Mixed people and mixed perception
Categories: America, ENGLISH, cross-cultural, ethnic, "race", multicultural, mixity, society, demography, global trends, Zeitgeist
The world is mixed, Black. White. could be relevant introductions to this present article. Les unions mixtes et le métissage de la Réunion (in French) as well. Great external on-topic websites (mulatto.org, and wonsadamaa.blogspot.com) for you to deepen your knowledge. An external debate related to this post is taking place at Serenity Quest, have a look there as well !
“Mulatto”, “mixed culture”, “mixed skin colour” or several feet on several worlds, different cultures, and being sometimes perceived as foreign from the community (s)he has the genetic legacy to belong to. The “human no man’s land”, a boundary that can only push for over-achievement. A double-edged sword that requires an excellent and strong base to grow upon.
By their existence, their inherent mission will be indeed about scratching down barriers between communities and bridging them… their tasks will be even more difficult if their alikes are rare, and these fences are 5 meters high and 2 meters deep ; their role being therefore to educate their surrounding about the “blind colour” concept or their specificity.
Halle Berry, Colin Powell (well world peace…:-), Senator Obama,… are Black and White living in the USA (which could be considered as one of the “extreme” visible mix). Claiming their mixed blood status must be quite tough in a country where you need to tick boxes regarding the “race” you belong to (Caucasian, African-American, Asian, American-Indian… and that’s it) in official forms.
Just try to imagine the living of a mixed kid : mummy is white, her whole family is white / daddy is black and his whole family is black. You see them both, but can’t recognise yourself in your parents… you are attending school, be ready to hear “you talk like a white” from some black fellows, “you are black” from some white fellows…
Another situation : you are white, “Halle Berry” just passed by (hmmm this perfume), and it is very probable you would just tell yourself “what a beautiful black woman”. And if you are black, “what a beautiful non-black woman” !
In other words “one drop still rules” (ODR) - which is broadly about simplifying skin colour perception to just one colour. Maybe, this perception process could be a criteria for understanding the types of relationships communities have between each other (the higher ODR, the higer fences, the lower ODR, the lower fences?).
The 2€ question now is
“How will you define yourself to the outside world, when this one defines you anyway ?”
“White” ? “Black” ? or “Mixed” ?
People just love to label others and being a mulatto myself I have had my share of labels and insults but the color of my skin doesn’t define me and the person that judges me based on it is a racist and not worth my time or energy! They used to call me an “OREO COOKIE” black on the outside and white on the inside, sheesh how ridiculous, I am a human being like anyone else and there is no place in this world for more hatred and especially not this STUPID!
Very interesting, thanks!
(Lots of) ppl just love to label others… Tisha, you are unfortunately 100% right.
And THIS IS GREAT BECAUSE U GAVE THE RIGHT ANSWER TO THE LAST QUESTION !!!!!! thank you thank you so much - you understood what I wanted (I was expecting this reaction).
judging ppl based on ppl’s colour is racism. None of the 3 potential replies at the end were “correct” - a “normal human being” is. Blind colour… but unfortunately ppl do not always understand this, and I wanted to show and explain about that…
RACISM…. pfiouuuu what a debate,
I can’t stand that, but the problem is sometimes “racist” the speech having to frame it, and be against it. This is very interesting cose sometimes ppl do not realize that. The ODR stuff is already, as rightly mentionned by Tisha, a way to label ppl… even when ppl start labelling yourself as a mix… we are all bloody human beings after all, but well.
Sometimes, which is strange, ppl want to label themselves (everyone label himself), “No I’m not like that, neither that, but I am like that”, and this is actually indirectly influencing and feeding the racism mechanism… Sometimes we are “racists” towards ourselves… “I am like that, so I should behave like that”… interesting
Well yes John, I’m “ME” and none of my external qualities is what I am all about, I tell people look deeper into my person, my…soul!
enjoy our discussions!!!!!
oups so many replies in such a short time (nothing during the first day, and then 4 in an hour)… I added now a “more” tag so like that visitors will have the opportunity to read the comment more easily - very important for the comprehension of this post.
Interesting point of view beckie, (welcome by the way)… there should be a post later about racism (what is it exactly about ?), but this seems “rational”. Thanks for your input ! dnh to add sthg if sthg gets added…
Tisha, I believe this is just about the beginning of this post ; education role, and that’s all about that, the blind colour rule (but I believe when ppl have travelled a lot, being in various different locations, or when using to live in a “highly” multi-ethnic environnment, ppl do not even wonder this question about skin colour…). I definitely enjoy our conversation too…
Are you a mulatto like me?
LIVE
I’m on Dr. Blogstein’s Radio Happy Hour and they are talking about Barack Obama and the fact that everyone mentions the fact that he’s Black, doesn’t matter. Why can’t we just see him for who he is?
am not in the African-European definition.
am a culturally-mixed though, which is (I believe) a bit of the same feeling especially when you are living in a very traditional and narrow-minded context.
A few of my cousins are “mulatto’s” (african-brit, far east asian-brit), but London is a bit different I guess.
Obama, I sincerely hope he’ll make it - what he will be doing will be just tremendous… even by only presenting himself, am sure lots of ppl will start off thinking (such a huge job).
hey thanks so much for mentioning my blog in this post! the multiracial/biracial identity is a hard thing to negotiate - especially in the US where much of the culture is still invested in ODR. i think a lot of this is generational actually. we must remember that baby boomers, who still comprise a huge percentage of the American population, grew up during legal apartheid in the US. and they are the ones who still hold political, social and economic power. gen x and y are far more diverse physically and culturally, and therefore see themselves and the world around them differently. this really is a significant period of transition for America. i think obama is an important first step in that direction. i am sad, though, that an African American mulatto was not able to lead the charge. there are so many of us out there with mulatto identities who are not able to admit this identification to ourselves or to others. it is a bold step to challenge American race myths, after all. it must be done, however, and if it takes an african mulatto to do it i support him 100%!!!!
Hi Jennifer,
You are welcome, very on-topic and qualitative blog ! So… normal. Thanks for your comment (come back anytime, welcome! Feel like home).
“Legal apartheid”, “ghettoisation”, that’s what I felt too.
The fact Obama is seriously considered as a candidate for the presidency, could be a clear sign the USA enters a transition period (impossible 40 to 30 years ago)… the new generation (logically) should think in a totally different way… when you grow up in a mixed environment, you should normally have a different vision than when growing up in a non-mixed one. I think this is the key too… but there we will enter in a different debate ; what about “identity” in a multicultural environment (because finally it’s all about that) ?
Hello !
I m white, my wife is black (western indies) and my son is ….. he is beautiful as all “metisses” and mulattos in the world !!!
They are our future… and i’m afraid for all racists, humanity is going to be an happy mixed culture !
(Hall Berry rules
MasonVerger
she does rule 
et ton fils doit être magnifique… and I agree with you ; hopefully humanity will be blind colour… but there is still a long way to go
Thanks for a great conversation!
Not much to add, but have you seen this?
http://mixedblood.wordpress.com/
Hi !!!
This discussion is very interesting !!! I know people should see what you have inside not your colours but nowdays i’m afraid it will not happen . it will take a long time for ppl to see what you have inside your heart to get along with you . Mixed ppl or mulatos or colord or cateron ( a mulatos with a black give birth to a CATERON ) or orthogone whatever they want to call us ,we are forming a culture even though we do not want to or we identify ourself or we behaving like the parent we getting along the most with (if it’s black then yeah !!! we talking and behaving like there is no more black then us or the other way around ) and i think as a mixed myself i think is disgracing… we should change first before ppl see us diferentely … think abt it !!!! mixed is beautiful and indeed the world will be mixed someday so we should to ourself a favor ,a BIG ONE .. and try to see who we really are … i’m still finding hard to be a mixed person…
D.XXX