Quote:
Originally Posted by Gmahogany777
No biracial lives the Black experience? You obviously are speaking from the experience of living in the UK. It's QUITE possible, and PROBABLE for a biracial in AMerica to live the Black experience, which is precisely why the U.S. doesn't produce as many "Piggys", as the UK does. The reason there was a phenomenon called passing in this country was because even people with negligible Black genetics who were WAY whiter than the average biracial, WERE FORCED TO LIVE THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA. The only way NOT to live that experience was to be WHITE or be willing and able to pass for and live as WHITE. Close but no cigar, wasn't going to do the trick for you........
Somewhere in this thread, I believe, there was mention of a case called Plessy vs Ferguson regarding a "Black" person trying to sit in the "whites only" section of a railroad car. The only thing was that this "BLack" person, was genetically WHITER than ALL biracials and some of the people walking around identifying as WHITE. Not only did the Supreme Court not give a phuck about that, they upheld the state law that stated that "Black" people had to ride in the "colored" section of the train and didn't even ponder the question of how "barely black", the plaintiff was. I'd say the plaintiff, Homer Plessy, as "barely" Black as he was, can very much be said to have been living the BLACK EXPERIENCE. Any ways that he wasn't living it, are negligible at best.
As I've said a hundred times on this Board. Some of you are under the mistaken notion that race is solely or even mostly a genetic concept. It is not. It as much a cultural concept/SOCIAL CONSTRUCT, as it is a genetic one. In the U.S., that has always been PARTICULARLY true. That makes all the difference in the world.
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See, you still just don't get it do you? EVEN IN AMERICA THE MIXED RACE EXPERIENCE IS NOT THE SAME AS THE BLACK EXPERIENCE! I'm not talking as in black the racial construct, i don't believe in it. I'm talking about 'black' as in genetically.
1) im sure there are a minorty of people who treat or at least recognise that mixed race people are partially white. That recognition in itself, if nothing else, CAN and OFTEN leads to subconcious connections, which in turn affect the way they treat mixed race people compared to a black person, even though they're still regarded as being 'black'. In some cases as well, it can actually have a -ve effect, as some people don't like racial mixing, and therefore may 'approve' of a black person more than a mixed race. I don't deny that mixed race people in America face discrimination and the like close to or similar to the effect of black people, but their experience is not compeltely the same or comparable.
2) Even if they were given the 'black experience', which i assume you refer to as the view of being looked down upon by some white people, their expereince in life would not be the same as yours, stop being so self indulgent to think that all of our experiences are calculated in terms of a fraction of yours. We get different issues to put up with as well naturally from having white family. A black person does not have any direct white family. Therefore different issues arise from this. Such as for one example the frustration of being rejected by your own ethnic group that your parent's family fits into. Also being labelled or discriminated by some black people who don't like you because you're light skinned, for reasons which vary, but i'm sure you can figure. There are other complex issues to do with being mixed race that don't all revolve around living the black experience. Therefore, any biracial person wherever does not live the black experience. Usually they live something similar of the sort, and in cases face as much racism and crap, but it is not the same experience. And even if they don't, what's wrong with that? You're sortof saying that everything non-black is corrupt or bad or not worthy. worthy of what? belonging to your community. I wouldn't want to belong to your personal community if thats the case. I have my black family who i was mainly brought up with and friends who accept me for who I am, regardless of how white they percieve me to be, either physically or culturally. I'd rather not have to constantly be making an effort to fit in with people who don't regard me as being worthy of their time. Its as bad as how white people thought.
3) As i've already said, what's wrong with them being a piggy, you should accept and embrace them as part of your own no matter what they're experience is. In fact all races should do that of each other, but it seems we cant even do that for mixed race people.
4) RACE DOES NOT EXIST IN THE HUMAN GROUP. HUMANS ARE A RACE. (I simply use the terms as its easier to explain something to someone -i.e theyre the relavent terms society uses. I hope for this to change someday, but for now i can't see it.