white or black?

ok...so, in the instance of mixed babies (half and half)...is it the father's race that determines the race of the child?

cuz uh...zimmerman is white and yet obama is black?

zimmerman's daddy is white, obama's daddy is black.

zimmerman is called white and obama is called black.

i'm just seeking a little clarification as to how and why race is determined by others. i've heard countless people (pro- and anti- obama) refer to him as mixed and black. yet zimmerman seems to just be white.

it's funny to me how people interchange races to suit their story. as far as i see it...neither zimmerman nor obama are black, white or mexican...they are just people.

so i ask you ATS...would you label a zebra white or black? (and that is not meant to be a racist joke...that is meant to make you choose a side and stick with it so please don't try and pick that one apart because you feel pressured to make a decision). me, i'd just call it a zebra. i'd call a white horse white and a black horse black, but if it's roughly a 50/50 split, i find it ignorant to label it one color.

why does everyone stop at skin color?

i don't care what color your skin is...our hearts are the same color...

i would call a zebra purple

It is a funny thing. I read something about this once. In the United States there was something called the "one drop-of-blood rule" (actually I can't rememebr if thats the real name, but something close to that). In the days of slavery. So, if the slave had "even one drop of black blood" he/she was considered black. There was a famous case before the US internal war of north-south (1800s) when a blonde-haired blue-eyed woman was sold as a slave because she was 1/256th black or something like that. It was controversial even then. But is shows how they thought about races. So I guess in the US, still, people think "any black ancestor means you are all black." But it makes little sense to me, because people speak of "half-asian" or "half-hispanic" and so on. Why not "half black." Oh well. In the end its all word games, anyway.

Also:

Originally posted by ICEKOHLD.

it's funny to me how people interchange races to suit their story. as far as i see it...neither zimmerman nor obama are black, white or mexican...they are just people.

This.

Some mixed race folk have different shades,so some are considering white if they are lighter and if they are darker then they are considered black.

Overall though they are just mixed,Nothing more and nothing less.

reply to post by ICEKOHLD


I really don't think that there are any particular guidelines for determining race.

Black, whilte, asian, hispanic, etc. All are simply classifications that are used to stereotype people based on irrelevant factors like skin color or past cultural heritage. The sooner we can move past these labels, the better off we will be.

We are all HUMAN, and that's all that really matters.

reply to post by ICEKOHLD


Mmmmm. my girlfriend is guyanese,jamacan,dutch and french!
i'm scottish,welsh with a dash of polish.
i get darker than her in the summer,but shes darker than me in the winter.
what colour are we!
im mixed white so it doesnt bug white people.
shes mixed black and shes not accepted by the black community. shes had problems with this all her life,and now her children(previous marrage) suffer the same fate.
she calls me her angel because me and my kids (white) dont see colour,we see people.
our kids happily call them selves brothers and sisters,and think no more about it!
we get the looks when we are out,but i'm sure any inter racial couple does.
i get dark enough in the summer that even native people ask me what tribe i'm from!
i have to tell them im from a clan! i just love all races,and like i tell our kids,theres only one race --- HUMAN!

Originally posted by reficul
reply to post by ICEKOHLD

 

shes mixed black and shes not accepted by the black community. shes had problems with this all her life,and now her children(previous marrage) suffer the same fate.
)

I hate to hear that. I have my own "racial" issues that become more amusing the older I get.. but one of my 18 yr old daughters friends is mixed.. and has this same issue as you describe. Racism comes in all sorts of packages. She has her own personal problems due to it..school, social.. DATING!...., but now a recent complication: she went to see her "black" side of her family in Atlanta.. and came back very upset. Even within her blood family there were biases toward her simply by being 1/2 white and being raised by a white mother. Incredible really... to me anyway!

reply to post by Advantage


you know i just don't get it...

i spent 4 and a half years in prison...i've been jumped by groups of black men several times just for being white in prison...and you know what?

i'm still not racist! it's not about their skin color...it's about their souls!

If we are going by looks only the im going with Steven Lynch here:
Vanilla Ice cream by Stephen Lynch
www.youtube.com...

Orientals and Indians are also very beautiful. Maybe I am attracted to the different from my point of view (white guy). We are allowed to have a preference. But you cannot see the soul in the container, but a smile and the eyes can tell much.

Namaste

reply to post by Advantage

all you can do is lead by example.its funny,my white side of the family has no problem at all with my girl and her kids. its her family that has a problem with 'that white boy'! it was the people in her native country having a problem because she is mixed! we are both all grown up now,and that stuff doent affect us too much,its just sux to see some peoples reaction to us holding hands in public! well we teach our kids a better way.
its funny,my boy was rubbing my stepson's hair and just said out loud,your hair feels like a sheep,its so soft!!!
well after the initial shock wore off,we all had a good laugh about it! i love the innocence of kids!
my stepsone asked me why me and my kid's eyes were blue,he thought we were sick!
funny stuff,but i take oppertunities like that to teach.
thax for the reply,glad to see there is still some openminded people out there.
love doen't have a colour!
peace

Im sorry if I am a bit offtopic but I have another question about duality and minorities

Is it the group or the individual that differ from the group that are at fault when the individual gets upset with the group while the group do not treat the individual different?

Example. I work in an hightech enviroment and some collegues was laid of because the company wanted to save money. All of them where Swedish except for one who was Pakestani. We bought beer and other alcoholic bewerages that is customary in Sweden. The Pakestani takes offense and think that we are bullying him since we are not thinking that he do not drink alcohol. The thing is we had no idea if he was a muslim that could drink alcohol or not and he never said anything.

There is a victim mentality from my point of view that individuals use against the group because the group do not show special treatment. I understand that someone might feel a bit uncomfortable when they are the only one with a different custom but from my point of view if the group do something you do not like decline but do not judge the group for being different. Any thought?

And the black being racist on the mixed might be the same victim menatality but in another form. The group might have defined themself as anti something else and cannot see thru that dualitygroup. In the other post the black people seem to definte the group as anti-white and cannot see beyond the duality when a white or mixed person appear.

The truth is we should probably all be like the kids. Being able to ask almost whatever questions of each other without hidden agendas just for the fun of knowing. The victim mentality from minorities might be a hinder to be able to open up and understand each other better. And to much political correctness will probably do more damage since everybody will be afraid of being a racist to get to really know people from other places. It is putting people in boxes and labeling them since you do not seem to be allowed to discuss differences and problems that emerge because of the differences.