uk_grenada

Thats a bit ancient - but funny. Take a look at the parkinson show where esther ransen was destroyed by bernard manning

Miss Ann Thrope

Um, maybe by starting with the post that opened the thread... And most of the posters here have provided a reasonably clear idea of their personal biographies over time.

carcajou

When he said that America had clear social divisions, and that racial relationships seemed more easygoing than the media portrayed? In no way is that saying America doesn't have a race problem (and I certainly did not take that meaning from it, particularly as it was followed by the point about social division). I again encourage you to interpret posts as they are written and not invent meaning.

I have not provided a personal biography, and in fact deliberately steered clear from revealing key pieces of my identity and occupation. Some even provide false information to throw people off. I assume most do that.

Moses2013

But how do you know if someone is white, black, green yellow or whatever from posts? Also when does a person stop being a certain race? For example, if my great-great-grandparents were so called white and I'm now so called black (vice versa) when would you be considered a racist?

IKnowNothing

Well on the 5th October it's mostly ancient history after THE MEET UP!

carcajou

Ha. I unfortunately revel in my anonymity.

DXBtoDOH

I supposed the mixed race have a bit more of an identification issue but the age old adage that one drop of African blood makes you black seems to be a reliable one racist, yes, but that's history for you. The biracial white-east Asian offsprings are probably the ones with the most complicated feelings on the subject as they don't have the benefit of the racist one-drop African blood standard to automatically classify them as of a race.

In the good old days you'd simply be called "coloured" but nowadays you will know what race you are through how you are treated by greater society.
Obama may have a white mother, but people accept him as black as he did himself.

Nonetheless, the existence of mixed race people doesn't preclude that the vast majority of people are of clearly defined racial groups and the existence of racial groups has (unfortunately and tragically perhaps) largely driven human relationships and remains a real factor today.

scrubbedexpat141

Is the chip on your shoulder meant to be anonymous too?

carcajou

Absolutely.

Miss Ann Thrope

Well I agree with the points made above that race is an entirely man-made social construct, with no biological meaning or significance whatsoever. That doesn't make it any less real. And black Americans are usually fairly adamant about identifying themselves as black - moreso than African American - including some I know that you might not think were black based on appearance.

As to my comment, which appears to have caused some people such a tizzy, black people usually, in my experience, do have at least some black friends. So my comment assumes nothing about the race of any reader.

Miss Ann Thrope

I agree with this.

Miss Ann Thrope

How can you be sure that you've been told the correct time and place?

uk_grenada

A small happening in my life that illustrates a part of the issue. We adopted a young baby in britain many years ago. As a mixed race couple it was natural that we should adopt a mixed race baby. I met her when she was 3 weeks old, and she was a tiny baby, i'd never held one so small, and i said to the social worker 'isnt she light.'

The social worker smiled and said 'yes, she'll get darker as she gets older...'. There was no answer really, but it shows -

People look for racial issues even where they dont exist assuming the worst intention or action. Like climate change its sort of an industry with people employed to further its dogmas [whether they are the kkk or black power movements or other equivalents], and masses conditioned to expect and create problems and to have an almost pavlovian response to stimuli.

I guess im saying a lot of people need to calm down, be more accepting of differences and possibly even enjoy some of them.

uk_grenada

Nb for those who dont know, its true, many mixed babies are almost white at birth and have to be in the sun to get their permanent colour [melanins there but needs activating?]

And yes - black people get suntans too.

Moses2013

And the funny thing is that nobody can really say when someone is white or when someone is black. If you ask somebody when does black start and when does white stop, they'll all have a different opinion.