Posted: Tue 12 Apr 2005 18:57 Post subject: Mariah Carey: Free At Last (From Essence Web site)
Came across this link to an article on Mariah Carey from the Essence web site via an e-mail. The article is only an excerpt from Essence's current issue. The responses to the article below the excerpt, especially the ones about her identification as mixed, are entertaining.
By This mulatto is hardly tragic. There is no haunting semblance to the 1959 movie classic Imitation of Life. And Sarah Janethe movies beautiful, self-hating protagonist who abandoned her dark-skinned Black mother and chose to pass for Whitedoes not live here. The woman who does live here in this expansive penthouse in Manhattans Tribeca is Mariah Carey. She has jokingly described herself as a bit of a mutt (the offspring of an Irish-American mom and a halfAfrican-American, half-Venezuelan dad). But shes not tragic. Not tragic at all.
In some ways Mariah Carey, 35, is everything you would expect a pop diva to be who has sold 150,000,000 albumscomes third behind Elvis Presley and the Beatlesfor most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot Singles chart and who emerged from her decade-and-a-half career as the best-selling female artist of the 1990s. Her apartment, which spans three floors, comes with a whirlpool bath big enough for four and a freaky chamber whose tiled walls squirt mist. Carey lies there on a big white bed when she needs to humidify her vocal chords. Odd for you or me, but completely appropriate for a woman whose voice does supernatural things like traverse comfortably from pops smoothed-out terrain into the grittier domains of R&B, hip-hop and soulall in a five-octave range. But in far more compelling ways Mariah Carey is not what you would expect: Shes a natural mimic, effortlessly assuming the accent of whomever shes with. The sex-kitten persona you see in her videos gets turned off with the camera: A self-described prude, she enjoys Bible study and watches her favorite movie, Mean Girls, with almost Rocky Horroresque devotion. And contrary to the reports about her nervous breakdownsuicide attempt in the summer of 2001, she is not crazy. Not now, not then. However, she does suffer from nightmares, recurring ones about her days as Mrs. Tommy Mottola, a time when she could not be free to live as her true self.
Race Matters So this isnt a twenty-first-century version of Imitation of Life. Still, race and racial identity have been central themes throughout Careys careerarguably more so than for any other artist of her generation. It took folks forever to figure out where Carey fit in ethnically despite the fact that she never denied her mixed heritage. In an ideal world it shouldnt matter. But as we all know, Americas stance on race matters is far from ideal.
To read the entire article Free at Last, pick up the April issue of ESSENCE.
I'm a fan of Mariah's older music. I think some people don't like her because she's too self absorbed and she always does that self pity role of having multi-racial heritage. A lot of people in this world have way bigger problems than that.
-Marie
essence made up the title not mariah. i believe that she wants to move past the whole race issue , but others will not let her. someone said that she has never said she was black. she has never said she was white either. she wants people to know her as mariah a great singer and song writer. not mariah the half black girl who looks white and sings black. if she were a few shades darker we wouldn't be arguing about how black she is.
-Anonymous
I was a huge support of Mariah from the outset.... However, the "slutty" image she chose put forth both publicly and professionally was the first turn off for me. She has an amazing range, however constantly signing in the upper scale, became tiresome for me, so turn off number two. Lastly her associations with black people, SEEMED (to me, at least), limited to only those whose talents she could utilize in her career.
Ms. Carey is beautiful, has achieved some amazing accomplishments, and accummulated a great deal of w
-Former Fan
Ms. Carey is beautiful, extremely talented, has achieved some amazing accomplishments, and accummulated a great deal of wealth... God has blessed her, so while I wish her well, always, her woe is me is lost on me and I am unwilling to support her further.
-Former Fan
all wrong former fan.
-Anonymous
I don't think I'm all wrong.. I've given her a fair critique, anonymous... but you, like me... are entitled to your opinion.. By the way, you keep poppin in here... are you the author of the "Weep for Me" article, someone who with too much time on their hands or are you Mariah herself???
-Former Fan
i'm your best friend.
-Anonymous
Black Americans are confused, and don't know what they are.
There are so many people that have mostly white and non-black heritage, yet consider themselves black. Why? America has, rightly so, moved beyond the one-drop rule. It's time we recognized the fallacy of its logic too.
It was just a slaveowners rule! Don't perpetuate it! Just realize that there are many who are mixed that don't consider themselves black.
Why? Because they aren't.
-Ilia
why is it okay to call mariah carey black but not white. i bet if she was half asian and half white or half indian and half white she would not be required to choose one race over another. i think that if mariah can be called black then she can certainlybe called white too, because her white heritage is not too good for her. that really gets on my nerves that people think that just because you are mixed you should have to choose a monoracial label.
-anonymous
Former Fan
I'm sure you won't hurt Mimi's career by no longer supporting her!! She has millions of fans!! She doesn't need you!!!
-Anonymous
People have always trashed Ms. Carey! Don't sweat it cuz' she's unstoppable!!
-Mimifan'
Some of you are so ignorant by saying Mariah wants to be black now to sell more albums. That is so laughable. As soon as Mariah was single and started living her life as a black woman, her sales went downhill. "White" Mariah used to sell way more recordsthan "Black" Mariah. If she really were money hungry, she'd be "white" and go back to singing pop songs such as "hero" and "dreamlover". Obviously, she identifies more with her black side by looking at her friends and the music she makes. This Mariah race thing is so 10 year
-Ramona Jones
she doesn't care about selling more albums. she wants to do the type of music she likes. even if that means lesser album sells. she was doing better as a " white artist". so it really doesn't make any sense to say that she wants to be black because of album sells.
-licia
Donna
Clearly you have no idea what you speak of. I didn't become a fan of Mariah's solely because of her voice. I did research to find out exactly what kind of person I was supporting. The whole "diva" attitude is an image. She's earned that title and should do with it what she wants. Sorry it took me so long to respond but I thought this rediculous conversation was surely over by now!!!
-Mimifan
she look ugly
-palm
UGLY!!! I wonder what you look like!! Stop hating Palm
-Sick a' haters
when mariah carey was on latina magazine was she called a latina? when will society drop this fake phony
mentality that mixed races who have black in them should choose a monoracial label, but if somebody is mixed with asian and white or hispanic and white or indian and white they dont have to choose. do any of you people have any idea how ridiculous and sick and disgusting and racist and
and unfair and especially discriminatory that sounds. because that is like saying that half asian/half white or half hispanic/half w
-anonymous
why do people on here call mariah black? mariah carey is not black she just has black in her but she is not a black woman she is a mixed race woman, why is it that if someone calls her white they get corrected but if they call her black they dont get corrected. she is more white than black anyway. and since she is hispanic too why not just say that mariah carey is a hispanic mulatto?
-pres marie
It doesn't matter what color she is!! Mariah is a great artist first and foremost. No one compares to her voice or ability to create!!
-Music lover
People, peolple, people. African American or "Black American" is not a race, it is a mind set. We are people of mixed races; mostly starting with African lineage (our common denominator) . We are the true esential of the term "melting pot". Our only common thread is the "The African Continent". [Not even a certain country.] Respect the diversity and build on the unity. We are divided on an American term that many of us do not understand and allowing the misunderstanding to divide us into shallow, meaniless species. Go w
-willieB
What has happened to Mariah skin tone? This is the only mag where she is "High Yellow" if you look at ANY of her other photos www.awfulplasticsurgery.com, especially her old ones she is just as white as any other white person.
The tragic mullato syndrom is over Ms Carey.
-Epiphany
I am very big fan of Mariah, When I saw Glitter it was all most the life that I had. I have like at least six of Mariah Carey, Rainbow,Charmbracelet, Her frist CD, I Still Believe I cryed on that song,Butterfly, Glitter also have the moive og Glitter. I wish I could meet Mariah.
-Terrie Lozano
epiphany doesn't matter about her skintone because she has black in her blood.
-Anonymous
How dare yall say " Misunderstood BLACK Woman" the only thing this article did was solidify how UN-Black she is. Why dont yall post a real black woman on the cover? And no this is not another person just looking to trash ol poor Mariah, and tell her how un-black she is. But what she really needs to do is get back in touch with her 75% other race. Cause if that 25% blackness can get her on the cover of Essence and sell a few million records the her goal to get in touch with her black side has been accomplished.
-christina shack
And no she probably did not choose the title for the cover but she sure as hell approved it. Essence did not release that with out her ok.
-nicole dixson
Why is Mariah still using her identity crisis to promote her career? I'm so tired of mixed-race people who claim to be misunderstood. It's only an issue when THEY misunderstand themselves. I too am mixed, but if you ask what I am... I will proudly tell you that I am Black. It doesn't matter if I'm 1/8 this or 2/3 that. I think that only matters with multi-racial people who have a problem with being identified as Black. You hear it all the time... I'm Black but I'm also this, this and that. If you don't know who you are, then
-Black Southern Belle
If you don't know who you are, then no one else will
-Black Southern Belle
If you're as mixed as Mariah is, then she shouldn't have to identify as just black.
Why does being part black have to overpower every other ethnicity in a person? It doesn't.
Some mixed people have a problem with being just black because they know it unfairly snubs the rest of their heritage.
-Krissa
i'm still trying to figure out how anyone can measure someone's blackness. there is not a pure blooded black person in america unless you came straight off the boat from africa. how does it help your career to be black?
-Anonymous
I think Essence magazine sold out on this one... so to Essence I say: thanks for the hype (sarcasm), thanks for salt in the wound... if Mariah is mixed and is personally not comfortable with being limited to choosing one specific ethnicity, why choose the title you did for this story? This story's headline is propaganda 101 - looks to me like Essence was using "blackness" and our issues to sell magazines... it may not be right, but we are still dealing with this race thing and it should be acknowledged and addressed careful
-louis manon
I think its ridiculous to say Mariah is not black, becuase she has only a quarter black ancestry. None of us, dark or light, are of pure african ancestry. Saying you are black just shows a solidarity with the black community as a whole. No matter your african racial percentage. Its all silly anyhow. Jasmine Guy has always identified herself as black despite being half white and Jennifer Beals has never really ever really said that she is half black. I love them both the same. Why is it that we think Creoles should identify a
-Keef
Anyway why is it that we think Creoles should identify as black(despite having mostly french ancestry) but not Latinos(who have just as much African ancestry). Its just an ugly heritage leftover from when slavery was legal in this country.
-Keef
I didn't like the article. The writer seemed to miss the entire point made by Mariah and her cousin by writing the last sentence.
I think Mariah herself is endlessly tripping on the being beige issue, but she has a right to be anybody she wants to be.
The public has a right to view her as they wish based upon their truth. Once she is comfortable in her own skin, she wont care what people think of her.
Despite Jermaine Dupri's professed ignorance, most blacks could tell Mariah had black heritage. By the time she work
-just black scholar
when THEIR truth is wrong they really don't have a right to veiw her as they wish.
-Anonymous
Some of the comments on here are so ignorant. Whatever race Mariah is, should have no effect on her music. She is a good artist that reaches out to many races. Take it or leave it, she's gonna make money and records whichever way she displays her race.
-a loyal fan
i love that you did a story about mariah. she often does not get credit for being an african american woman I love her music and have been a fan of hers for a long time and i think she is mis understood when people find outi like her they often make mean comments about her not wanting or not admiting to be black which is wrong its even hard to catch her songs on the urban radio stations or see her videos on black tv programs it strang to turn on the tv to bet and see jennifer lopez all day long and hardly ever see mariah so
-sb
Essence: This story is crap.
The day you stop making up titles to sell magazines is the day I buy your mag instead of reading it in the store, laughing at it, and leaving it for someone gullible enough to buy it.
-- Anonymous
First off, every one on here that is talkin about her not being black, is all ignorant. Obviously, if the damn girl got black in her no matter how much it dominates all other races. I am a multiracial woman and I have more white in me than I have Black and Native American and I look at myself as being a very succesful young Black woman. And please don't use the term "MULATTO" . It's a spanish term in english it means a mix between a cow and a donkey.
-Vanessa
Mariah Carey is just like Tiger Woods! Full of self-hate and ashamed of having black blood in their veins! Let them GO people , just LET THEM GO!!
-ann
Black does NOT overpower the other races one has in them. If my great great great great grandmother was black, and the others white, are you telling me I'm black?
HAHAHAHAHAHA
It's not a matter of shame, but of logic and sense.
-Delia
Vanessa,
If you're more white and Native American than black, and you identify solely as black, then that's your problem.
But don't try to push that kind of thinking on other people with the same mixture that don't identify as black.
-Christina
You all are just afraid of blacks splintering off into other groups.
But guess what -- more people are realizing that there's no need to identify as just black -- when they're NOT.
-- Anonymous
In that case NONE of us should id as black then, right?
Cause my mother is black, native american and my dad is white and asian. People mistake me for being hispanic all the time.
-Carl
none of us are pure black . that's plain and simple.
-Anonymous
Anonymous:
It is not my intention to hurt Ms. Carey's career by no longer supporting her.. as I said before, I wish her well. I merely stated my view. For you to comeback with such a childish remark highlights your lack of maturity and intelligence. All that was missing was a "nah, nah, nah, nah, nah" at the end. I think you're the perfect fan for Mariah.
-Anonymous
As a dark skinned (%100) black woman how dare you say the Mariah Carey is a black woman as well, when by here own admission she is more white then anything? How is this little 25% present enough to land her the same title I and many others hold so proudly? She and mixed people like her are not black but another race entirely (Let them get their own magazine if the don?t have one already). As a black professional I encounter subtle racism everyday, but I endure it and move past it. This woman has no idea what that?s like the
-Osona Davis
The only reason she?s even agreed to the title of a black woman now is because white people don?t care about her anymore so she?ll come to us for support. She, Halle Berry, Michael Michelle, Shamar Moore and many others are just examples of how these mixed people are taking opportunities away from real black people whose race can?t be changed (though tanning) or ignored at a whim. Real black people even in this day and age still have struggles and understand the race isn?t just a color but a culture, a source of pride and
-Anonymous
What?s next are going let Britney Spears be on the cover next month claiming to be black also?
-Anonymous
well racially nin both uk and america it leaves alot to be desired as only nearly 40 years ago did america's martin luther die needlessly plus countless others who have been killed because of t he colour of their skin. it happens in the uk also but it is not so publicised.
-judith williams
Mariah should focus on her talents and strengths as an artist, if any, and not digress to using the race card to win popularity.
Funny how she didn't make any grand claims before, but suddenly she needs us now.
Posted: Tue 12 Apr 2005 22:30 Post subject: Mariah Carey
Go to findarticles.com and do a search for "Mariah Carey." She has foolisly given numerous interview to Johnson Publications such as Ebony, Jet, Essence, etc.
After her parents divorced when she was 3 years old, Mariah was reared by her Irish-American mother, Patricia Carey, a vocal coach and former opera singer. During her childhood, Mariah only periodically saw her father, Alfred Roy Carey, a Black aeronautical engineer who lives in Washington, D.C., and also has a home on Long Island. Her father's mother is Black, she explains, while his father is Venezuelan.
What kind of Venezuelan was Mariah's paternal grandfather? Why did her father abandon his original name of "Nunez" for "Carey," which is an unwise social move for person too dark to be seen as "white"? If he had kept "Nunez" and presented himself as a Latino, would his daughter have been spared black demands for her to identify with them?
Posted: Fri 15 Apr 2005 14:32 Post subject: Misunderstood Black Woman
I've read the article, and it's actually well written, that's when I understood the title on the magazine. Mariah talked mostly about how she was marketed as a non-Black artist meaning she was promoted by Tommy as a 'colorless' artist which Mariah was not in agreement. Which is why, when she broke from Tommy's influence she did the music that was her which was strongly hip hop influenced. She talked about Sandra Bernhards 'attack' on her 'blackness' on her standup show...using words like Niggerish and greasy rappers etc. The article in no way was about 'the One Drop' she is very much appreciated as a multiracial person. The article in say 'Misunderstood Black woman' was in reference to that part of her that is black and it's influences in her music...
I think the thing that is most distressing about the Mariah Carey article is not necessarily her interpretation of self, but others interpretation of her. Mariah is an individual person and does not represent blacks, mixed race etc. people. She is just another person trying to survive the onslaught of one-dropism at it's finest. Even though I don't actively listen to Mariah's music (I'm a total and complete old and new metalist e.g. Metallica, Led Zeppelin etc.) I find myself, lately, running into articles about her "blackness" or lack thereof. What's interesting is the many assumptions of people that don't even know her. They claim she is "messed up" and doesn't know if she's "black or whaver". First off it is none of their business how she defines herself and secondly the media is infamous for setting the tonality of said articles. What I truly find saddening is the complete lack of intelligence, class, poise, and self-esteem of self identified blacks e.g.:
"Mariah Carey is just like Tiger Woods! Full of self-hate and ashamed of having black blood in their veins! Let them GO people , just LET THEM GO!! -ann "
Wow, sounds like this person is the one with identity problems. It will never cease to amaze me at the callousness and ignorance of SIBs' in their alleged struggle to attain equality. I believe, and will continue to believe that, especially in my personal experiences, that American Blacks are a group of persons that have taken on the role of their so-called oppressors in that they racially bully and kidnap anyone with dark skin. Wake up, get over it, and be proud of who you are instead of tryijng to relentlessly pursue us racially mixed people in order to convert us into being black. In closing I personally am an existentialist along with SI and truly believe that although us mixed race persons come from different racial backgrounds we should celebrate the history of what other mixed race persons have accomplished throughout time instead of celebrating our respective different racial heritages.
Go to findarticles.com and do a search for "Mariah Carey." She has foolisly given numerous interview to Johnson Publications such as Ebony, Jet, Essence, etc.
After her parents divorced when she was 3 years old, Mariah was reared by her Irish-American mother, Patricia Carey, a vocal coach and former opera singer. During her childhood, Mariah only periodically saw her father, Alfred Roy Carey, a Black aeronautical engineer who lives in Washington, D.C., and also has a home on Long Island. Her father's mother is Black, she explains, while his father is Venezuelan.
What kind of Venezuelan was Mariah's paternal grandfather? Why did her father abandon his original name of "Nunez" for "Carey," which is an unwise social move for person too dark to be seen as "white"? If he had kept "Nunez" and presented himself as a Latino, would his daughter have been spared black demands for her to identify with them?
I like how Venezuelan, a nationality, gets confused with race in this country. Indeed what kind of Venzuelan was Mariah Carey's grandfather? Given that country's history, he could have been as black (or non-black as the case may be) as Carey's paternal grandmother.
As you mentioned in your last sentence, Latinos with obvious African ancestry never seem to get noticed as black and are usually not expected to identify as such or with other black people.
For example, I have yet to see articles claiming that Rosario Dawson (whose father, according to her, is black, Irish and Cherokee) is really black or that Puerto Rican actress, Lauren Velez (note pictures of them below), is hiding from her blackness and should realize she is black afterall. Both are obviously people with African ancestry who look more black than Mariah Carey. Yet because they are Latino they get a pass. Strange.
Posted: Thu 21 Apr 2005 14:30 Post subject: her fight is not to be seen as a 'white girl'
Mostly what I've gotten from people's thoughts on Mariah is that she is accused or pointed out as a 'white girl trying to be black'
The music industry tried to paint her as a 'white girl', so getting on Black people isn't really it, especially since her 'black' friends support her in that... VIBE magazine is also very good at presenting the person as they are/they have never shown Mariah as a black woman.
Sandra Bernhardt was sued by Mariah for her attack on Mariahs connection to her 'blackness' and the style of music she prefers.
From what the Essence mag article expressed was Mariahs fight not to be seen as a 'white girl'
Actually the attack has been on her blackness or that part she expresses thru that part of her heritage. And it isn't just black people... According to Mariah, it's been non-black people who tried to get her to downplay that part of her heritage concerning her image
Posted: Fri 22 Apr 2005 18:07 Post subject: Sandra Bernhard on Mariah Carey
In 1998, the ubiquitously mean Sandra Bernhard had this to say about Carey in her one-woman show 'I'm Still Here...Damn It!: "Now she's trying to backtrack on our asses, gettin' real niggerish up there at the Royalton Hotel suite, with Puff Daddy and all the greasy chain-wearing Black men. "Oooh, Daddy...I got a little bit of Black in me, too. I didn't tell you that?'
'
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