[lor]

People call Obama black but his mom is a white lady from Kansas (his dad is a black man from Kenya. Is he black or white or what?

[prettypearlgirl]

Originally Posted by lor

People call Obama black but his mom is a white lady from Kansas (his dad is a black man from Kenya. Is he black or white or what?

He is bi-racial. However, there are some old rules on the books that say if you have a certain percentage of black heritage, then you are categorized as black. I don't remember the percentage, however, I am sure if you googled the question you could find the rule.

Here is a link that answers some of your question:
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/site...ter5/faqs.html

Carolyn

[prettypearlgirl]

I did a quick search and found this,

"the 20th century introduction of the "one-drop rule" made it almost impossible for any person of known black ancestry to be considered "white."

So, that was the rule this country adopted to classify race, although other countries have their own way of classifying race.

Carolyn

[lor]

Even "considered "white" " is bad because whats so good about being considered "white"? Are they saying 'everyone should have a chance to be considered white because a black, Am. Indian, Latino would like that chance 'to be just as good'. (that would be their words)

I hope I didn't start something. That would be wrong here.

[clouds z]

he white and hes blacks

above all hes the most "liberal"seantor in congress
im liberal but whats liberal in usa isnt really liberal i dont think

[prettypearlgirl]

Originally Posted by lor

Even "considered "white" " is bad because whats so good about being considered "white"? Are they saying 'everyone should have a chance to be considered white because a black, Am. Indian, Latino would like that chance 'to be just as good'. (that would be their words)

I hope I didn't start something. That would be wrong here.

Personally, I don't think being white makes a person a better person. However, in the 20th century mindset, our country was governed by the white class and discrimination was at it's worst in this country. I believe it was a way of keeping the status quo, albiet morally wrong and terribly misguided.

Carolyn

[Tootsie]

Originally Posted by prettypearlgirl

Personally, I don't think being white makes a person a better person. However, in the 20th century mindset, our country was governed by the white class and discrimination was at it's worst in this country. I believe it was a way of keeping the status quo, albiet morally wrong and terribly misguided.

Carolyn

Frankly, I have lived in the North and the South. I found instances of racism in both places. It lives within the person, not the place they live in.

There will always be people who discriminate. The thing to do is move past it. Do the best you can with who you are.

Most women who work know discrimination only too well.

For myself, I would not discriminate. In hiring I prefer the best candidate which should not have anything to do with color.

I think the Feds intervention in the work place (making it mandatory to be inclusive of a certain proportion of minority workers and women) formented terrible resentment.

I do agree that it was a way for minorities to get their foot in the door, but those who are resentful are never going to be pacified.

Many people who were well qualified for a position had to be overlooked to meet the quotas.

That means we all suffer in the end.

I've had friends who shocked me with their attitudes toward minorities, but nothing I could say would ever change their mind.

It is an inherent thing and it is sad. Perhaps the problem will pass away with those people and if more people become better educated and more socialized then we will see a trend toward compatibility.

There is little to be gained by hurting others or keeping them down. In the end you only hurt yourself.

Tootsie

[CayoKay]

Originally Posted by lor

is he black or white or what?

why should it matter?

the melanin content of a person's outer layer has *nothing* whatsoever to do with the quality of the person inside that skin.

I live outside the US of A, in a country where I am in a VERY small minority of whites.

like, only about 2% of the total, mostly German-speaking Mennonites from Canada (they're like Amish...)

Hispanic, Black, Garifuna, Creole, Yucatecan, Mopán, and Kekchí Maya are what makes up MOST of our population.

our last Prime Minister Said Musa is half Belizean, and half Palestinian.

our newly-elected leader is Dean Barrow:


The Honorable Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize

http://www.amandala.com.bz/index.php?id=6618

by the way, the UDP (United Democratic Party here is the CONSERVATIVE party, lol!

[KathyM]

Hi Lor

My son is half-black, but as far as this country is concerned he's considered and treated as a black man. We can call him bi-racial, but he will never be able to benefit from what is known as "white privilege."

Here's a list I found of some daily effects of white privilege:

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.

3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be
neutral or pleasant to me.

5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization, " I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.

9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.

10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.

11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.

12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser' s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.

13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.

14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.

15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.

16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.

17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.

18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.

19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.

20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.

23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its
policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.

24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.

25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.

26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.

27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.

28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.

29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.

30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.

31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.

32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.

33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.

34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or
self-seeking.

35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.

36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.

37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.

38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or
professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.

39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.

40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.

42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.

43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.

44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give
attention only to people of my race.

45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.

46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.

47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.

48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.

49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.

50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.

[Kitty]

Originally Posted by CayoKay

why should it matter?

the melanin content of a person's outer layer has *nothing* whatsoever to do with the quality of the person inside that skin.

My thoughts exactly.

It' 2008 for crying out loud!! For the life of me I just cannot understand the mindset of people who take issue with this. What possible difference does the color of ones skin make? Living in the deep South I have found this to be more prevalent and unfortunately some of my own relatives are guilty of being this way. It's like talking to a brick wall trying to get through to them. Actually, talking to a brick wall is more pleasant than talking to some of them!