Wednesday, 08 July 2009
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What Defines Being 'Black'?
When I went to Ohio for my big sister's early college/high school graduation I saw my friend Tara at my big sister's graduation party. According to my friend Tara I am no longer considered a black person. I am only half black (my mom is white, my dad is black), but according to her I'm all white. She said that black people don't dress the way I do, so I am no longer black. She is white but considers herself black, she hates white people, don't ask me why. I asked her to define being black. She said "Black people aren't emo and don't wear what you wear."
See where this got confusing? So I asked what do they wear and what more defines them.
So she said, "Well black people are 'gangsta', they listen to rap and they where brands such as Sean John, Baby Phat and South Pole. They don't wear things from...Hot Topic. Well Alexis is the only other emo black person I know."
You can kind of guess my reaction. She being such a stereotype. Not all black people are like that. I wanted to rip my hair out. I know other black people who aren't like that, not all of them are 'gansta', listen to rap and wear baggy clothing.
So I want to know what defines being 'black'? Wearing baggy clothes and listening to rap? Or what? Tell me what you think.
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About the Author
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- From: Blood_Wolf_Girl@xanga
- Name: Blood_Wolf_Girl
- About Me: When people first see me they lable me as 'emo' because the way I dress, my make-up and hair style, but I'm not. I have a saying that goes 'No music, no life' or in other words 'No Craig Mabbitt or Max Green, I'm going to jump off a cliff.' I have issues I know. What to know about me just message me.
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Comments (190)
@abh816@xanga - Not all black people are African, and not all African people are black.
@oOBuBBLes711Oo@xanga - and yes that is, lol and shes is gorgeous!
@raiyaya@xanga - Intake of breath, "uhhhh".....no, stop... you're an Asian female? define you please?...no, it's too easy, and I've had enough of it...
@missayycee@xanga - Black versus White? well, sometimes, doesn't have to be though. Gangster and Preppy? well, ultimately, the clothing styles all come from white people. Rock versus Rap ? No way! Rap rocks, or, rocked, when it was still really happening, and early Hip Hop DJ's jammed many Rock tunes back in the day ! Rap/Hip Hop was never really a style of music, it was more a way of being INTO music! Rap is, or was, Rock. A true B-Boy digs all music. Rock grooves, rock is super funky. There is white European music in all music to some degree, and white people invented all the technology that all music is recorded on anyway.
There are stereotypes, and there are archetypes.
@foxiinyc@xanga - It is 2009, and since around 1989 we have been beyond everything...everything has been done.
Issues like this hold no real bearing anymore.
And, to some degree, I'm glad there were stereotypes...that made many of my heroes...Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck Mosely, Jean Michel Basquiat, Don Letts, George Clinton, Prince, Phil Lynott, The Bad Brains, Fishbone....stand out even more!
@S_K_O_T@xanga - thanks for sharing the facts. you are saying all of them are adopted, right?? I mustve been kind of confused what is going on to the kids how come they are all white.
So according to her, Eminem would be black?
@S_K_O_T@xanga - hmm, i agree somewhat, but there have been incidents that since 1989 and will forever continue that continue to do this and may even go deeper than simply stereotyping. i don't know, i just believe its sad even though nearly everyone does it at one point in their lives.
@crazysogul@xanga - Paris and 'Prince' Michael, without a shadow of a doubt, have absolutely NO genetic link to Michael Jackson, or any other African-American, whatsoever.
As for poor little 'Blanket', he does look somewhat darker, that's for sure, but not exactly "half-black" either...his parental story is still a mystery, at least.
plain and simple race does not matter nor religion as a matter of fact the whole sterotype thing is total bullshit
what defines some one as black nothing
This nonsense really needs to stop. I grew up hearing this kind of stuff from every direction in my small town. Even non black children have informed me that I am not black. (Odd, my mirror says otherwise.)
People are a product of their surroundings and experiences. If black people generally don't dress in certain clothes and follow certain trends where she lives and somebody comes around who does and doesn't give a flying flip about trying to fit in with whatever is in for black people in that area then that makes you not black to the ignorant masses. So apparently being black is more so about following a crowd than being an individual.
my opinnion, people are what they are, it dont matter how yu dress or what music yu listen too. (: just be yourselfff
@foxiinyc@xanga - Hello :)
And that was a quick reply, and a rather nice one I'm glad to say.
Yes, to some degree some things keep on happening....people are still alive, and more coming along!
However, we are really beyond eras and epochs...there will, and can, NEVER be a Hip Hop again, there can NEVER be a Punk again, nor even a House ever again....there is saturation level vigilance upon things, and has been since the "Alternative" boom of the early-90's, so there never, ever, again can be any inspired inspiration, events or movements...there is no mystery left, the world is too small.
What we can, and must do, is pay respect to, and draw upon the things that happened, for real.
It does horrify and enrage me though...that there are people still, on one side or the other, for one reason or another, playing upon these hackneyed old stereotypes.
@S_K_O_T@xanga - Obviously. But you get the point of my response. No need to be an obnoxious know-it-all.
this topic is so overdone, i debated whether i should even respond. anyone with half a brain knows race can't be defined, that it's a social construct without solid scientific foundations, and everyone else is an idiot who will never change their mind because they probably never had one to begin with.
i'm 100% black (in the sense that both parents are black), my skin is brown, my blood is red, and my car is blue. who freaking cares. your friend obviously has some personal issues to work through regarding race, so i wouldn't place much stock in her views right now.
@abh816@xanga - I know ...a lot, maybe not "it all", but close, and learning more each day, but no, I'm not obnoxious, you are.
And the point being, in these times of such diminished understanding by most people of anything beyond their own noses, there is the very real danger that many people will NOT get the point of your response!
Which was vague anyway.
black is just being black. if you are half black...then you are just biracial, not white or black.
@teapot_417@xanga - Oh my God!
Did you just get out of a Sociology class that showed that bullshit PBS 'special' about race being an "illusion"????
A "social construct"????
And now you're parrotting that 'PC' hyperbole?
Race IS very REAL!
Though there may often be very different definitions of race, and with various grades, degrees, and fusion....race is real, and with very solid scientific foundations.
You are 100% black, because your parents are black, there was NO possibility, without admixture from another race, of you being anything but 100% black.
There ARE racial differences...what people make of that then becomes the issues, but to deny that is bad science, stupid, and a lie.
@TheKiwiIntoxication@xanga - Precisely!
black person=a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa).
a person's race is not determined by the way they act or dress. it is determined by their ancestry.
your friend is being racist, whether she calls it that or knows it or not.
Tell her to shove off. Seriously.
WOW! What that girl said was really offensive and ignorant. What you wear and what music you listen to DOES NOT define your race. Wow. Just, WOW! I can't even believe she said that to you. SMH!! Some people are really damn ignorant. btw who the hell is she to say who is black when she is white?!
Wow. Ignorance at its worst.
@abh816@xanga - Australia says hi. Also, there's some white folk from Africa on line 2.
Anyways, this is pretty ludicrous. I suppose it's also very un--white of me to enjoy fried chicken and/or watermelon. Sigh.