LUCIEN
I hate getting punched in the head
I saw someone make a distinction between half-breeds and thoroughbreds in the thread about Viggo Mortensen using the N-Word and wanted to flesh it out into a full thread because of how many other areas of life this distinction affects.
For example, in the thread about Emma Hallberg making herself look mixed, some posters say that this is proof that Black folks are the most imitated. In that article, some critics of Hallberg say that the work she is getting could actually go to Black women. If we take that a bit further though, is it still the same? If a company only gave work to mixed folks, are they actually giving work to Black women? If a woman only dates light skin dudes, does that count as dating Black men?
For a long time, passing allowed mixed people to avoid a lot of the prejudice and systemic racism that purebloods receive, but now, ironically, Whites are striving to pass as mixed. Would this be the same as pretending to be Black?
While these are interesting questions, I think the most important thing has to do with the political and community aspects of life. Being mixed myself, a lot of times I never fit perfectly with either side of my family. A lot of other times, though, my actions make people say "well of course you would [do/say/like] that, you're [Dominican/French/Latino/White/Etc]". Sometimes when people want to make a political appeal to me, they try and sway me based on my race or ethnicity, but then others will reject me for that same race and ethnicity. So where exactly is a mixed person supposed to fit?
For example, in the thread about Emma Hallberg making herself look mixed, some posters say that this is proof that Black folks are the most imitated. In that article, some critics of Hallberg say that the work she is getting could actually go to Black women. If we take that a bit further though, is it still the same? If a company only gave work to mixed folks, are they actually giving work to Black women? If a woman only dates light skin dudes, does that count as dating Black men?
For a long time, passing allowed mixed people to avoid a lot of the prejudice and systemic racism that purebloods receive, but now, ironically, Whites are striving to pass as mixed. Would this be the same as pretending to be Black?
While these are interesting questions, I think the most important thing has to do with the political and community aspects of life. Being mixed myself, a lot of times I never fit perfectly with either side of my family. A lot of other times, though, my actions make people say "well of course you would [do/say/like] that, you're [Dominican/French/Latino/White/Etc]". Sometimes when people want to make a political appeal to me, they try and sway me based on my race or ethnicity, but then others will reject me for that same race and ethnicity. So where exactly is a mixed person supposed to fit?
