@zobroward , it’s interesting that the only capital letter you ever use in your posts is “I”.
patsmom there is probably some freudian issue with me that manifests itself via lack of use of capitalization and proper sentence structure when I type. . I have excellent critical thinking skills and I am very well spoken but my ability to write in a proper manner is lacking.
surely even if my beliefs and writing skills are different than many people on CC I ad value to various debates :>
You mean the debates that are not allowed here because they derail the conversation and violate Terms of Service? I’ve flagged for moderator review.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: @zobroward, as @skieurope mentioned, debating is not allowed. You can state your position ONCE, but then you need to move on. And it has nothing do with your political leaning, believe me. This goes for any poster.
This thread seems like a group opportunity to jump on one poster. How about everyone get back to the point? Unless this is a topic too testy to discuss.
So, back to topic, and genuine question so please don’t jump on me. Isaiah Hartenstein’s dad, Florian, is also biracial (mom is Caucasian). Isaiah is, therefore one quarter black, and while his appearance favors more his Caucasian lineage, he identifies as black, per that article.It makes for an interesting example that it is more about how one identifies than how one “appears” (for lack of a better word, and don’t mean to offend). Is this how others view it?
So if someone is multiracial do they choose whatever race they want to identify with and say they are A,B or C? Why not just say you’re multiracial instead of cherry picking one choice? It would be more honest.
@jym626, what is “it”? I’m not being sarcastic. I truly want to know, so I can possibly offer some thoughts.
“It” refers to my perception
People make insensitive comments all the time. When my daughter came out as bi-sexual, I became hyper aware of it. And that was hands down , the hardest part of coming to terms with it…people that love her who claim to be so open minded…not necessarily true and casually make intolerant comments
My nephew is biracial. He was primarily raised by his mom, my sister, who is white. I think he “identifies” as himself: white mom, black dad, middle-class home, good education, black friends, white friends, biracial friends. I assume that most white people see him as black and that many black people see him as biracial.
Personally, a difficult thing for me is extended family members, usually older 80s and up, who think they are open-minded and not prejudiced yet will pop out with some intolerant, prejudiced comments. It’s hard to know how to react. It’s kind of a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario. On the one hand it is hard to listen to and bite my tongue, especially when younger people are present as it seems like it is endorsing it in a way by letting them slide, on the other hand, I don’t know if it would help much at all to point it out to them.
My niece happens to be married to an immigrant black man.They recently celebrated their tenth anniversary. Her mother ( my sister ) was the only family member that had an issue with it. My 87 year old mother who grew up in a different era and set of family values was far more accepting than my sister has been. Sister said some horribly ugly things for no reason other than the color of his skin. He is a good man with all the values one would look for in a partner. She has come around somewhat , but the damage was done .
As I said upthread, my BF is multiracial, but is one of those mixes where when one meets him for the first time, one realizes he is multiracial, but it’s not immediately obvious what the components of the swirl are. So when asked, “So, what are you?” (a pretty insensitive question as well, IMO), he answers, “I’m Matt.” (not his real name) That generally ends that line of questioning. 
When he fills out forms, though, he’ll list them all, if that’s an option.
I find it extremely annoying when another white person (I am white) says something racist around me, thinking I won’t mind or worse, will even share their opinion just because I’m the same ethnicity. Years ago, a white guy at my church made a racist remark about our black parishioners, and I replied, “I’m so sorry for whatever I did to make you think it was okay to talk to me like that.” It shut him up and I’ve used the same comment or a variation of it ever since.
Well, as a multiracial individual, people have made extremely inflammatory statements around me because they failed to recognize my heritage. When you’re multiracial, individuals often struggle with their identity because some people don’t see them as a full member of a specific race. Also, the "A, B, and C’ idea has been studied by doctors and that’s actually what happens usually in the stages of biracial identity development.
^^I’ll have to remember that line @Massmomm . I am also white and have had people say the same type of things to me and I do not like it or agree with the racist stuff said.
Many do say “A, B, and C”.
However, multiracial Americans who are black and white do face an ingrained social convention described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule that may not necessarily apply to other ancestral combinations.
I think many black people experience real hatred and prejudice.
Some of my multi-racial younger nieces and nephews who look and easily pass for White have lost count of how many anti-Asian/Chinese rants they’ve heard from White classmates and older adults precisely because they pass easily as White when they’re actually half-Chinese.
When they reveal they’re half-Chinese or their Chinese-American parent shows up that tends to shut them up…though it also results in their refusal to continue further interactions because they’re no longer “real murikans”. Not that they minded the latter as this behavior reveals the true nature of those classmates/older adults and makes it easier to avoid their undesirable company in the future.
Especially two nephews who are well over 6’4" by now (One parent’s nearly 7’ and the older nephew was already hitting 6’4" when I last saw him at 13-14 a few years back) and he’s not the type to suffer fools gladly.