Posted: Sun 29 Jun 2008 20:32 Post subject: How Can You Call Yourself Black? Show Your Racial ID
How Can You Call Yourself Black? Show Your Racial ID
EVERY HUMAN HAS THE RIGHT TO SELF-IDENTIFY
By TaRessa Stovall
“How can you call yourself Black? You’re White. There’s nothing Black about you."
Quote:
Twice in the last few months, otherwise sane adults have said this to me. Then they tried to interrogate me about my racial ID. The first was a woman, blonde, white-skinned, blue-eyed, from Uruguay in South America, so I chalked her ignorance up to unfamiliarity with US history and culture.
But the other, more recently, was a White (American) male talk show host I met at a convention in New York City. He was downright hostile about the whole exchange, mocking my statement that I am “a Biracial, Black/Jewish African American” and trying to challenge me to "prove" my identity to him.
When I insisted upon calling myself Black, both of these unbelievers scorned me for falling victim to "the one-drop rule," as if I had somehow elected to remain enslaved to a notion that was relevant only in my own damaged psyche and mind. I guess it never occurred to them that I say I’m Black simply because I AM.
I belong to the EAL club – ethnically ambiguous looking, so I expect a high percentage of people to be confused when they meet me. That’s why I usually manage to slip my racial ID into the conversation ASAP, just so they can perform any mental and attitudinal readjustments and we can move forward in a logical and mutually respectful fashion.
Black people don’t always believe me when I tell them that some White people not only assume I’m White (as Latinos assume I’m Latino, Arabs assume I’m Arab, Greeks assume I’m Greek, etc.) but a few White people, after I have clearly, articulately and politely explained my identity, become visibly hostile and do their best to argue their superior knowledge of who and what I am.
Now before you pull out your “Tragic Mulatto” violin, let us be clear. I don’t play the “Tragic” stuff, and I’m not complaining. Fact is, this happens as much because I’m EAL as it does because I’m Biracial. As anyone with common sense knows, not all Biracial folk are EAL, and not all EAL people are Biracial/Multiracial, etc.
I just happen to be both.
“Why can’t Halle Berry call herself White?” the White male talk show host (who shall remain nameless to aid in preserving his dignity) whined to me. “Why can’t Barack Obama be White?” I noticed that he didn’t seem quite as concerned about such high-profile Biracial folk as Mariah Carey, Lani Guinier, Walter Mosley, Rashida Jones, Alicia Keys, or O.J. Simpson’s kids.
I didn’t feel it was worth my while to tell him what he already knows: Whiteness, everywhere in the world, is defined strictly in terms of exclusivity, the notion of superiority and the fantasy of purity. It is, by nature, a gated community, a closed country club, and even that infamous “one drop” of any un-White blood (except for Asian, because they have branded themselves as superior to White people and White people have bought it!) renders you ineligible for membership in the World of Whiteness.
Back in the “Black is a state of mind” ‘60s, I grappled with carving out a Racial ID that worked for me and the people in my world. As we went, at warp-speed, from being publicly labeled “Colored” and “Negro” to having the audacity to call ourselves “Black” and “Afro-American,” I was wrestling with the multiplicity of my appearance, my DNA and the spirits that had claimed my soul before birth.
I was in the forefront of a movement that, no surprise, took root in my hometown of Seattle, Interracial Family Capital of the Nation. I worked with a Jewish White woman named Jean French, who wanted to create a Census category for her son, Ray, 10. We are featured together in the Sept. 7, 1978 issue of Da Jet magazine, with Jayne Kennedy, the Halle/Beyonce of the times, on the cover.
That was at the height of my “Militant Mulatto” phase, where I believed that having our own category was the best option. I fought long and hard, but when the 2000 Census form was in my hand, I checked “Black.”
Why? Because I had finally figured out America’s racial math. White = “purity” and exclusion. Black = diversity, inclusion, acceptance of any and everyone who came correct. Because my quest had been driven by the desire to honor all of my Ancestors, especially my Russian Jewish Mom, who raised my brother and me solo, it took years for me to recognize that Black is a rainbow, an umbrella, and the only folk we turn away are those whose consciousness and behavior is not worthy of the designation.
The other reasons I didn’t check the “Some Other Race” category is because I found the language offensive, implying “something other than human.” And it was lazy, generic, half-assed. Maybe if I had seen a “Biracial” or “Multiracial” category, I would have had to give it my vote. But I knew the truth: that Census information is used to allocate resources, and in that context, there is only Black and White. There is no Biracial community, no defined demographic coherent or identifiable enough to receive resources or even communal recognition. So Jean French’s dream still has not come true.
Being EAL gives me some flexibility though I could never “pass” because Black people look at me and their Racial ID Radar quivers too hard for me to ever get away with it.
The arrogance of White people to argue, to challenge, to disrespect everything about my being, my identity and my life, is a clear X-ray of where race relations stand in our country today, which is right where they have always been.
But the bigger question is: Who creates and controls racial designations and official categories? And where are the gaps between their attempt to define and control us, and our insistence upon self-identifying, even when that means we are living outside their lines?
In my “Militant Mulatto” phase, I realized that every human has the right to self-identify according to their own realities, definitions and rules. More of us are doing just that, and I believe that the official categories have already become obsolete.
As are those who think they have the power to question, challenge, disrespect and demand compliance from those who have the nerve to speak their own truth to power and claim the label that reflects their deepest truths.
TaRessa Stovall is a veteran writer and strategic organizational communications expert specializing in cultural perspectives. Her column, "Diverse City," runs in the award-winning Montclair Times newspaper, and her books include "A Love Supreme: Real-Life Stories of Black Love," "The Buffalo Soldiers," (a young adult history book) and her debut novel, "The Hot Spot." TaRessa has also co-edited the best-selling anthologies, "Proverbs for the People: Contemporary African-American Literature," and, most recently, "Other People's Skin: Four Novellas," a quartet of stories focusing on healing the skin-hair rift between African American women. Learn more about "Other People's Skin" at www.empowerourselves.org, and about TaRessa at www.TaRessa.com.
Posted: Mon 30 Jun 2008 12:57 Post subject: Re: How Can You Call Yourself Black? Show Your Racial ID
zsana wrote:
How Can You Call Yourself Black? Show Your Racial ID
EVERY HUMAN HAS THE RIGHT TO SELF-IDENTIFY
By TaRessa Stovall
“How can you call yourself Black? You’re White. There’s nothing Black about you."
Quote:
Twice in the last few months, otherwise sane adults have said this to me. Then they tried to interrogate me about my racial ID. The first was a woman, blonde, white-skinned, blue-eyed, from Uruguay in South America, so I chalked her ignorance up to unfamiliarity with US history and culture.
But the other, more recently, was a White (American) male talk show host I met at a convention in New York City. He was downright hostile about the whole exchange, mocking my statement that I am “a Biracial, Black/Jewish African American” and trying to challenge me to "prove" my identity to him.
When I insisted upon calling myself Black, both of these unbelievers scorned me for falling victim to "the one-drop rule," as if I had somehow elected to remain enslaved to a notion that was relevant only in my own damaged psyche and mind. I guess it never occurred to them that I say I’m Black simply because I AM.
I belong to the EAL club – ethnically ambiguous looking, so I expect a high percentage of people to be confused when they meet me. That’s why I usually manage to slip my racial ID into the conversation ASAP, just so they can perform any mental and attitudinal readjustments and we can move forward in a logical and mutually respectful fashion.
Black people don’t always believe me when I tell them that some White people not only assume I’m White (as Latinos assume I’m Latino, Arabs assume I’m Arab, Greeks assume I’m Greek, etc.) but a few White people, after I have clearly, articulately and politely explained my identity, become visibly hostile and do their best to argue their superior knowledge of who and what I am.
Now before you pull out your “Tragic Mulatto” violin, let us be clear. I don’t play the “Tragic” stuff, and I’m not complaining. Fact is, this happens as much because I’m EAL as it does because I’m Biracial. As anyone with common sense knows, not all Biracial folk are EAL, and not all EAL people are Biracial/Multiracial, etc.
I just happen to be both.
“Why can’t Halle Berry call herself White?” the White male talk show host (who shall remain nameless to aid in preserving his dignity) whined to me. “Why can’t Barack Obama be White?” I noticed that he didn’t seem quite as concerned about such high-profile Biracial folk as Mariah Carey, Lani Guinier, Walter Mosley, Rashida Jones, Alicia Keys, or O.J. Simpson’s kids.
I didn’t feel it was worth my while to tell him what he already knows: Whiteness, everywhere in the world, is defined strictly in terms of exclusivity, the notion of superiority and the fantasy of purity. It is, by nature, a gated community, a closed country club, and even that infamous “one drop” of any un-White blood (except for Asian, because they have branded themselves as superior to White people and White people have bought it!) renders you ineligible for membership in the World of Whiteness.
Back in the “Black is a state of mind” ‘60s, I grappled with carving out a Racial ID that worked for me and the people in my world. As we went, at warp-speed, from being publicly labeled “Colored” and “Negro” to having the audacity to call ourselves “Black” and “Afro-American,” I was wrestling with the multiplicity of my appearance, my DNA and the spirits that had claimed my soul before birth.
I was in the forefront of a movement that, no surprise, took root in my hometown of Seattle, Interracial Family Capital of the Nation. I worked with a Jewish White woman named Jean French, who wanted to create a Census category for her son, Ray, 10. We are featured together in the Sept. 7, 1978 issue of Da Jet magazine, with Jayne Kennedy, the Halle/Beyonce of the times, on the cover.
That was at the height of my “Militant Mulatto” phase, where I believed that having our own category was the best option. I fought long and hard, but when the 2000 Census form was in my hand, I checked “Black.”
Why? Because I had finally figured out America’s racial math. White = “purity” and exclusion. Black = diversity, inclusion, acceptance of any and everyone who came correct. Because my quest had been driven by the desire to honor all of my Ancestors, especially my Russian Jewish Mom, who raised my brother and me solo, it took years for me to recognize that Black is a rainbow, an umbrella, and the only folk we turn away are those whose consciousness and behavior is not worthy of the designation.
The other reasons I didn’t check the “Some Other Race” category is because I found the language offensive, implying “something other than human.” And it was lazy, generic, half-assed. Maybe if I had seen a “Biracial” or “Multiracial” category, I would have had to give it my vote. But I knew the truth: that Census information is used to allocate resources, and in that context, there is only Black and White. There is no Biracial community, no defined demographic coherent or identifiable enough to receive resources or even communal recognition. So Jean French’s dream still has not come true.
Being EAL gives me some flexibility though I could never “pass” because Black people look at me and their Racial ID Radar quivers too hard for me to ever get away with it.
The arrogance of White people to argue, to challenge, to disrespect everything about my being, my identity and my life, is a clear X-ray of where race relations stand in our country today, which is right where they have always been.
But the bigger question is: Who creates and controls racial designations and official categories? And where are the gaps between their attempt to define and control us, and our insistence upon self-identifying, even when that means we are living outside their lines?
In my “Militant Mulatto” phase, I realized that every human has the right to self-identify according to their own realities, definitions and rules. More of us are doing just that, and I believe that the official categories have already become obsolete.
As are those who think they have the power to question, challenge, disrespect and demand compliance from those who have the nerve to speak their own truth to power and claim the label that reflects their deepest truths.
TaRessa Stovall is a veteran writer and strategic organizational communications expert specializing in cultural perspectives. Her column, "Diverse City," runs in the award-winning Montclair Times newspaper, and her books include "A Love Supreme: Real-Life Stories of Black Love," "The Buffalo Soldiers," (a young adult history book) and her debut novel, "The Hot Spot." TaRessa has also co-edited the best-selling anthologies, "Proverbs for the People: Contemporary African-American Literature," and, most recently, "Other People's Skin: Four Novellas," a quartet of stories focusing on healing the skin-hair rift between African American women. Learn more about "Other People's Skin" at www.empowerourselves.org, and about TaRessa at www.TaRessa.com.
It's nice to read something from the other side of things, re: whites calling self-identified biracial people "white".
I think a lot of what this woman says rings true, at least for my family, especially the part where she says black=diversity and inclusion, white=purity and exclusion.
I think many AA and biracial people think that way. You can be "black" and "biracial" at the same time, because it includes both. It's something I've said here, before.
Now if we could just get people into the line of thinking that you can be "white" and "biracial" at the same time, I think we would have less problems.
Joined: 19 Jan 2006 {Posts: 185 } Location: Southern California
Posted: Mon 30 Jun 2008 14:48 Post subject:
Quote:
Now if we could just get people into the line of thinking that you can be "white" and "biracial" at the same time, I think we would have less problems.
You have a point there, but I'm just wondering if we'll see any of that line of thinking within our lifetime. As is stands right now, that would be almost like asking a bear to "take a dump" in the toilet
I see this a lot in mixed or fair 'AAs' as well as in Hispanics:
Quote:
I didn’t feel it was worth my while to tell him what he already knows: Whiteness, everywhere in the world, is defined strictly in terms of exclusivity, the notion of superiority and the fantasy of purity. It is, by nature, a gated community, a closed country club, and even that infamous “one drop” of any un-White blood (except for Asian, because they have branded themselves as superior to White people and White people have bought it!) renders you ineligible for membership in the World of Whiteness.
White people don't define themselves that way. White is not being 'one with the enemy', but being what, even who, you are. Not all Whites are this nameless, faceles, ENTITY that goes round 'mistreating the colourds' and having visions of superority. My goodness! There are lots of old down home White folk who are poor and disadvantaged too. They too are not WELCOMED at the country clubs or among the elite. She needs to pull herslf into the 21st Century. In my experience, people like that allow others to dictate what they are due to guilt. If you don't feel White that's one thing. Or if you are pro-minority another. But a political decision isn't DNA! This is reverse racism in a way....
i.e all 'White people' are evil and guilty by being White, so they opt out of 'born guilt' by association by being Black.
Yes, racism exists, but Black people hands have blood on them too. There were Black Americans (even dark ones) who owned slaves too. HELLO This 'non-racistest than thou' attitude really needs to go. The racism boogeyman does not exist, despite what the racism chasers dwell on. Americans of all shades benefit from slavery, colonialism, etc. DO you live on less than $2 a day? Many in the 3rd world do. We have it good here in America and there are BILLIONS who would loved to take your place if you can't be man or woman enough to handle a little racism (i.e HURT FEELINGS!) from time to time.
Back to the topic - IMO, calling one's self 'Black' to 'idenitfy with Blacks' in the 'struggle' or vs. 'oppression' is, IMO, selling YOURSELF OUT.
Just be yourself. Geesh! There is nothing or no one to apologize to, for being born White!
P.S.
Quote:
Why? Because I had finally figured out America’s racial math. White = “purity” and exclusion. Black = diversity, inclusion, acceptance of any and everyone who came correct. Because my quest had been driven by the desire to honor all of my Ancestors, especially my Russian Jewish Mom, who raised my brother and me solo, it took years for me to recognize that Black is a rainbow, an umbrella, and the only folk we turn away are those whose consciousness and behavior is not worthy of the designation.
Um, okay......LOL!
Last edited by Melani23 on Mon 30 Jun 2008 16:10; edited 1 time in total
I see this a lot in mixed or fair 'AAs' as well as in Hispanics:
Quote:
I didn’t feel it was worth my while to tell him what he already knows: Whiteness, everywhere in the world, is defined strictly in terms of exclusivity, the notion of superiority and the fantasy of purity. It is, by nature, a gated community, a closed country club, and even that infamous “one drop” of any un-White blood (except for Asian, because they have branded themselves as superior to White people and White people have bought it!) renders you ineligible for membership in the World of Whiteness.
White people don't define themselves that way. White is not being 'one with the enemy', but being what, even who, you are. Not all Whites are this nameless, faceles, ENTITY that goes round 'mistreating the colourds' and having visions of superority. My goodness! There are lots of old down home White folk who are poor and disadvantaged too.
True, the poor and disadvantaged whites who are racist...they tend to be skin heads and neo nazi's. They are lied to in believing that 'others' are taking what rightfully belong to them. Even though as you said they would never be given access to upper class whites.
I don't think she was talking about every white person, but a part of the construction of whiteness.
They too are not WELCOMED at the country clubs or among the elite. She needs to pull herslf into the 21st Century. In my experience, people like that allow others to dictate what they are due to guilt. If you don't feel White that's one thing. Or if you are pro-minority another. But a political decision isn't DNA! This is reverse racism in a way....
i.e all 'White people' are evil and guilty by being White, so they opt out of 'born guilt' by association by being Black.
White & Black are political decisions.
Yes, racism exists, but Black people hands have blood on them too. There were Black Americans (even dark ones) who owned slaves too. HELLO This 'non-racistest than thou' attitude really needs to go. The racism boogeyman does not exist, despite what the racism chasers dwell on. Americans of all shades benefit from slavery, colonialism, etc. DO you live on less than $2 a day? Many in the 3rd world do. We have it good here in America and there are BILLIONS who would loved to take your place if you can't be man or woman enough to handle a little racism (i.e HURT FEELINGS!) from time to time.
Back to the topic - IMO, calling one's self 'Black' to 'idenitfy with Blacks' in the 'struggle' or vs. 'oppression' is, IMO, selling YOURSELF OUT.
Just be yourself. Geesh! There is nothing or no one to apologize to, for being born White!
P.S.
Quote:
Why? Because I had finally figured out America’s racial math. White = “purity” and exclusion. Black = diversity, inclusion, acceptance of any and everyone who came correct. Because my quest had been driven by the desire to honor all of my Ancestors, especially my Russian Jewish Mom, who raised my brother and me solo, it took years for me to recognize that Black is a rainbow, an umbrella, and the only folk we turn away are those whose consciousness and behavior is not worthy of the designation.
Posted: Tue 01 Jul 2008 15:27 Post subject: Re: How Can You Call Yourself Black? Show Your Racial ID
anonymouse wrote:
zsana wrote:
How Can You Call Yourself Black? Show Your Racial ID
EVERY HUMAN HAS THE RIGHT TO SELF-IDENTIFY
By TaRessa Stovall
“How can you call yourself Black? You’re White. There’s nothing Black about you."
Quote:
Twice in the last few months, otherwise sane adults have said this to me. Then they tried to interrogate me about my racial ID. The first was a woman, blonde, white-skinned, blue-eyed, from Uruguay in South America, so I chalked her ignorance up to unfamiliarity with US history and culture.
But the other, more recently, was a White (American) male talk show host I met at a convention in New York City. He was downright hostile about the whole exchange, mocking my statement that I am “a Biracial, Black/Jewish African American” and trying to challenge me to "prove" my identity to him.
When I insisted upon calling myself Black, both of these unbelievers scorned me for falling victim to "the one-drop rule," as if I had somehow elected to remain enslaved to a notion that was relevant only in my own damaged psyche and mind. I guess it never occurred to them that I say I’m Black simply because I AM.
I belong to the EAL club – ethnically ambiguous looking, so I expect a high percentage of people to be confused when they meet me. That’s why I usually manage to slip my racial ID into the conversation ASAP, just so they can perform any mental and attitudinal readjustments and we can move forward in a logical and mutually respectful fashion.
Black people don’t always believe me when I tell them that some White people not only assume I’m White (as Latinos assume I’m Latino, Arabs assume I’m Arab, Greeks assume I’m Greek, etc.) but a few White people, after I have clearly, articulately and politely explained my identity, become visibly hostile and do their best to argue their superior knowledge of who and what I am.
Now before you pull out your “Tragic Mulatto” violin, let us be clear. I don’t play the “Tragic” stuff, and I’m not complaining. Fact is, this happens as much because I’m EAL as it does because I’m Biracial. As anyone with common sense knows, not all Biracial folk are EAL, and not all EAL people are Biracial/Multiracial, etc.
I just happen to be both.
“Why can’t Halle Berry call herself White?” the White male talk show host (who shall remain nameless to aid in preserving his dignity) whined to me. “Why can’t Barack Obama be White?” I noticed that he didn’t seem quite as concerned about such high-profile Biracial folk as Mariah Carey, Lani Guinier, Walter Mosley, Rashida Jones, Alicia Keys, or O.J. Simpson’s kids.
I didn’t feel it was worth my while to tell him what he already knows: Whiteness, everywhere in the world, is defined strictly in terms of exclusivity, the notion of superiority and the fantasy of purity. It is, by nature, a gated community, a closed country club, and even that infamous “one drop” of any un-White blood (except for Asian, because they have branded themselves as superior to White people and White people have bought it!) renders you ineligible for membership in the World of Whiteness.
Back in the “Black is a state of mind” ‘60s, I grappled with carving out a Racial ID that worked for me and the people in my world. As we went, at warp-speed, from being publicly labeled “Colored” and “Negro” to having the audacity to call ourselves “Black” and “Afro-American,” I was wrestling with the multiplicity of my appearance, my DNA and the spirits that had claimed my soul before birth.
I was in the forefront of a movement that, no surprise, took root in my hometown of Seattle, Interracial Family Capital of the Nation. I worked with a Jewish White woman named Jean French, who wanted to create a Census category for her son, Ray, 10. We are featured together in the Sept. 7, 1978 issue of Da Jet magazine, with Jayne Kennedy, the Halle/Beyonce of the times, on the cover.
That was at the height of my “Militant Mulatto” phase, where I believed that having our own category was the best option. I fought long and hard, but when the 2000 Census form was in my hand, I checked “Black.”
Why? Because I had finally figured out America’s racial math. White = “purity” and exclusion. Black = diversity, inclusion, acceptance of any and everyone who came correct. Because my quest had been driven by the desire to honor all of my Ancestors, especially my Russian Jewish Mom, who raised my brother and me solo, it took years for me to recognize that Black is a rainbow, an umbrella, and the only folk we turn away are those whose consciousness and behavior is not worthy of the designation.
The other reasons I didn’t check the “Some Other Race” category is because I found the language offensive, implying “something other than human.” And it was lazy, generic, half-assed. Maybe if I had seen a “Biracial” or “Multiracial” category, I would have had to give it my vote. But I knew the truth: that Census information is used to allocate resources, and in that context, there is only Black and White. There is no Biracial community, no defined demographic coherent or identifiable enough to receive resources or even communal recognition. So Jean French’s dream still has not come true.
Being EAL gives me some flexibility though I could never “pass” because Black people look at me and their Racial ID Radar quivers too hard for me to ever get away with it.
The arrogance of White people to argue, to challenge, to disrespect everything about my being, my identity and my life, is a clear X-ray of where race relations stand in our country today, which is right where they have always been.
But the bigger question is: Who creates and controls racial designations and official categories? And where are the gaps between their attempt to define and control us, and our insistence upon self-identifying, even when that means we are living outside their lines?
In my “Militant Mulatto” phase, I realized that every human has the right to self-identify according to their own realities, definitions and rules. More of us are doing just that, and I believe that the official categories have already become obsolete.
As are those who think they have the power to question, challenge, disrespect and demand compliance from those who have the nerve to speak their own truth to power and claim the label that reflects their deepest truths.
TaRessa Stovall is a veteran writer and strategic organizational communications expert specializing in cultural perspectives. Her column, "Diverse City," runs in the award-winning Montclair Times newspaper, and her books include "A Love Supreme: Real-Life Stories of Black Love," "The Buffalo Soldiers," (a young adult history book) and her debut novel, "The Hot Spot." TaRessa has also co-edited the best-selling anthologies, "Proverbs for the People: Contemporary African-American Literature," and, most recently, "Other People's Skin: Four Novellas," a quartet of stories focusing on healing the skin-hair rift between African American women. Learn more about "Other People's Skin" at www.empowerourselves.org, and about TaRessa at www.TaRessa.com.
interesting
Notice how Hispanics and Arab Americans conveniently disappear from the nation if not the world. Why aren't they "black" if whites enforce the "one drop myth"? The author perpetuates the myths of white purity and proclaims them universal. She whines about being denied her "choice" to be "black" but would be the first to deny the choice of others to be white or anything but black.
Her analysis of her own identity rings fine, but the assumption that all whites exclude or that all people of mixed ancestry have been excluded does not ring true. The fact that she is challenged about her identity is a testament to this. She should go to Latin America. Then she would really hate how some people might question her identity.
Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 163 } Location: Original Thirteen Colonies, North America
Posted: Tue 01 Jul 2008 16:18 Post subject:
Salsassin wrote:
Her analysis of her own identity rings fine, but the assumption that all whites exclude or that all people of mixed ancestry have been excluded does not ring true. The fact that she is challenged about her identity is a testament to this. She should go to Latin America. Then she would really hate how some people might question her identity.
I agree with Mr. Salsassin on this (big smile). There are plenty of
mixed race folks; biracials, etc.; who are accepted as white. What
about white-Asian mixes, what about white-Native American Indian
mixes, what about millions of Arab-Americans, and Latino-Americans
in this country? And even many white-black Anglo mixes are accepted as
white. For many white-black Anglo mixes, it's hard for folks to honestly
wrap their minds around the fact that the ones they've accepted even
have any black African ancestry in them. There are several movie stars
in this catogory, right (hahaha)? Life's funny, and often not as bad
as some of we human beings try to make it seem. It's a good life.
The USA is just a baby country, and we're improving so fast. Our
American people are trying so hard to do better, and I'm so very
proud of every one of us. I think we have such a wonderful future.
Our young folks are leading us to a new world of promise and peace.
So in our USA; we can be white, black, multiracial; or almost anything
we wish to be. All we have to do is find friends who support us, and
stay away from sabateurs who secretly wish to negatively control our
lives; no matter how much we love those people and no matter how
closely related they may be to us. It takes character to be a free American.
Monique Guillory, "Under One Roof: The Sins and Sanctity of the New Orleans Quadroon Balls," in Race Consciousness, edited by Judith Jackson Fossett and Jeffrey A. Tucker, New York University Press, 1997.
"The juxtaposition of these two extremes-the quadroon concubine and the quadroon nun-set the parameters of proscribed sexuality in which this analysis evolves..."- p.69
Stovall has every right to identify as Black if she wants to.
However...
I will ALSO agree with Salsassin that her statement about people of mixed ancestry being excluded by whites is blatantly false. She is hardly the spokesperson for biracial/multiracial people. I have found more acceptance with some whites than I've ever had with most black people.
With that said, there are people with exclusionary/inclusionary attitudes in every group.
She is free to identify as a Black/AA woman...but she should also be aware that her ethnically ambiguous appearance will cause some people to question or criticize that identity. She should identify as she feels and be secure without needing to tell the whole world about it. My view is that deep down, if YOU know who and what you are, you shouldn't have to convince anybody else. Instead of being offended by people's reactions to her spoken-out-loud Black identity, she should look in the mirror and realize that most people don't see her that way. It is what it is. She can be as black and as proud as she wants to be while acknowledging that people judge a book by its cover. She doesn't look like most unmixed "black" people and I doubt that it is only white people who think this when they see her. People often question what they don't understand. I completely support her right to self-identity as a Black person or whatever she wishes...I simply feel like she is being a bit unrealistic in her perceptions.
I'm mixed. I look completely White. I don't have a problem with being called "black"...I simply feel that being black isn't representative of who or what I am, i.e. it is an inaccurate label. She doesn't look like a white woman but it is obvious that she is racially mixed somehow and this is why people are confused that she would choose a Black identity above others. I say it is her personal right to call herself black, but she should realize that there are also black folks who do NOT look like her who will have a problem with that. Not every black person will be kind or accepting. I'll say that there are most likely quite a few who will not see her as one of them because of issues like colorism.
She is free to identify as a Black/AA woman...but she should also be aware that her ethnically ambiguous appearance will cause some people to question or criticize that identity. She should identify as she feels and be secure without needing to tell the whole world about it. My view is that deep down, if YOU know who and what you are, you shouldn't have to convince anybody else. Instead of being offended by people's reactions to her spoken-out-loud Black identity, she should look in the mirror and realize that most people don't see her that way. It is what it is. She can be as black and as proud as she wants to be while acknowledging that people judge a book by its cover. She doesn't look like most unmixed "black" people and I doubt that it is only white people who think this when they see her. People often question what they don't understand. I completely support her right to self-identity as a Black person or whatever she wishes...I simply feel like she is being a bit unrealistic in her perceptions.
Thank you for sharing and giving your perspective.
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This 'non-racistest than thou' attitude really needs to go. The racism boogeyman does not exist, despite what the racism chasers dwell on. 
