Being The Only Black Around Can Often Be Hilarious

The experiences of being the only black around can sometimes be funny.

My son posted this on his Facebook page. I nearly died laughing. Brings back memories of my experiences in class too. Glad he has a sense of humor about it.

Click here for some funny stuff on life as the only black in your class.

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.

 

The Power of Good People Crossing Racial Lines

Game changed history.

This is a great video. Very moving and well worth the few minutes to watch it. Shows the power of sports and of good people who are willing to cross “racial” and ethnic lines.

See the video here.

So Now When Is White History Month?

I can’t remember which of my favorite blogs tipped me off to this video. My apologies for not giving you/them credit.

But this video, though late for Black History Month, is still very apropos. And it is SO right on.

Louis C.K. On Advantages of Being White

Kudos to Louis C.K. for putting white privilege in proper context and doing so in a very funny way.

American Black Presidents Before Obama?

Ole Andrew Jackson may have been a brother.

One of the problems with the “one drop” rule, that racist idea that one drop of black blood makes a person black, which one of those still accepted beliefs here in America, at least to many, is that if you apply it fully, it may turn out everybody is black. After all, wouldn’t that simply be a question of how far back you want to go.

Several scholars are now saying Barack Obama may not, according to the one drop mindset, be our first African-American President. Look out! This may cause some people great consternation.

Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and ole Thomas Jefferson all may have had blacks in their genealogy.

Well, well, well.

Of course I don’t buy into the one drop rule. But this goes to show, defining people by what they look like or what is in their ancestry is all just a wasted exercise. We are all mixed somewhere down the line.

Read more about these other “black” Presidents here.

 

How Dare A Black Cosplayer Take On A “White” Character?

The characters are not real people.

Read this over at Racialicious. What a very interesting and thought-provoking piece. It is something I can relate to because my kids are somewhat into cosplay. Here is an excerpt:

Once upon a time, I inadvertently started a cosplay race war on Tumblr. Whoops.

So, here’s the deal: I’m a cosplayer. If you don’t already know one of us in person, (and you probably do–we’reeverywhere) you’ve probably seen people like me on the news–all dolled up in a rainbow of face paint and eye-popping wigs, 50 shades of spandex, and skyscraper shoes, for the sake of expressing love for and bringing our favorite characters to life at sci-fi, comic book, video game, and anime conventions.

Since I started cosplaying in 2008, I’ve traveled the country, hitting up as many cons as financially possible, all the while making incredible friends, unforgettable memories, and lugging hard-to-get-through-airport-security props along the way. (Have you ever tried to fly with a dress made out of plastic bubbles? Fun fact: you can’t. But you can ship it to your hotel!)

Here’s the second deal: I’m also black. Which is fine by most everyone…until I have the audacity to cosplay a character who isn’t.

After my pictures started making the rounds on deviantArt, Tumblr, and 4chan, it became pretty clear that my cosplay brings all the racists to the yard, and they’re, like, white cosplay is better than yours…

What kills me is that, in person, nobody has the balls to say a word about whether or not they think darker-skinned people should cosplay lighter skinned characters–but online is a completely different animal. Online, I was “Nigger Venus,” and “Sailor Venus Williams” because I am black.

My nose was too wide, lips were too big; I had a “face like a gorilla” and wasn’t suited for such a cute character….because I am black. My wig was too blonde, my wig wasn’t blonde enough, or, my wig was “ghetto” because I was making it “ghetto,” by being black and having it on my head.

And furthermore, if I was going to insist on “ruining characters,” I could have at least picked one with black hair so it looked more “natural.” I should have worn blue contacts–but if I had, it would have looked “ghetto.” Because I am black.

The depths that the insults sink to are enough to scare many interested cosplayers away from even trying. I had an Indian friend who refused to cosplay anything other than Indian characters after watching the way people tore into my costumes online…

Wow. But trust me as someone who goes to Comic Con, the big daddy of all cos-play events, every year with my kids, who participate in the role playing themselves, this stuff is a BIG deal. It is also when you most wish there were more comic book characters of other colors for kids of color to choose from. But even if there were, people should be allowed to play Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman or whomever, regardless of how much they look like the character.Kudos to the young woman in the article for being so strong.

Here is the full article. It is really worth the read.

 

In London, Whites Are Now A Minority

A change in the guard symbolizes a bigger change.

America is not the only country that is in the midst of an ethnic shift from being majority white (though that change is not expected here until about 2050). In London, whites are now the minority. According to The Financial Times:

White Britons no longer make up the majority of people in London for the first time, according to the latest census data which pointed to a cosmopolitan capital increasingly divergent from the national economy around it…

The surge of immigration has been especially striking in London, where more than one in three people — 37 per cent — were born outside the UK.

Only 45 per cent of London’s population were white people of English, Scottish or Welsh heritage, according to the latest data, down from almost 60 per cent in 2001.This makes London the first UK region where white ethnic Britons have become a minority.

The top source of new migrants to England and Wales overall for the decade was India — supplanting Ireland in the decade to 2001 — while the second-biggest source was Poland. In the 2001 census, Poland did not make the top 10.

Of course this shift is about one city in England but it is a striking occurrence since London is of course the marquee city in that country.

The Australian, a leading media source down under, also reported this from the same Census news:

The results, published yesterday, also show that the number of mixed-race people has doubled to top a million for the first time.

The changing face of Britain has been highlighted during the past decade with the prominence of mixed-race sports personalities such as Lewis Hamilton and Jessica Ennis. From small-market towns such as Boston to cities such as Birmingham, many parts of the country are home to increasingly mixed communities…

The London statistics include 102,000 mixed white and Asian people; 119,000 mixed white and black Caribbean; 119,000 other mixed; 542,000 British Indian; 224,000 British Pakistani and 222,000 British Bangladeshi.

Gotta love diversity.

Here is the full story in The Financial Times and here is the full piece in The Australian.

White Supremacists Have The Right To Be Wrong

Kevin MacDonald, the man at the center of the controversy.

OK, I must admit this is a tough one. The video below is of a professor here in the L.A. area who is another of those who advocates that whites are losing their rights and need their own advocacy group. Some have called for his removal from his position at Cal State – Long Beach because they consider him a white supremacist.

But I have to say unless there is more to what he is saying, I am not sure that is a just course of action. I do believe he has a right to say what he thinks as long as he does not step into the area of putting others down or advocating violence of any sort. And I must admit though, I have not read anything else about this man so maybe he does have some pretty ugly things out there. But watch the video and see what you think:

My greatest issue with the professor isn’t that he feels the need to form such a group, but that his argument is simply wrong. The problem with his group and the basis of his philosophy is rooted on a broad definition of what it means to be white. That somehow, having white skin connects all whites. Simply not true historically or currently. But again as long as the professor’s ideas or not being pushed on students or in his classroom, he is every right to be wrong in his belief.

Here is a link to a written article on the professor.

Facebook Holding Onto Outdated Concepts of “Race”

Come on Facebook, don’t be so backwards thinking.

This is a great piece by Glenn Robinson of the blog, Mixed American Life:

I had been telling people that identity sites like Facebook and Google+ don’t have a field for race – because race does not define us.

Well, maybe I was wrong – again.

Facebook went there – at least on this ‘Brief survey’ that popped up at the top of my page.

Click here to read more on what Facebook did when it comes to taking us all back to a place we had hoped to have gotten past.