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Mixed race people

  • 21-12-2016 8:25pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,278 ✭✭✭


    Lewis Hamilton, Barrack Obama and Trevor Noah are all children of one black and one white parent. Why then are they always referred to as black? Fair enough they have darker skin than 'white' people but genetically it's 50/50
    Post edited by Ten of Swords on


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,748 ✭✭✭tony1kenobi


    It's because they are black.


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,757 ✭✭✭✭RobertKK


    ...and surely they also benefit from hybrid vigour/heterosis.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,257 ✭✭✭Yourself isit


    It's because they are black.

    It does actually depend on skin colour. Plenty of white or light skinned mixed race folks not called black.

    For instance "black" actress told she's looking well tan.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2926366/I-m-ethnic-Rashida-Jones-shocked-response-told-s-tan-SAG-Awards-red-carpet.html


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 781 ✭✭✭CINCLANTFLT




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,386 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    It does actually depend on skin colour. Plenty of white or light skinned mixed race folks not called black.

    For instance "black" actress told she's looking well tan.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2926366/I-m-ethnic-Rashida-Jones-shocked-response-told-s-tan-SAG-Awards-red-carpet.html

    I think it was Stephen Fry who was in Kenya and they said if Obama was president there he'd be the first white president.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,452 ✭✭✭✭The_Valeyard


    #mixedlivesmatter


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    mordeith wrote: »
    Lewis Hamilton, Barrack Obama and Trevor Noah are all children of one black and one white parent. Why then are they always referred to as black? Fair enough they have darker skin than 'white' people but genetically it's 50/50

    So does Mariah Carey but she's never classed as black. Some people lean more to one side hence the description.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭NiallBoo


    The whole modern concept of race* comes from some 18/19th century anthropologists. That were more looking to back up their opinion that white people were superior than anything else.

    Going with this, having black genes meant that you were damaged goods and didn't deserve to be called white.

    It amazes me that we still cling to these ideas and that still one of our primary ways of grouping people is based on a genetic variance in melatonin production.

    Why not hair colour or height?

    And why are the caucuses such a big deal? We're all from Africa anyway.

    (*prior to the late 18th century, this simply meant any group of people with something in common)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,257 ✭✭✭Yourself isit


    NiallBoo wrote: »
    The whole modern concept of race comes from some 18/19th century anthropologists. That were more looking to back up their opinion that white people were superior than anything else.

    Going with this, having black genes meant that you were damaged goods and didn't deserve to be called white.

    It amazes me that we still cling to these ideas and that still one of our primary ways of grouping people is based on a genetic variance in melatonin production.

    Why not hair colour or height?

    And why are the caucuses such a big deal? We're all from Africa anyway.

    The caucuses are not a big deal outside the US.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭NiallBoo


    The caucuses are not a big deal outside the US.

    Thank goodness.

    They make a bloody big deal of skin colour in general.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭Help!!!!


    mordeith wrote: »
    Lewis Hamilton, Barrack Obama and Trevor Noah are all children of one black and one white parent. Why then are they always referred to as black? Fair enough they have darker skin than 'white' people but genetically it's 50/50

    Trevor Noah would be considered " coloured " in his native South Africa. A lot of mixed race people do not consider themselves " black " but are labelled it by others in countries like the UK or US. In an African country a mixed raced person would not be considered " black " by black people.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,278 ✭✭✭mordeith


    How come when you see a mixed couple on TV or in films it's always a black man with a white woman?

    This was very rare and considered quiet taboo as opposed to the other way around as it was easier accept the white man / black woman as the power still rested with the white man.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 180 ✭✭Haithabu


    mordeith wrote: »
    Lewis Hamilton, Barrack Obama and Trevor Noah are all children of one black and one white parent. Why then are they always referred to as black? Fair enough they have darker skin than 'white' people but genetically it's 50/50
    It sounds cooler than referring to them as mulattos. Anyway, give it 10 more years and you are not allowed to say black any more so the issue will fix itself.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 398 ✭✭IsaacWunder


    Haithabu wrote: »
    It sounds cooler than referring to them as mulattos. Anyway, give it 10 more years and you are not allowed to say black any more so the issue will fix itself.

    Give over grandad.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,078 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    It's because they are black.

    Are they not coloured?


  • Site Banned Posts: 1,489 ✭✭✭Ralf and Florian


    Give over grandad.

    Ageist.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,257 ✭✭✭Yourself isit


    Give over grandad.

    Actually black was a taboo term in the US for about a decade.


  • Registered Users Posts: 191 ✭✭Didas


    Help!!!! wrote: »
    Trevor Noah would be considered " coloured " in his native South Africa. A lot of mixed race people do not consider themselves " black " but are labelled it by others in countries like the UK or US. In an African country a mixed raced person would not be considered " black " by black people.


    There was a documentary on RTE the other night where a guy from Dublin with a Nigerian father and an Irish mother went to Nigeria to investigate his and his fathers roots. He was being shown around a poor part of Lagos with a Nigerian guide and people were coming up screaming at them saying 'why are you helping these white foreigners show the bad side of our country'. In Ireland he would completely be seen as black, but in reality he was far closer to white complexion than he was to the complexion of the people in Nigeria. So what you've said seems to be the case.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,257 ✭✭✭Yourself isit


    LordSutch wrote: »
    Are they not coloured?

    Taboo.

    People of colour.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 829 ✭✭✭hognef


    Taboo.

    People of colour.

    I believe the correct term is 'grey'...


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,078 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    Surely they're more brown than grey?

    Anyway, I thought 'Coloured' was the correct term for people of mixed race (certainly in South Africa) and maybe further afield? then again maybe I'm wrong.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭Help!!!!


    tonygun wrote: »
    There was a documentary on RTE the other night where a guy from Dublin with a Nigerian father and an Irish mother went to Nigeria to investigate his and his fathers roots. He was being shown around a poor part of Lagos with a Nigerian guide and people were coming up screaming at them saying 'why are you helping these white foreigners show the bad side of our country'. In Ireland he would completely be seen as black, but in reality he was far closer to white complexion than he was to the complexion of the people in Nigeria. So what you've said seems to be the case.

    You see I'm not sure he would. I have cousins who are mixed race & to anyone who knows them well they are Irish, colour doesn't come into it. I have a mate whos half papua new guinea half white aussie, in Australia he just an Australian so was shocked while working in the UK & was being labelled " black " by British black people.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,514 ✭✭✭bee06


    mordeith wrote: »
    Lewis Hamilton, Barrack Obama and Trevor Noah are all children of one black and one white parent. Why then are they always referred to as black? Fair enough they have darker skin than 'white' people but genetically it's 50/50

    It all depends on the person's view point. In Trevor Noah's autobiography he goes into how his maternal grandparents considered him "white" and he got treated differently/better by them than his cousins who were not mixed race.


  • Registered Users Posts: 191 ✭✭Didas


    Help!!!! wrote: »
    You see I'm not sure he would. I have cousins who are mixed race & to anyone who knows them well they are Irish, colour doesn't come into it. I have a mate whos half papua new guinea half white aussie, in Australia he just an Australian so was shocked while working in the UK & was being labelled " black " by British black people.

    Of course, but I do think in my experience he would be considered both Irish and black, not in any sort of hierarchical way but in a purely observational way, however it does vary obviously.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭Help!!!!


    tonygun wrote: »
    Of course, but I do think in my experience he would be considered both Irish and black, however it does vary obviously.

    Yeah but in Ireland for the most part colour doesn't really come into it. If you grow up with someone of colour their just your mate or whatever colour doesn't really come into it unlike the UK/USA. For Example Phil Lynott only started looking at himself as more " black " when he started hanging out with some of The Wailers before he considered himself more Irish


  • Registered Users Posts: 191 ✭✭Didas


    Help!!!! wrote: »
    Yeah but in Ireland for the most part colour doesn't really come into it. If you grow up with someone of colour their just your mate or whatever colour doesn't really come into it unlike the UK/USA For Example Phil Lynott only started looking at himself as more " black " when he started hanging out with some of The Wailers before he considered himself more Irish

    I agree, I get where you're coming from.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,965 ✭✭✭Help!!!!


    tonygun wrote: »
    I agree, I get where you're coming from.

    From my experience mixed race people in the UK have a chip on their shoulder because their not black but seem to think they have to be recognised as black so become even blacker than black people. Race is more of an issue over there understandably so because of the history of racism


  • Site Banned Posts: 1,489 ✭✭✭Ralf and Florian


    Help!!!! wrote: »
    From my experience mixed race people in the UK have a chip on their shoulder because their not black but seem to think they have to be recognised as black so become even blacker than black people. Race is more of an issue over there understandably so because of the history of racism


    That guy Akala is a case in point. He's half black half white but he seems to be trying too hard to prove his black credentials.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,580 ✭✭✭✭nullzero
    °°°°°


    Mixed opinions on this thread so far

    Glazers Out!



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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,174 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    NiallBoo wrote: »
    It amazes me that we still cling to these ideas and that still one of our primary ways of grouping people is based on a genetic variance in melatonin production.

    Why not hair colour or height?

    And why are the caucuses such a big deal? We're all from Africa anyway.
    Well… While I wholeheartedly agree with you re the old White European anthropologists angle, it can well be argued that in our collective and natural need to distance ourselves from that nonsense we have also muddied the waters the other way. While it's of course morally far less repugnant I would argue it minimises the wonderful genetic diversity the human species contains.

    And diversity there is. EG you note "We're all from Africa anyway", which is mostly true, but there is far more interesting a narrative going on behind that blanket statement.

    Non African ancestry populations have at least two(and likely three) extra admixtures from archaic human populations not present in people of African descent(they look to have some of their own and research is ongoing). Native Tibetans have genes from an archaic people we label Denisovans that seem to have helped their ancestors with high altitude. Eskimo populations also have different genes likely from the same source that allows for better heat retention, Europeans have genes from Neandertals that seem to be involved in immune system responses(and addiction. Take the rough with the smooth :D).

    The human population today rather than some homogenous bunch have a deep and rich tapestry of history behind us and it's written in both our genotypes and phenotypes. It is far more than melanin deep. Indeed if we were any other species it is highly likely we would be seen as sub sub species of the human species. That diversity will likely end up saving us should any natural disaster come along beyond the reach of our technology to mitigate. As it doubtless helped us before.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 464 ✭✭Goya


    NiallBoo wrote: »
    The whole modern concept of race* comes from some 18/19th century anthropologists. That were more looking to back up their opinion that white people were superior than anything else.

    Going with this, having black genes meant that you were damaged goods and didn't deserve to be called white.

    It amazes me that we still cling to these ideas and that still one of our primary ways of grouping people is based on a genetic variance in melatonin production.

    Why not hair colour or height?

    And why are the caucuses such a big deal? We're all from Africa anyway.

    (*prior to the late 18th century, this simply meant any group of people with something in common)
    Until now, I didn't know what the caucuses were, but skin colour is usually the most obvious visible physical trait we have, so it's just the easiest one to use when distinguishing. It's not that amazing and it's not necessarily sinister! Members of every race do such distinguishing. It would be disingenuous to say we all look the same even with different skin colours. Hair colour and height are not as distinctive.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    i think mixed raced women...are gorgeous


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭4ensic15


    mordeith wrote: »
    Lewis Hamilton, Barrack Obama and Trevor Noah are all children of one black and one white parent. Why then are they always referred to as black? Fair enough they have darker skin than 'white' people but genetically it's 50/50

    They can hardly be called grey people!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,301 ✭✭✭Snickers Man


    Bit of a bump here but the issue of what "colour" one is often depends on where one is. Trevor Noah, for example, tells a story about driving his younger brother (technically his half brother) to a friend's house in South Africa. Trevor's father is a white European, his brother's father is a black African. He heard his brother's friend say "Hey, How come your brother Trevor is white?"

    I've heard similar stories about other mixed race Africans. Over there, they are called "Whitey" (or equivalent in local languages). Here, they might be called something entirely different. Not by nice people, though.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,386 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    Holy thread bump batman! :D



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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    LOL is that a deliberate joke? I would call them black opinions personally.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I wonder if Irish person has one black parent and one white Irish parent, the child is mixed/leaning more towards black, how many generations of all-white parents does it take for them to be considered pure white again?



  • Registered Users Posts: 330 ✭✭cezanne


    In twenty years time this wont be a question as the mass immigration will put paid to any discussions except the Doo Doo of a being pure white person, they will be the minority or at least that seems to be the plan of world governments. Miscegenation is now rampant everywhere even in our adverts and all tv shows and films - the conditioning is in full swing. A white person will be a collectable item in 20 years catch one now and keep it in storage !! Victorian freak shows will make a comeback !! :)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,308 ✭✭✭thefallingman


    bob Marley was mixed race and treated badly in his own country until he became famous



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,845 ✭✭✭RobbieTheRobber


    "pure white again" 🤮

    Disgusting language. No human should ever be classified as pure or impure. Fúck me.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,845 ✭✭✭RobbieTheRobber




  • Registered Users Posts: 330 ✭✭cezanne


    Reading the article now thank you ! But surely you do see the adds on TV & the parts in cinema i.e a black Queen of England in Bridgerton, a planned black James Bond soo contrary to the novels. A female Doctor Who. The advertising for Dunnes - Aldi -Lidl - tesco every consumer item always a mixed race couple or kids, unless, like last year there was a kick back and objections, it is a form of making it acceptable to marry out of your race and encouraging it. One huge melting pot of coffee coloured people everywhere. ( as the song goes )!! They do look nice sometimes, remember irish people are not the most beautiful in the world so sometimes its hit & miss, not too nice.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,580 ✭✭✭✭nullzero
    °°°°°


    Zombie thread alert.

    Glazers Out!



  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,955 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid



    The bang of unfettered racism off this post is very strong.

    You don't happen to be a card-carrying member of Stormfront, perchance?



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    If you look for offence you will find it. You know what I meant. If a mixed race (1 black parent, 1 white parent) person has a child with a white person, will their child be still classed as mixed or will it be white? Who gets to definitively decide?



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    You call it BS. Others call it an established trend.


    Example: White English people are a less than 50% of the population in London. The percentage has been decreasing for 50 years and is projected to decrease further. Nobody even bothers to deny it. But maybe I'm just a "racist" peddling a "conspiracy theory".


    You only have to take a superficial look at demographic trends around the world to see this. The percentage population of non-Hispanic whites in the US is another example.


    Now do I think it's a genocide? Not exactly. But I do know that no politician has ever dared ask an electorate anywhere for their opinion on demographic changes and possible policy implications.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,845 ✭✭✭RobbieTheRobber


    I might know what you think meant but I know what you typed and that was pure. The opposite of pure is impure and those two words have very positive and negative connotations respectively. They should in no way be used by anyone to try and grade or classify our fellow humans.

    But honestly who gives a **** what a bunch of scumbags who want to grade humans by the colour of their skin think.

    Less white or more white what horrible things to worry about. If I ever hear anyone try to classify my children like that I feel it is a well justified occasion where I could consider a resort to violence in response.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I apologise if you were offended by my post. I am in no way attempting to grade anyone on a scale from "good" to "bad".



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,388 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Try saying that to a coloured person in the Cape Flats.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,096 CMod ✭✭✭✭Ten of Swords


    Mod - Well this thread resurrection has been a fun trip down memory lane

    Closed



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