a mixed child to be black and that the child should be prepared to deal with being considered a black child.  People classify you by what they see and in most cases, a black/white person has darker skin and appears to be black. 

[DianaPrince]

Vin Diesel looks mixed to me.  He has a yellowing of his skin and when he grows hair, he looks more black.

I wonder if that is why so many BM in IRs, like to shave their head.   Maybe head shaving is equivalent to BW wearing caucasian weaves.

People classify you by what they see and in most cases, a black/white person has darker skin and appears to be black. 

Hmmm....I wonder is most bi-racial folks have skin color closer to Westley Snipes, or to Brad Pitt?

[Legacy]

Tiger Woods isn't the best example. To me, he personifies a self hating Negro.

Pump ya breaks holmes. Why is Tiger a self-hating negro? What, because he doesn't say that he's just black. He clearly acknowledges that he's black along with asian\white.

Again, why would we expect Tiger to deny his mother's lineage?

People like Tiger remind us that although race is a tangible idea, it's still sociopolitical construct with a ton of ambiguity.

Again, because others who probably hate Tiger want to define him one way, doesn't mean he has to accept it. In fact, why would want to accept the definition of those who hate you anyway?

[MsHeartBeat]

Bi-racial is a bunch of shit because of this:  EVERY BLACK PERSON IS MIXED!

I don't know one person who cannot point to some family member that is another race.  That is why there are so many light-skinned Black folks people!  We are mixed up with everything that ever hit the shores of the U.S.  So how much BLACK and how much of whatever else makes you only Bi-racial?  What about all the other genetic mixes down your family line?  Sounds like you are denying them in favor (once again!) of the White side. 

Black folks kill me with this biracial crap.  Yall are NOT biracial. 

White folks, Asian folks, Mexican folks etc. with black men or women having babies are not creating bi-racial children, you are creating light skinned BLACK kids just like the rest of us.  Just another shade of brown holmes.  You are Black and mixed up with bits and pieces of everybody, just like a mutt puppy.  You are just the same and just like the rest of us.

[DianaPrince]

I thought it was understood that "race" is a social construct, and those referred to as BI-racial, are persons born to parents who have been clearly categorized into different races.

[Obsidian]

OK, so if a Pacific-Islander and an Indian (from India) have a child, is that bi-racial? Is it wrong to claim both races? If an Asian and a Hispanic have a child is that bi-racial? 

Well, we're all mixed up so you'd have to say that race simply doesn't exist, because "white" folks have "black" in them too! We all came out of Africa, so hey, everybody's "black".

There's a reason race is classified as a social construction.

[Kim22]

DP,

They tend to have color in between the two extremes, but with features closer to Wesley's.  LOL! 

[DianaPrince]

OK, so if a Pacific-Islander and an Indian (from India) have a child, is that bi-racial? Is it wrong to claim both races? If an Asian and a Hispanic have a child is that bi-racial?

To the extent that the social construct has been defined...there are four braod racial categories that covers the planet..".Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, and Australoid....feel free to look up who fits into each.

Well, we're all mixed up so you'd have to say that race simply doesn't exist, because "white" folks have "black" in them too! We all came out of Africa, so hey, everybody's "black".

There are MANY aspects human reality that are SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS.  Different people have their reasons what which ones they accepts and the ones they feel a need to reject.

There's a reason race is classified as a social construction.

I'm sure there are more than one reason the social construct came to be, not all of them nefarious nor conspiratorial.

I dont see the big deal. 

[Obsidian]

There's a reason race is classified as a social construction.
I'm sure there are more than one reason the social construct came to be, not all of them nefarious nor conspiratorial.

I dont see the big deal.

You completely missed the point, DP. I never suggested that even one reason that race is a social construct is "nefarious or conspiratorial". What I'm getting at is the main reason why it is a "social construct" is because it hasn't got a biological leg to stand on. That's why it's social, not biological.

You're arguing for the sake of arguing here. We were in agreement about race being a social construct. I simply delved further. Now, as far as "Mongoloid, Negroid, etc." those are not current race delineations that one would find on a census form, for instance. When we ask someone what their race is no one responds with any of those anthropological categories anymore (if they ever did). So my question still stands. Which is the "default" race for the mixtures I mentioned? My point is that we probably have little problem calling them either  bi-racial or by what they looked like or even coming up with a word for them. We don't do the same for black mixed with x-race.

Now, I hope that that is clear enough.

[Luna]

Obsidian

I agree with you on this one.
science found out recently that there can be more genetic differences within the same "race" than between "races" meaning the concept of "race" is highly exaggerated and some ooooleeee social structure that some people and societies still hold on too desperately.

[DianaPrince]

Why is it that everyone can know that a poodle, a german shepard, and a pitbull are all DOGS, but no one raises ANY objections when they are differentiated based on their obvious differences in apparence?  How come no one automatically assume that must mean that folks want to portray on breed of dog as some how innately better or worse than the other.

Different can just be different w/o any need to connotate inferiority or superiority.

[Haze23]

Why are some people so desperate to force people into picking one side over the other?  I just don't get this type of thinking at all, and it mostly happens during black and white pairings, hardly any other races at all.  I don't get it.   Is it really that important for a mixed person to claim only the black side?  My father is white and I could never bring myself to do that, not for anyone for any reason.  It would be denying a part of who I am and I would never feel comfortable walking around half a person just to please others.  If it makes some people umcomfortable then they don't have to associate with me, end of story.

I also don't abide by the sheep mentality way of thinking.  Whocares what the majority sees or what they think, there was a time when everyone thought the Earth of was flat, until they were proven otherwise.  Anyone who would allow others to define who they are is a weak person with no back bone whatsoever.

"Different can just be different w/o any need to connotate inferiority or superiority."

I agree with that,  we are all Human beings and there should be nothing wrong with applying names for our different "breeds", so to speak.  The problem comes when people talk about different races as if they were speaking about different alien species and not other people.  At least we can all agree that dogs are dogs in the end no matter what their mixes are and therefore pretty much cut from the same cloth.  Hope that was understood. LOL!

Besides, with all the interracial humping and bumping going on, no one would be able to tell who is what in the near future anyway.