Monday, March 31, 2008

Mixed Babies Take on Jet's Readership

This past week, Jet readers were tested... well sort of. (FYI Jet is a weekly magazine that predominantly focuses on the black community) The gorgeous Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon graced the cover of Jet with her two beautiful baby boys... but not without some controversy. Garcelle appeared in the magazine with her husband, and it is clear the fraternal twins are MIXED!



Personally, I'm excited. More mixed people. (my army is growing... soon we will take over!)

But seriously... can we talk about how racist the responses are to this cover? Take a look at some of these comments that appeared after the article on Bossip.

to black people, specifically those who think they have the liberty to say whatever they want about white people: white people aren't the only ones who can be racist. RACISM DOESNT DISCRIMINATE. Being a person of color does not give u the right to call white people names based on their race. on a practical note, stop giving ignorant white people evidence for their arguments about how people of color hate all white people.


My personal favorite comment because it provided something for conversation and wasn't straight up ignorance:

"thank you man, this is a f***ing a joke! Could you imagine the outrage if a brother appeared on this “BLACK” magazine with two white as snow babies and a picture of him and his white wife chuckling it up….That nigga would be lynched by the “mad-black women” mafia so quik"

I think he's right. And it's something that the black community needs to have a conversation about it. There are HUGE differences in the acceptable dating practices for black men and black women. Secondly, I'm thinking... its time we get over our fear of interracial dating... it's not getting us anywhere. Hate begets hate. Why do some people think that interracial dating is a demonstration of some type of conspiracy to break down the "blackness"?

Fact: Interracial dating and multiracial children won't destroy the traditions of the black community. It may make a few lighter skinned babies... but it will also open up the traditions of the black community to more people. My life is proof. I'm mixed (a bi-product of an interracial relationship) and I still know about black history and what it means to be black (and a person of color) in America.

I hope Garcelle's twins get to grow up in a world that was a little more welcoming for mixed kids than the one I grew in. They're people. not racial objects.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

The song that brings multiracial tears to my eyes

I know what your first question... other than what's the song... is... tears have a race? Since my post about my ears, I've been doing some research on the racial identity of my body parts. Here is what I've found out. My hips are white. My butt is black. And apparently, my nose and eyes are mixed. Thus, since tears come from eyes, they must also be multiracial. And so are my boogers. That may have been too much information. Sorry.

Anyway back to the cause of the tears...

Kevin Michael and his song , "Don't Make a Difference to Me," have gotten me hooked. I've grown up hearing songs about race (hiphop loves the topic), but could never really connect to them. His song talks about his biracial identity and the struggles of his parents' interracial marriage. i.e.MY LIFE! I have to admit that i put this song on when I need a pick me up after a bad mixed moment (an incident where someone or some event brings up or questions my racial identity). It feels so good to finally have a song about race that I can fully connect with.

I wonder how BET feels about him... is he black enough to be played there? Or, Hot 97 (my favorite nyc hip hop station)? I wonder if they'll play him... and if their audience will accept it... Barack Obama almost wasn't "black enough"... but Halle Berry was... let's see how this one plays out...

p.s. It also doesn't hurt that this gentleman is quite adorable... he can sing to me any day!

Tell me what you think about him.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Gray's Guide to Racial Rhetoric... i.e. words I use to talk about race

Before I start delving in to race, I just wanted to give you a little heads up about how I talk about race. We all have our preferences on word choices and understandings of words. Just in case you were wondering about mine, now or in the future, I started a mini dictionary below. I'll try to update this as issues come up in posts. Please let me know in a comment if you see any changes that should be made or explanations that need to be added.
Forgive me if the following lacks alphabetical order.

the basics:

black --> Other people choose to use African- American and in the past it was Negro. I personally prefer the term black. Not all people identified as black in the US are directly from Africa or feel a direct connection to Africa. Here's a few people's perspectives on black.
white--> some people prefer Caucasian, but I like the contrast of black and white when writing. You'll notice that I often refer to "people of color" versus "white people". If speaking about a specific ethnicity or country of origin, I will use that identity. For example, I will often refer to my mother as Italian instead of white.

**Note: I never capitalize either of these words or any racial identity, unless it's for emphasis.**

Words that mean the same thing, and some that shouldn't be used:
Multiracial-->A person who identifies with more than one race. Not to be confused with multiethnic, someone who identifies with more than one ethnicity.
Mixed --> Someone who identifies as having a multiracial background.
Mulatto--> A person who identifies as being half black and half white. Many people consider this a racial slur. I used to, but as I learn more about it my opinion may change. Click here to learn more about the history of the word Mulatto.
Mut--> In my mind, a pretty blatant racial slur meaning a person who is a combination of many races. To prevent fights, I wouldn't use this term to describe someone who is multiracial unless they say it's ok.
Zebra, Oreo, Half Breed --> Racial Slurs for multiracial people. aka... fighting words
Swirl --> Used to identify people of multiracial AND multiethnic decent. Created by the mixed community. Also the name of "a national multi-ethnic organization that challenges society’s notions of race through community building, education, and action." Check out Swirl.

Words I've created (I think):

Mixedness --> Short for: Multiracial Identity. That phrase was too long and mixedness just rolls off the tongue a little easier.
Brite--> A combination of the words brown and white. When I was a wee little girl (a little older than I am in the picture to the right), I wanted a word that represented my skin colors. So, with the help of mom, I put the colors of mommy and daddy together. (daddy is called black, but his skin color is much closer to the brown Crayola crayon. mommy isn't really white, she's more peach, but I only had the set of 10 crayons)

To Langston, My Multiracial Brother

I knoooooow. Two posts in one day is one post too much, but I realized I haven't given credit where credit is due.

The title, Gray Like Me, comes from two places (well really one, you'll understand in a moment). In the late 1950s, white journalist John Howard Griffin used chemical treatments to dye his skin darker and then traveled for 6 weeks as a black man in the racially segregated south. Griffin raised awareness about the violent discrimination and civil rights violations against black American in Black Like Me, the book he wrote about his brief life as a black man.

(PHOTO Right Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin)
If I was Oprah and I had a bookclub, I'd put it on the list (for a month other than February though). Since I'm not, I still suggest you read it or read about it. (I won't tell anyone you just read the spark notes)


Now to the second (primary) influence. Although his title fits perfectly, Griffin didn't come up with it all on his own. (yes, there was a bit of plagiarism involved) The title comes from Langston Hughes' poem, Dream Variations. (the poem is short, if you read the spark notes and not the text below, I will make fun of you... publicly)

Dream Variations
"To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me--
That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall, slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me."
- Langston Hughes-

(PHOTO Left Langston Hughes Black Heritage Stamp)

Yes, Yes, I know the question still remains how did it go from Black to Gray. In textbooks, Langston Hughes is referred to as the great black poet. He lived his life as a black man and probably took on that identity. But a fun fact for mixed people like me, is that Hughes was really one of us. During the era of the Harlem Renaissance, there was only black and white- no in between. Today, in our multiracial world, Hughes may have racially identified a little differently. I do. Between the worlds of black and white, there are clear shades of gray.

Mommy, Where Does Race Come From?

Hellooo..... No One!

As I begin my first post, I must admit it's nice to know nobody is actually paying attention yet. (except for mom of course, but luckily, as my mom, she'll tell me it's wonderful)

WARNING: I'm about to moonwalk across that line. I will be discussing race and how it affects our everyday life - and not in the pc Martin Luther King, JR versus Adolf Hitler in a history textbook kind of way. (PHOTOS left to right Martin Luther King, Jr. and Adolf Hitler)

















Here's how race became an inevitable part of my life:

Twenty years ago, on a warm August day my black father and my white mother got together and made a child. (no further details necessary here... please... i don't want to know anymore) Nine months later, I entered this world and almost immediately my race became a part of my life. At the time, I of course didn't know anything more than screaming and breastfeeding, but apparently, the color of my skin caused many discussions.

My mom often tells me this story, which I consider the beginning of my racial identity formation:

Several weeks after I was born, my mom brought me to her friend's house. Two of her female friends, one black and the other white, were waiting in anticipation for my arrival! (I doubt an exclamation point is really needed here, but my mom would put one so I did) We arrived to the house and my mom did the big reveal to the women. The white woman did the normal cooing and ooing at me (she had met me already the night I was born when my mother requested she bring a large tunafish sandwich, a hershey's bar, and a diet coke) The black woman stood there for a moment in silence and then said to my mom, "Hey, you know that baby isn't white." The friend obviously thought she had an incredible revelation. My mom responded to her friend, "Yes, I know that."

And, that's how it was confirmed that I am not white. Interestingly, my mom's friend now gives a more detailed explanation for how she knew. Apparently, it wasn't my dark features or darker skin color. It was my ears! I had black ears!!! When I look in the mirror, they look tan to me. My "black ears" have been confirmed by several other experts on "black ears," but I am yet to learn the characteristics of "black ears." I'm still dying to know what makes my ears "black," so I can one day know if my children have "black ears." Can someone explain to me what "black ears" are?

(PHOTO My ear that apparently demonstrates my race. Clarification: The line on the inner lobe is from a pulled earring and is not genetic.)