If someone has a white parent and a black parent, they say they're black. If they have a white parent and a Mexican parent, they say they're Mexican etc
Funny how "white privilege" is apparently a thing yet people are so quick to remove their white history. This doesn't stop at people who are only half, I've seen people who are 3/4 white try and do this too.
I guess "victim minority privilege" is the real privilege and biracials know it.
My girlfriend is half Puerto Rican and half white. She identifies as Latina more than anything, because that’s how she looks and is what she was treated as growing up, even by members of the white side of her family. Her sister is lighter skinned and less decidedly Latina looking, she gets confused for half Asian more than anything. My girlfriend felt like they were treated differently by random people and family alike.
One thing that really bothers her is people asking “what ARE you?”, because it’s usually white people asking, and it gives her the vibe of “well, you’re not something obvious like black or Asian... but you definitely aren’t white, and I need to explore this further.” And when some of your own family are already treating you like the “exotic” member of the family, it’s bothersome, and makes you wonder if you fit in anywhere. And that was an issue on the other end, she wasn’t “Puerto Rican enough“ to fit all the way in with other Puerto Ricans or other Latinos, particularly since she doesn’t speak Spanish. She went to a mostly white high school, and she was very popular because of her looks, but she always still felt a little different in the eyes of her friends and peers.
So I think you’re working off an off-base assumption that biracial people would be fully embraced and accepted as white people by white people. Some can be, but it’s largely based on appearance. If your skin tone, facial features, and hair texture don’t jive with “pure white”, if you will, some white people don't really think if you as white. Conversely, in my experience at least, I’ve seen black people for example embrace a biracial person more than I feel like a lot of white people would. They might get good naturedly teased about having white in them, but they were accepted as black. Like they could say the N-word and it was all good whereas a completely white person couldn’t. So I feel like that’s a good indicator of the acceptance level. And in my gf’s case, I think the language thing was an aspect that can’t be related to the black/white biracial person’s experience, so that made it a little harder for her, but at the end of the day, most were accepting of her, because of the shared experience of being “not white” in the eyes of the white people around them who constituted the majority.
Ask Elizabeth Warren. If people think they can receive benefit for one thing or another they'll go with it. I kept telling my youngest to put 'hispanic' for race on his college applications. :)
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Anonymous
(36-45)
+1 y
At least in America, you have a whole history of racism to thank for how bi-racial, in the case of black and white mixed children, are perceived. By law, if you had one drop of black in you, you were considered black so essentially white people at the time could "preserve" the purity of their race and continue to openly discriminate. Time and the law and the culture may have changed to be a bit more accepting of bi-racial children, but it hasn't changed all that much when it comes to these children being able to freely associate or label themselves in certain ways. If a bi-racial child looks more black than they do white, society assumes for them, that they are black. They literally don't want to hear about how they are mixed let alone are they understanding or accepting if they label themselves as white. It's not just white people either who have this issue. Black people do as well. They are accepting of the term black, if they look black, but if they look more white, those kids call themselves mixed or bi-racial because they can't disguise or hide that they don't look dark skinned.
All through my life I've had friends deal with this. It's heartbreaking, but in a lot of cases, the white parent as with society accept that their darker skinned bi-racial kids will always be thought of as black. If you're not living in these kids or adults shoes and dealing with what they deal with when it comes to race, you probably shouldn't judge them harshly because they are fighting an uphill battle against systemic racism that has not yet matured passed centuries old rules and laws about who could be what.
I agree with you even in tests like the SAT's when they ask you to circle your race and it was only like one option to choose from like white, black, native-american, Asian and arab or something
Maybe because people often see their skin color and call them "black" or "Hispanic". I understand what your saying but a person who is half "white" and half "black" can't walk into a room and just say, I'm white. They could but people would probably glare at them because their skin tone says other wise. My mixed friends in school were often treated as if they were black by other white people because of their skin tone. Most people don't say they are mixed because they are skin and tired of having to have a 5 hour conversation about what they are mixed with and how cool that is and what it's like growing up in a biracial house hold. Most the time they don't label themselves that way, society does and they get sick of having to explain it to people so they just let it go. If you were mixed and people kept saying you were black you'd get sick of trying to explain yourself over and over again. You know that your biracial but you don't have to keep explaining it to every tom, dick and harry you meet.
Here we got putting everyone in one category. I was raised by my white & native side of my family I don't ignore that part of me. I'm mixed and proud. However just to be clear more often than not it's other people that will try to tell me what race I am or should claim. On dating sites or even government forms
what do I put if biracial isn't available? I'm not 100% white. I'm mixed with white. I'm not 100% black or native. I'm mixed with it. So we don't 100% fit in one category. It's complicated. But I certain have tan skin. But let's be honest if I put white on a dating site everyone would assume I'm a catfish. Yet if I put black or mixed some how no issue. Shrugs
A lot of it in the USA is about history. The USA use to do what's called a paper bag test. Anyone with a tan was considered colored or black. I'm mixed that's what I am and what I claim regardless of who has a problem with it. I'm not one or the other sorry not sorry.
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Anonymous
(18-24)
+1 y
Victim culture I guess. Say your white you are a racist. Say your non-white well that's a college scholarship.
I don’t think you understood what I’m saying. Genetics is one thing but who she is on the inside is different. You’re attacking her character, not her genetics.
They see whites as assholes and don't want to be associated with them.
0
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Anonymous
(45 Plus)
+1 y
I have to agree with you. Barack Obama got a White Mother and Black Father so he ignored his White Mother and took claim to be America's first Black US President. Sorry but i totally disagree sorry but i did not like him and i voted Republican and my whole family was Democrats. I never liked Obama's personality it sucked he was cocky with Hillary Clinton. Yes biracial people ignore their White side of their race why wouldn't they do so? Sure Obama looks like a 100 % Black Man but his Daughters are gorgeous and so is Mrs Obama i totally respect the Obama family. But i think i have more respect for Condoleeza Rice , Rev Jesse Jackson now when Michael Dukasis ran for US President he loss cause he didn't pick Jesse Jackson as his running mate. Rev Jesse Jackson came to my town and i heard him speak he was running for US President and he gave a wonderful speech. Summer of 1988 that is when my Sister graduated from High School and i went to our local aquatorium to listen to him speak. I'm far from racist but i do agree with you. Yes i love all race of people.
They don't ignore it. They simply put more emphasis on the other side due to how society label and treat them.
White people are less likely to consider someone who looks like Drake, Barack Obama or Zendaya as white, while Black Americans are more than likely to accept them as a part of their community/family. This is due to how we defined races back in the days. In order to be White, you had to look 100% white. Meanwhile, the barrier to be Black or any other non-white race was a lot shorter. Simply having a few non-white features was enough to throw you into the "non-white" category.
As a result of this, people who don't look 100% white were never viewed as white and they were treated by society (which includes other white people) as if they were non-white. Over time they internalized this and started to place more emphasis on the side of them that actually accepts them, which is usually their non-white side.
It’s complicated. I asked this question a while ago and people where saying it’s the one drop rule or biracials wanting to belong to a group so they choose the most accepting of the two. White people typically denounce biracials no matter how white passing they are. So I guess biracials have no choice really. White people made them feel unwanted so they went to where they were wanted and excepted. Also it’s just pretty much accepted now without thought. Everyone just throws biracials into the colored category. And they kinda just roll with it.
Every one keeps saying this but when? When did this happen? The one drop rule was in colonial times and was done by the democrat slave owners which where a minority in the nation (unfortunately a very rich one which is how they got to manipulate the laws so much). As for denouncing biracials that is absurd, whites are more likely to have an interracial relationship (the most common is white/Hispanic pairings in the US making up almost 40% of interracial marriages) so that seems completely inaccurate.
@hellionthesagereborn the thing is the one drop rule hard been perpetuated for so long that people still apply it today. A lot of things white people established from a long time ago are still practiced in today’s society. Even if we think differently now. It just became the norm. And no one seems to want to change it. And yes white people still don’t claim biracials. Because despite a kid being over 50% white, white people still don’t see them as the same. In ethnic communities biracials are seen as apart of the race. For instance if a kid is half white and half black, the black community will just see them as one of us. Despite them being mixed with white. Where’s white people will see them as one of ‘them’ aka a non white child. Both parties group biracials with POC. Even if white people have mixed babies with light skin they will still see the kid as a colored child.
Really? So what about the idea that we are all equal, that's something that white people (and only white people I would like to add) came up with, is that still followed today? What about the abolishing of descrimination something that only white people came up with, still followed today? Lets be perfectly clear here, "white people" did not come up with the one drop rule, racist (and I would point out democrats) people came up with that rule just as other people (who also happened to be white) fought against it (unfortunately after the civil war whites who had fought and died to end slavery (something no other group in history ever did (africans wouldn't end it for quite some time later (Mauritania (African nation) didn't outlaw it until 1981), china didn't outlaw slavery until 1910 etc.) allowed the previously slave holding states to reenter the union immediately. The problem with this was that while both sides had their populations significantly reduced (about 600,000 deaths), the previously slave owning states had an influx of population in the form of free slaves which allowed them to gain a greater control over congress due to having more representatives which they used to enact racist laws. Again, not a "white" thing. So why all whites are painted with the same brush as if being the creators of descrimination and racism when every single group of people in the world took part in it but only we actually actively fought against it is really confusing to me (and really frustrating and racist in my opinion)). Sorry, I just really needed to get that out of the way because its really starting to infuriate me, if we said all blacks are criminals or responsible for crime we would all agree that would be racist but saying the equivalent about whites is some how perfectly acceptable despite being wholly inaccurate (a third of the those lynched by the KKK where white republicans).
Also again, why are you making a claim like that? How do you know "whites" don't accept other groups? Again, we are the overwhelming majority of those who marry outside of our race? We commit fewer hate crimes etc. If your going to make the claim have evidence to back it. Thats like me saying that the reason why biracial people don't acknowledge their white half is because every one is racist against whites and they want non white privilege (something that I can at the very least argue (because their are benefits that are only afforded to nonwhites)), sure I can say it but your going to ask where the evidence is right? So where is the evidence that whites descriminate so fully? Why are you saying that we are the ones who hate so much when statistics don't back that claim? Al Sharpton said about Obama that "he wasn't a real N-" that is he was mixed but he doesn't count as being black. Blacks call other blacks who "act white" as being vanilla dipped in chocolate. So I'm going to have to say that considering the evidence unless you can actually point to something, that your statement is not accurate.
@hellionthesagereborn bru i don’t know where you got all that misinformation from but everything you said is wrong. It probably came from some racist probably white supremacist person. And it makes it seem like white people were some kind of hero’s back in the slave day’s. When we all know they were the villains. You are very misinformed and need to read up on real history. And not made up white washed history.
because, and i say this as a half jamaican half English girl, society doesn’t allow us to acknowledge it. since i was a child i’ve been called ‘black’ by my white mother, half siblings and whoever else has felt the need to point out my race. we dont label ourselves, we are labelled by society. you’re really trying to say that mixed race people have it easier than whites? not a couple of months back meghan markle’s baby was effectively called a monkey; mixed race people are treated as and seen as black by most black and pretty much all white people. colourism is indeed an issue, but because of the racial identities we’ve been given, because of our heritage, the colour of our skin, the texture of our hair, the culture we share - the list goes on - we identify as black.
If I say I'm white or rather I'm german (since we aren't as obsessed with race as americans are), people are going to ask me where my parents are originally from. They woul see me and not accept 'german' as the answear since I look mixed. It's more about how society sees us not about us ignoring our white side.
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1 Reply
Asker
+1 y
Some Germans look like they're mixed with Asian. I see that as a German thing. High cheek bones etc.
It's not about removing their history. It's because what do you look more like? If you go around telling people if you're half black/white that you're white, people aren't going to be like oh yeah she/he is totally white. And if you say you're mixed people thing you're just being extra. I'm biracial and I say I'm black not because I disregard my white side. When someone asks me where I'm from: I respond Switzerland and Brazil, therefore when I say that people know I'm mixed or some times I have to explain but when they ask about my race, I just say black to make it less complicated.
That’s not entirely true, but I think it probably depends on what they look more like. If they have darker skin then they say they’re black, but if they look more Hispanic than they say they’re Hispanic. If they don’t have most white looking features they probably won’t bother to tell others cause they know it’ll be harder for people to believe. But I don’t know
Yes, i get that age thin a lot. I turned 30 yesterday. now tell me i look like a 30 year old smuck lmao. i don't at all. If you see me in real life you'd really think i'm at least 20 - 25. I'm still being seen as 19. but hey, i guess that works in my favor aaaay :)
Actually in my life I have probably spent more time with the white half of my family then the nonwhite half. Probably has to do with location because here in Florida more of my dads family lives locally. Also part of that decision was made by my parents as they chose early on in my life where we spent vacations and holidays.
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Anonymous
(30-35)
+1 y
I don't know what country you're from, but in the United States, there was a rule that existed previously in law and up to the present time in society that states that someone who has 1/8 or more black heritage is considered black. Race itself is a social construct with arbitrary man-made boundaries (Obviously there are people who look different from each other, but there are no lines in nature defining "race"). If you want to "play the game," these are the rules. It has nothing to do with "victim minority privilege." In fact, your people made these rules that are still followed today.
“Race itself is a social construct with arbitrary man-made boundaries (Obviously there are people who look different from each other, but there are no lines in nature defining "race")” what a radical SJW statement.
No. The one drop rule as its called was based on segregation which was not "white" it was democrat i. e. only part of the nation and it lasted only so long as segregation lasted i. e. 1964. As for race being arbitrary, that's not necessarily correct. You can identify race by genetic data, though its a much murkier subject then most think (their are distinctive genetic differences between races, but races intermingle meaning so do these genetic markers, also those distinctions are incredibly small on a genetic level anyway.). As for "your people", doesn't that statement, while being racist and inaccurate (every group was racist, every group had slavery, every group conquered every group was brutal (but only whites, specifically western Europeans and their US decendents, ended slavery and pushed for the idea of equality), also contradict your claim that race is a social construct as their could not be "your people" if we are all one people? Not very consistent (also whites are more likely to have interracial marriages so seems odd that they would be the culprit of this view point).
@hellionthesagereborn I’m not going back and forth with you constantly, but I will say this. Like I said, the boundaries of “race” as we know it are man-made. The boundaries were decided and enforced both socially and legally by white people, which is what I was saying to the original poster. As for what you are saying about race being arbitrary, I’m saying that the boundaries decided on were man-made and not scientifically based. People of different races are often closer genetically to people outside their race than inside of it.
But again, that's not true? You can find rules about intermixing in all groups, the difference is it was more obvious in America as we where the only country that actively tried to intermingle with other groups something you would never see anywhere else (africans wouldn't allow other groups into their nations, hell they butchered white settlers their who actively attempted to respect hteir culture bought the land from them etc. You don't see intermingling in the middle east (that's why their is so many genocides their to this day, intermingling is not allowed. Same with asia.) This rule was also removed by whites a long time ago (before either of us was born) so claiming it now is rather bullshit. You also, again, said their is no race but then continue to refer to whites as "the other" i. e. as a race separate from you. You did it a second time now so clearly you must not believe that their is no such thing as race because you refuse to look at white people as the same group as yours (ironic as I am pointing out they very much are when you look at the behavior of every group they are one and the same). As for your las statement, that is incorrect as I already pointed out. Yes the line is murky but their is a line and we can genetically test for it.
It's because the black community tell biracials and mixed people that there black and sometimes when they acknowledge there not fully black and even tell other black people that there both there told there a self hater and sometimes a mixed person will only be considered fully black is when they do something good are in the spot light so mixed people feel pressure to pick a side when they really shouldn't have to pick any sides but just be mixed with both sides.
Not sure this is totally accurate. Obama was half white and he made it clear he was raised in a white middle class home. But society has a bad habit of pinning labels on people and in general if your half anything the label will always be that your the "less" like us half. Presumably people like Obama and others are presented as being black without even being consulted on the label.
In our race-centric culture if your half-black half-white your black. If your half-Hispanic half white, your Hispanic.
WE THE PEOPLE apply those labels unjustly all the time.
I'm half-white and both acknowledge and take pride in my white heritage. I respect my African heritage as well, but I've always felt like I belonged more on my European side than my African side. I take pains to let people know that I'm Moldovan-Nigerian, and not just Nigerian.
I'm half black half Indian. with me it's more the cultural aspects. Though i would probably say i'm black, rather than Indian, since i also look more black than i do Indian, i am however more willing to say that from the cultural side of things, i take a lot more from my Indian side (Hinduism)
They dont ignore anything. White people dont see them as what they actually are.
I know it for a fact, because I have plenty of mixed people in my family. If you dont look white, you're considered non white. Its got nothing to do with what they identify themselves as.
I'm a third or fourth generation Canadian, but I'm part German/British/Norwegian. Although I'm more German than British or Norwegian, I tend to mention the Norwegian more often. Partially because that's the side of the family I look like the most, but also because I think it's more interesting.
That's probably a factor with a lot of people, but also being able to play the minority card is for some.
My father’s side is Texas Hill Country German, my mother’s side is Tejano. Both sides of mi familia, or meine Familie, fought against Santa Anna in the Texas War of Independence, which then makes me 100% TEXAN!
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