The Study of Racialism

jagirl32 · Experienced User Joined: 17 Jul 2007 {Posts: 125 }

Frank, No i did not give him any permission

jagirl32 · Experienced User Joined: 17 Jul 2007 {Posts: 125 }

"Anon, I agree with your statemenT to Jamerican that being black does not change or negates someone with a mixed background."

beauty my mother is black(with a white great grandmother and a half black and indian great grandfather i might add) and my father was chinese french indian jewish and now after speaking to my uncle scottish as well; his mixture does not include black. now if this is'nt the meaning of mixed my girl, i don't know what the meaning is. Confused

Beauty · Experienced User Joined: 02 Jun 2007 {Posts: 102 }

fwsweet · Posted: Sun 02 Mar 2008 13:30 Post subject:

I'm confused. Who is "Jamerican"? We have no member here by that name.

Beauty · Experienced User Joined: 02 Jun 2007 {Posts: 102 }

Sorry Frank. I meant Jagirl32.

gs56ca · Experienced User Joined: 26 Jan 2008 {Posts: 110 }

fwsweet · Posted: Wed 12 Mar 2008 10:09 Post subject:

gs56ca · Experienced User Joined: 26 Jan 2008 {Posts: 110 }

William · Posted: Wed 12 Mar 2008 20:46 Post subject:

divana · Posted: Thu 05 Jun 2008 04:22 Post subject:

I read the article. Most Trinis in my family and plenty others in my experience would likely not be fazed by anything this woman said in the article. Who in Trini would be surprised that she has mixed ancestry? Plenty do, likely the majority.

If she doesn't refer to herself as black, no big deal. She isn't the first and won't be the last. However, she never made any statements as to any general identity. Further, even if people consider her black, does not mean that is to the exclusion of any other heritage. One thing Trinis know, even if it is sometimes forgotten, is that plenty peoples family mix up.

And for the record, a spanish in Trinidad is not what you may think either. Just look at some of the spanish that sing parang.

It's really not that serious.

divana

anonymouse · Wizard Joined: 09 Oct 2007 {Posts: 677 }

fwsweet

divana

caribj · Suspended Joined: 14 Mar 2007 {Posts: 612 }

The reality is that the Anglophone Caribbean isnt a monolithic group. Different nations have different colonial backgrounds, some thoroughly British as Barbados and Jamaica and others with more diverse colonial bcakgrounds such as Trinidad or St Lucia. In Trinidad and Guyana where "mixed" might have nothing to do with black and white mixed origins clearly who is "mixed" will differ from the more racially monolithic countries.

The French were more liberal in accepting light skinned mulattos who were "white looking" into the "white" category. Not so the British especially in Barbados, The Bahamas, and Bermuda (they were more "tolerant" in Jamaica and the Leeward Islands) where the ODR rule strictly defined who was "white" and who was mulatto. This even though a mixed category also developed to divide those of mixed African and European backgrounds from those of mainly African stock.

In fact Barbadian white elites used to be quite skeptical of socalled "whites" from other parts of the Anglophone Caribbean where ODR rules were less rigorously applied to exclude people of mixed ancestry from being embraced within the white society. There was a deep fear that a "white looking" person might be NOT "pure" white, risking the scandal of kids produced from the marriage who were "throw backs" who looked mulatto. In Jamaica, the Leewards and the British colonies with French colonial elites there was less of this paranioa.

Also the distinctions between who is considered "mixed" and who is considered "black" has become blurred because being considered "black" no longer carries the social stigma that it once did now that a sizeable % of the professional/management class are of predominant African descent. In fact anonymous states, and dahlin doesnt exactly preclude, that some people looking like this woman might call themselves or be called "black", especially if most of their relatives are.

The point is that its no longer a major issue in most places. How important it is might be more dependant on the attitudes of their family than by any general societal rule. I can well imagine that people descended from the "old money" mulattos will be more concerned about this than some one who is light skinned but with numerous dark skinned relatives.

What is definitely true is that there is a "mixed" category in the Anglophone Caribbean. What is however not true is that there is a highly defined notion as to who fits into that category. Hence this argument.

I saw recently some one describing Barbados as 97% black. My eyebrows were raised as this could only be so if "brown" Bajans were now being classified as "black". This certainly would not have been the case as recently as 20 years ago. Maybe with the upper middle class now being mainly "black" arguing about who is "black" and who is "brown" is no longer an issue of great importance in Barbados. This especially as the political power is firmly in the hands of blacks, a fact that the white elites might be only too aware of.

So rather than saying "black" and "brown" some folks might now just say "black". It might also be that now there is less of a stigma of "blackness" "browns" might be more willing to socialize with and even marry "blacks". What I do know is that this topic seems a whole lot less important and discussed than it would have been 40 years ago.

Spiral · Posted: Sun 08 Jun 2008 03:10 Post subject:

divana · Posted: Sun 08 Jun 2008 11:19 Post subject:

Caribj and Spiral...good posts.

caribj · Suspended Joined: 14 Mar 2007 {Posts: 612 }

Spiral · Posted: Sun 08 Jun 2008 18:32 Post subject: