Re: MIXED UP
 

I think people should be entitled to classify themselves as what they want. They should be allowed their preferences no matter how deep the prejudices you may see in it....as long as it is not physically hurting anyone. Far too often, blacks want others to "ride" with them. If you don't want to label yourself as black, fine. Just don't try to come up off the benefits afforded to blacks. But if you are mixed with something else, then logically, you aren't completely black, to me.

I'm Creole, and please note that Creoles are blacks mixed with Native American, French, or Spanish, while Cajuns are whites mixed with Native American, French, or Spanish.

Re: MIXED UP
 

That didn't begin with "us" though. If I recall Southern Bigotry 101 correctly - the "one drop rule" was invented by Southern racists and meant that if you had one drop of black blood in you - you were black and could be used as a slave.

As far as racial identification - whatever floats your boat as long as its healthy. In saying that, I mean - if your mother is Irish and dad is AA - and instead of saying "I'm black" you say "I'm part Irish, part black" - fine. But if you simply say "I'm Irish" - because you are ashamed of having AA in you, or tend to switch it up depending upon the people you are around - that person has identity issues. Some people also believe that you are whatever race your mother is...

Anyway... this reminded me of Halle Berry in Queen ..."I's negra!":p

Re: MIXED UP
 

Ironically, the reverse is true--so, I've read and heard from folks visiting down there--that in Argentina, if you have one drop of caucasian blood in you, you are caucasian...

I don't know how I think about this issue for other folks. Personally, I have no problem with choosing to keep my African descent and my looks upon me--although my genetics and inheritance would dictate more Native American blood, as well as Irish blood in me than purely West African blood--or elsewhere in Africa. I love my African descent in America. I love being Black.

Even when I see and experience atrocities that one should never have to face, I still love being Black. It is not about it being a "cool" thing to do, or that I am trying to fit into the "in crowd"... I actually think it is about my Spiritual self being deeply rooted into the cultural seeds (Asili) of the true nature and expressions (utamaawazo) of Africa... It's that one drop thing--call it a single nucleotide polymorphism in my sodium-potassium transporter genes, which cause hypertension in Blacks and comes directly from Africa--I love it...

As far as some white folks loving themselves because they are white--fine with me... I don't see a problem with it, personally...

Everyone ought to love the skin that they are in... Because that's the only skin that you are gonna get...

Unless you are Michael Jackson... But then I just saw Adult Swim the other day and they showed that he was abducted by aliens when his hair was burned in the 1980's Pepsi commercial and he was switched by the aliens with this looney tune we see now... :rolleyes:

Re: ....
 

Sadly, many of them are young DARK black men themselves. I wonder what their mamas look like

Ah, a most EXCELLENT read. They are at the perfect age for this book, too.

She actually has a video out on Color Complex issues and I found it very innovating and informative. It is, however, from the early 90s but great nonetheless.
Soror Wonderful, I strongly suggest finding footage on Color Complex from Kathy Russell. I remember it being a required viewing when I was in undergrad and it enlightenend some of the [i]struck[i] students then

The POV that 'one ounce of black blood makes you black' is really more popular as myth than it was as reality. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the court addressed this very matter:

"It is true that the question of the proportion of colored blood necessary to constitute a colored person, as distinguished from a white person, is one upon which there is a difference of opinion in the different states; some holding that any visible admixture of black blood stamps the person as belonging to the colored race (State v. Chavers, 5 Jones [N. C.] 1); others, that it depends upon the preponderance of blood (Gray v. State, 4 Ohio, 354; Monroe v. Collins, 17 Ohio St. 665); and still others, that the predominance of white blood must only be in the proportion of three-fourths (People v. Dean, 14 Mich. 406; Jones v. Com., 80 Va. 544)."

And to follow up PrettyGirl03's explanation as to what Creoles are, you may want to visit http://www.frenchcreoles.com for more information. :)

Can we never again in life quote Plessy for anything, except as an example of how the law should NOT work...

Re: This hits home
 

I'm so sorry hun, but as a light skinned woman who is tired of being targeted because of my skin color I have to say...this is the tiredest subject ever..
To all: I wish we could all just love each other for being black.. I'm translucent I'm so pale and my boyfriend loves dark skinned women, he always says he thought the woman he would marry would be brown not d@mn near white as I am, we laugh but even that hurts. I've been teased all my life about my color and pressed to get a tan at every opportunity so it goes both ways... our children are only indoctrinated with what we allow them to be. Teach them differently make them question themselves, dissonance is painful so they may buck, but with persistence they may come to see the error of their ways, and THE MISEDUCATION OF THE NEGRO is ever relevant every black child in america should be required to read it.

I agree that the law failed in that case, but the quote was simply to demonstrate the inconsistency in racial standards. Society was not truly black and white, even then.

Except that in that case the court took judicial notice of the one drop rule, which means that it had to be a pretty accepted thought since the court accepted the idea as "fact" when there was no factual evidence presented on it. Although the quote you selected makes it clear that no matter how thin you slice there are alwasy two sides (as is true with anything), the fact that the court eventually took judicial notice of the one drop rule (something you interesting left out) shows where the country stood on the issue.

But I say, if someone wants to consider herself white, let'em. We should not fight people who don't want to be Black, we have enough Black achievers that we shouldn't even care. However, those people fighting their Blackness need to be honest enough to make sure they do not receive the benefits of social programs and contracts designed for receipt by Black people, since they aren't Black.

:confused: Left out?

The only issue before the court was whether "equal but separate" accommodations for white or colored races was unconstitutional. As to the determination of race, the court states that "these are questions to be determined under the laws of each state".

As for judicial notice, I may be missing something, but I don't see where judicial notice is taken of the one drop rule in this case.

Welll....this makes me want to check out Wardell Connerly, noted anti-affirmative-action fighter and promoter of "colorblindness." Methinks he may have benefited back in the days.

Re: Re: This hits home
 

Boy do I feel you on this!!! I, too, am d@mn near translucent. As a child of the 70's, the "Black is Beautiful" movement was actually one source of my childhood trauma. The message all around me was not that we are beautiful in all our shades but, just like the message the movement was trying to rail against, only certain shades were beautiful- brown and deeper. And even when “light skin is in” I am still too light. I have spent most of my life feeling like I had to fight to assert my blackness to everyone, black, white, etc. And I have experienced being rejected by white people for being black and black people for not being "black enough." As a child I used to pray EVERY NIGHT that I would wake up dark skinned. It is hurtful to have sistas tell their sons there is something wrong with them because they find someone who looks like me- a Black woman- attractive. I agree that there is something pathological about a person who finds people their same complexion unattractive. But as the awful tide of "in fashion complexions" ebbs and flows in the Black community, we lose sight of the fact that it is equally wrong to down light skinned people who also had no control over their complexion because of the perceived benefit to it. We justify it in its own way and, as result, guarantee that the whole color complex issue continues on.

And it is sad to say the least that the colorstruck mentality has survived even among the most educated and "enlightened" members of our community. I more or less observed these prejudices growing up, but I was never on the receiving end. Being caramel-complexioned and neither dark nor light, my color was never an issue one way or the other.