The racial term 'black' has become sooo diluted

by LoveUniHateExams 9 Replies latest social current

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  LoveUniHateExams

  I always understood the term 'black' (or 'Black', if you write for The Guardian) to refer to sub-Saharan Africans or people of sub-Saharan African origin.

  But, perhaps in a rush to embrace victimhood, more and more people are today are using the term black to refer to other people.

  So, apparently Barack Obama is black - 'the first black President of the United States'.

  And Lewis Hamilton is supposedly the only black driver in Formula One.

  And Jordan Peele is a black film director, apparently.

  And then there's Meghan Markle.

  There may also be people of Pakistani heritage who refer to themselves as black.

  And, sorry to say, it's all a load of bullsh*t.

  Barack Obama, Lewis Hamilton, Jordan Peel, Halle Berry and Meghan Markle are all biracial (mixed-race). They're not black. Disregarding the other half of their ethnic heritage is intellectually dishonest.

  
  

  ^^^ This is a black person.

  
  

  ^^^ And this is a biracial person, half white and half black.

  Not difficult, is it?
  
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  FFGhost

  I always understood the term 'black' (or 'Black', if you write for The Guardian) to refer to sub-Saharan Africans or people of sub-Saharan African origin.

  What difference does what "you've always understood" make?

  Some racist folks have always understood that one drop of "non-white blood" makes a person "not Caucasian".

  I've always understood that flying unicorns fart rainbow-colored skittles.

  Perhaps "what I've always understood" isn't the best or final arbiter of veracity?

  
  
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  LoveUniHateExams

  Some racist folks have always understood that one drop of "non-white blood" makes a person "not Caucasian" - strange, then, that people calling Obama 'black' are seemingly aligning themselves with the racist folks.
  
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  road to nowhere

  Medicine recognizes certain treatments being different for blacks. I question some of that. Is it equally true for mulattos, quadroons, octaroons?

  Dont forget that language (hispanic) is a race now.

  The genetic tests show odd percentages of origin. Are there now septaroons and triaroons?
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  pistolpete

  White or Black?

  
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  LoveUniHateExams

  @PistolPete - MJ was a black guy who tried to make himself white.

  Kinda the opposite of Rachel Dolezal, lol …

  
  
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  Anony Mous

  Depends on what you mean by black.

  The term 'black people' can refer to a black skin color from African ancestry (as in not middle-eastern, asian or white). African in all these description means sub-Saharan because current day Africa also encompasses some of the Middle East which in itself encompasses some of Asia and Europe.

  Historically African people can refer to any people that have a primary African ancestry (eg. in the UK, in the US)

  African-Americans have historical ties to the establishment of America during slavery with African ancestry often described as black

  To that effect, by the definitions of the words:

  Obama was perhaps black (at least 50%), but he wasn't historically black nor African-American. His father didn't have ties to America, being from Kenya. He was not the first African-American president, we never had one of those.

  Elon Musk isn't black nor African American but he is historically African.

  Kamala Harris isn't black nor African American nor historically African. Her ancestry on her father's side is Carribean (which is a mix of primarily Hispanic origin, some Asian and a sprinkle of African) and Asian (mother from India) making her the first Asian or perhaps she can claim partially Hispanic VP, either way, we never had one of those. Neither of her parents were Americans or had any historical ties to America.
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  LoveUniHateExams

  @Anony Mous - I agree with you that America hasn't had a black president yet.

  But 'Obama is black'? The dude's half white. If I claimed him as a white president, you'd think I'd gone nuts, but this is little different from claiming him as black.

  Personally, I'd rather we concentrate on a person's character and, for a politician, policies.

  But if we're gonna talk about race, let's try and be accurate, y'know.

  Over in the UK, we'd call Obama mixed-race. I'm not sure if this is derogatory to Americans - I think you guys prefer the term 'biracial'.

  Barack Obama - first biracial US President. <--- nothing wrong with this.

  PS - just noticed you've edited your comment 'Obama was black' to 'Obama was perhaps black (at least 50%)'.
  
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  minimus

  Do you realize that major newspapers capitalize black?
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  truth_b_known

  Race theory began with humans being divided into 3 races -

  Caucasian (aka White)

  Negroid (aka Black)

  Mongoloid (Asian to include natives of north America)

  Science now shows us that "race" refers to "sub-species". There are no sub-species of homo sapiens.

  As Jarome Iginla, NHL player for the Calgary Flames, was asked by an ESPN commentator "What is it like being one of the few African American players in the NHL?" Iginla replied, "I wouldn't know. I am neither African or American."