The actress (“Golden Boy,” “House”) has a Cuban mother and a father who is of Italian and French descent, was born inBogotá, Colombia and raised in Nicaragua.
No More Race
Getting beyond race, and accepting that there is no such thing. Written by Earnest Harris.
Category Archives: race
Should We Still Use “Race” To Get Past “Race”?
A major ruling is coming soon. Will be controversial either way.
I have to admit, I am still not sure which side of this debate I fall on. Honestly, I see the arguments on both sides as having merit.
Thirty-five years after the Supreme Court set the terms for boosting college admissions of African Americans and other minorities, the court may be about to issue a ruling that could restrict universities’ use of race in deciding who is awarded places.
The case before the justices was brought by Abigail Fisher, a white suburban Houston student who asserted she was wrongly rejected by the University of Texas at Austin while minority students with similar grades and test scores were admitted.
The ruling is the only one the court has yet to issue following oral arguments in cases heard in October and November, the opening months of the court’s annual term which lasts until the early summer. A decision might come as early as Monday, before the start of a two-week recess.
As hard as it is to predict when a ruling will be announced, it is more difficult to say how it might change the law. Still, even a small move in the Texas case could mark the beginning of a new chapter limiting college administrators’ discretion in using race in deciding on admissions.
I do believe that there are other criteria, other than “race” that can be used to ensure diverse student populations – family income, high school being located in an impoverished area, first in family to attend college, class ranking regarding of school, etc. Using those factors will naturally lead to minority students in a lot of cases even if ignoring culture or ethnicity. I also believe a middle class or upper middle class hispanic or black student should not necessarily get preference over a white kid who went to poor schools or comes from a poor family.
But I certainly believe it is critical that universities be diverse and reflective of our changing demographics and world. It is critical to our future. So I will be paying close attention to this ruling and what happens in the aftermath. It is a tough question, should we continue to pay attention to color in order to get past color? The answer is not so simple.
Read the rest of the article reference above here.
Mixed People Monday – Tia Carrere
A diverse heritage.
The actress, who was born in Hawai’i, is of Filipino, Chinese and Spanish heritage.
Mixed People Monday – Colin Kaepernick
The guys is a true baller.
The star San Francisco 49ers quarterback, was adopted, but his biological mother is white and his father is black.
Mixed People Monday – Bruce Lee
None better.
Man I was a huge Bruce Lee fan growing up. So had to throw my old hero in here. The American–born actor was born to a Chinese father and a mother of Chinese and German ancestry.
The Browning of America
A changing American identity.
Saw this very interesting article in The Huffington Post:
Welcome to the new off-white America.
A historic decline in the number of U.S. whites and the fast growth of Latinos are blurring traditional black-white color lines, testing the limits of civil rights laws and reshaping political alliances as “whiteness” begins to lose its numerical dominance.
Long in coming, the demographic shift was most vividly illustrated in last November’s re-election of President Barack Obama, the first black president, despite a historically low percentage of white supporters.
It’s now a potent backdrop to the immigration issue being debated in Congress that could offer a path to citizenship for 11 million mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants. Also, the Supreme Court is deciding cases this term on affirmative action and voting rights that could redefine race and equality in the U.S.
The latest census data and polling from The Associated Press highlight the historic change in a nation in which non-Hispanic whites will lose their majority in the next generation, somewhere around the year 2043.
Despite being a nation of immigrants, America’s tip to a white minority has never occurred in its 237-year history and will be a first among the world’s major post-industrial societies. Brazil, a developing nation, has crossed the threshold to “majority-minority” status; a few cities in France and England are near, if not past that point.
The international experience and recent U.S. events point to an uncertain future for American race relations.
Read more here. I do think the next 10 years are going to see a redefining of America. But that will not come without a lot of tension and growing pains because these years will see huge changes in our make-up.
Mixed Couples – John Legend and Chrissy Teigen
A good looking couple.
Singer John Legend and his fiancee, Chrissy Teigen - who’s of Thai-Norwegian descent and models for Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret, are expected to marry sometime this year.
Brad Paisley & LL Cool J Should Not Be Punished For Trying To Bring People Together
An Obama supporter, no less.
The country star has just released a duet with rapper/actor LL Cool J, a slow crooning tune that laments how difficult it is to be a white man wearing a confederate flag on his shirt in the south. “To the man that waited on me at the Starbucks down on Main, I hope you understand,” the song begins, “When I put on that t-shirt, the only thing I meant to say is I’m a Skynyrd fan/The red flag on my chest somehow is like the elephant in the corner of the south.”
From there, Paisley offers up half-apologies and mea culpas for the Civil War, slavery and the region’s history of institutional racism, intoning that he should not have to bear the consequences of the South’s brutal past.
“Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood,” he raps, “What the world is really like when you’re livin’ in the hood/Just because my pants are saggin’ doesn’t mean I’m up to no good.”
The song has caught flack from around the internet. Gawker called the song ”horrible,” and shames Paisley for his complaints about reconstruction, writing, “”Gosh, Brad, I don’t think you’re the one paying for the ‘mistake’ of buying and selling human beings, really.” Meanwhile, The Hairpin calls it “a lyrical disgrace filled with awkward non-apologies and faux-pensiveness over the history of racism in the south.”
Frankly, the line I am most surprised by is the one from LL that says “If you don’t judge my gold chains, I’ll forgive the iron chains.” As if the two types of chains are remotely equal, instead of one being a choice and the other enslavement.
But with that said, I have to say I can’t be too hard on the guys. It is very clear that their intentions were nothing but good. And they took a chance probably knowing the risk. I applaud that. Did they miss the mark with some of what they said? Absolutely. Missed it by a wide mark. But it is so obvious the guys teamed up to try to bring people together.
I applaud them for that. I don’t like all this punishment they are getting from trying to get people to look beyond our covers.
Here is the song:
So What Determines Your “Race”?
So is skin color the key to what we are now?
Good Lawd.
From Gawker:
Former Democratic strategist Karen Finney, who was once the first African-American spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, was revealed today to be the new host of a 4 p.m. weekend show on MSNBC. Good for her, and good for MSNBC, which adds Finney, pictured at left, to an already diverse roster of talking heads that includes Chris Hayes, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Al Sharpton.
Don’t mention Finney’s race to Tim Graham, however. Graham, a so-called media “watchdog” for the conservative Media Research Center, doesn’t think it’s fair for MSNBC to herald Finney’s entrance as an arrival of another African-American host—y’know, considering her skin is so light and all.
Finney has a black father and a white mother so she is actually mixed. However, much like President Obama, Finney has the right to self-identify however she chooses. What is most interesting to me though in situations like this, that show once again how silly our “race” notions are, is that the key to determining if is is ok for her to be called black (or African-American) is her lighter skin and straighter hair. But Graham has no problem labeling Obama as black (also black father and white mother) presumably because he has darker skin and less straight hair.
So I guess this is kind of an admission that what your parents are has nothing to do with your “race.” Just how you look.
Just silly. I say again people, there are no different “races,” just different blendings.
Mixed People Monday – Tatiana Silva
Miss Belgium 2005
The former Miss Belgium, has a Belgian mother and a father who is Cape Verdian.
