<p>razorsharp thanks for the link. That was the first thing I thought of when I read this thread. </p>
<p>I was trying to remember where that skit was from. I was thinking SNL and couldn’t find it.</p>
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<p>The one drop rule isn’t really a thing anymore, as you can’t easily look at someone who’s 1 part Black 31 parts White and see that they’re 1/32 Black. This Black-White mixing has gone back 200 years. </p>
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<p>This obviously isn’t what they mean when they say African in this context. I don’t have a firm understanding on exactly what all the theories are, but from what I understand there are multiple theories, all reasonably evidenced with none proven nor disproven, and only one believes that homo sapien sapiens evolved in Africa. The only other one I can recall I think says that some homo sapien subspecies that isn’t homo sapien sapien (our subspecies) evolved in Africa and spread across the continents and independently evolved from there. It would be helpful if someone with a firm grasp on these theories could chime in (though maybe someone did in page 2 - haven’t checked yet).</p>
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<p>I think all credible evolutionary theories say that we have a common ancestor in Africa. The question is what species/subspecies that was. It’s an especially hard question because “species” isn’t even clearly defined.</p>
<p>" I do recall the white dean of Ohio State University Law School relating his discovery that he was in fact black."</p>
<p>Actually, it was a wonderful book about how he was considered white in one community and Black in the other, and the consequences of both.</p>
<p>(Much like our first Black President - Warren Harding, who went to very long lengths to hide it.)</p>
<p>Can go the other way too: in Washington State we celebrate George Washington Bush as one of the first settlers of Washington State., and first Black settler, during Black History Month. Only problem is his father was an Indian Tamil, and his mother Irish. (and we have records of their marriage). His descendants still live in the area, but are never invited to Black History Month events. But he WAS one of the first Asian-American settlers in Washington State.</p>
<p>I sincerely, sincerely dislike when people tell others what their race is. (Not in reference to the OP, where the donkey was trying to find out his “pure” European background). </p>
<p>People have the right to self-identify with the race or heritage that they see fit. I cannot tell you how many people have told me that I’m not <em>really</em> Hispanic because I have light skin and blue eyes. It’s irritating. If someone identifies as white, let them be white. If someone identifies as black, let them be black (for purposes of self-identification, let’s not bring scholarships, admissions, etc into this). It’s not up to anyone else to label someone “black” if they did not self-identify as black.</p>
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<p>(with tongue firmly in cheek)
I resent that. I have taken the Genographic Project test and as someone who is 1.8% Neanderthal, please don’t lump my ancestors with those nuts.</p>
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Preach, girl!</p>
<p>Growing up, man, kids would tell me what I was. As if they needed to “set me straight” on what I’m mixed with. </p>
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That is truly ignorant considering how Hispanics vary widely on skin color, hair color, and eye color.</p>
<p>dragonmom - I have you beat with 2.7% Neanderthal from Nat Geo. My H is only 1.5% and loves to tease me! 23andme confirmed my diagnosis with 2.8%…Yikes</p>
<p>Hey now, the Neaderthals have released the following statement:</p>
<p>“It is with great sadness that a member of our community has taken on the leadership role of the American Nazi Party. We would like to emphasize that his views in no way represent the majority of those in our community. We are a welcoming and accepting people.”</p>
<p>You Homo-sapiens and Neanderthals are leaving out the Denisovans. Sounds racist to me.</p>
<p>One of the recent NatGeos has an article about how they believe through DNA testing that Homo-sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans interbred and how there’s a distinction in the DNA of people from Europe, Africa, and Asia in this regard with Europeans having some Neanderthal, some Asians having some Denisovan, and Africans neither of those two.</p>
<p>What it all means, if anything other than curiosity, who knows? It could be so diluted as to be irrelevant. But it doesn’t matter since none of us can change this in ourselves anyway.</p>
<p>I think it’s funny about the person the OP posted about. What a dufus.</p>
<p>I especially liked the link ‘razorsharp’ posted - very funny and illustrates well just how ridiculous race hatred is. If the last means one has to elevate themselves if by demeaning another person based on their race, i.e. using the ‘elevation of oneself by pushing others down’ method, they’ve pretty much already illustrated their own shortcomings.</p>
<p>*Quote:
I cannot tell you how many people have told me that I’m not <em>really</em> Hispanic because I have light skin and blue eyes.
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<p>lol…I went to high school with one of the Portillo girls (from the political Portillo family of Mexico)…very white skin, very white-blond (natural color) hair, very blue eyes. I can’t imagine any of us saying that she wasn’t Hispanic.</p>
<p>GGD, yes, it’s pretty much about curiosity. I was kind of disappointed to discover that there were no secrets in my mtDNA. Not even average DenIsovian for someone of northern European heritage. Boring…</p>
<p>Romani I usually agree with you but I can’t agree with your last statement, that anyone can self-identify as whatever they see fit/feel comfortable identifying with. Race (ethnicity too) is closely intertwined with culture. I love Spanish, love learning about Latin American cultures. If I move to Peru and live until I’m 80 there, haven’t spoken English in 60 years, participated in all the cultural celebrations, ceremonies, etc, can I claim I’m Peruvian? No. I have no Peruvian genes. Doesn’t matter if I identify with the culture. Someone can be 1/32 ANYTHING. That doesn’t make them X Race/X Ethnicity. “One drop”, as someone else said, is not a thing anymore. There comes a time when the tiny percentage becomes meaningless. If someone is half black and half white, they can’t deny either part of themselves. They don’t have to refer to themselves as black, white, mixed, whatever, but that doesn’t mean that’s not exactly what they are. I’m 1/16 Native American (great grandmother is half native). So? That’s a minuscule percentage. It’s negligible. Doesn’t mean people can’t be interested, learn the culture, etc of an ethnicity of which they have a tiny part of, but really, anything past your great-grandparents doesn’t count as someone “being” that. That marginalizes and devalues what it means to belong to that ethnicity/race. And I’m talking about ethnicity more so because race is a very broad term and it’s just a grouping system based on similarities. Ethnicity is specific (Peruvian, Cherokee, German, etc etc). </p>
<p>Also pointing out that Hitler did not fit the ideal Aryan type, but he was persecuting people who looked exactly like him (for multiple reasons, but one of them being that they weren’t “blonde hair blue eyes”). I believe he also had (recent?) Jewish ancestry.</p>
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<p>Meh, people are stupid.
I think it’s because we automatically assume Hispanic = Latino(a). I am not Latina.</p>
<p>CPU, what if you moved to Peru, had a child who was raised in that culture and then moved back to America. Would it be wrong for her to identify as Hispanic? If yes, why? We consider Pope “Hispanic” even though he appears to have 100% European heritage.</p>
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<p>Ohhh I know several people that identify as either Native American or mixed-race that would disagree with you. Several of whom grew up on reservations despite being only 1/8 or 1/16 Native American. There are several bands that will allow membership if you can prove “only” 1/16 blood.</p>
<p>If my child had ethnic peruvian heritage (by way of me procreating with someone of Peruvian ethnicity). If they didn’t (say I had a child with someone of my ethnicity) doesn’t matter if that’s all they grew up in - my child is African American. They were raised in a certain culture all their lives, but there’s more to belonging to a culture than just living in it. What if I adopted a white child? The child can’t call themselves African American or black American, although they’d be raised in a black American household. Belonging to a culture means you carry all the baggage with that culture - oppression, discrimination, customs, language, etc. I don’t see how a white child can adopt the discrimination and history of oppression of black Americans, just like if I moved to Peru and had a child who was not ethnically Peruvian - there’s only so much adoption of that culture they can do.</p>
<p>Also, I won’t comment on the pope because I know nothing about his heritage. I know he’s from Argentina, but I know nothing of his ethnicity.</p>
<p>Then, by your logic, there are people in Latin America that have been there for generations but can’t be called Latino(a) because they are 100% European. </p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t agree with that. </p>
<p>A better comparison to what I said would be if a white child was born and raised in Africa and then moved back to America- could she call herself African American? Not my place to say. You could probably argue that she can’t call herself black. It is different being raised in a household than in a country/society.</p>
<p>Anyway, my original point still stands. I was speaking of those who are racially “mixed”- it is not up to anyone other than you to decide what you personally identify with. No one else can tell you who you are. It was in response to mini who has repeatedly stated that Warren Harding was the first “black” president (of which, AFAIK, there is no actual evidence) even though he identified as white.</p>
<p>CPU, I don’t agree with your reasoning. </p>
<p>Don’t have time to write out a complete thought, but your reasoning leaves a lot gaps for certain groups. </p>
<p>That child is not African American. She is African.</p>
<p>Yes, by that logic. I’m not saying people can’t have a sense of belonging if they grew up in that culture. I’m talking about ethnicities, as in German, Peruvian, African American, etc. someone French would be European, but they can’t claim they’re polish even though polish people are European also. Latino may be classified as an ethnicity but there are ethnicities that fall underneath it - it is still a blanket statement (But classifications really don’t matter in what either of us is saying). </p>
<p>I will apologize for using my family’s ethnic history as a metric - I said past great-grandparents and equated that with less than 1/16, but in actuality 1/16 would be a generation further (I.e, if my great-grandmother was full Native American, I would be 1/8 not 1/16). Doesn’t really matter. Again, if communities of people, like local communities like tribes, accept that, cool. But you can’t expect everyone of that community to accept that either. One Native American tribe could accept that (1/16 or 1/32), while the another one might not. In this specific case, I’m siding with the more conservative view (first and only time in my life I side with conservative views 
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<p>Also, sorry, but there is a BIG difference between being African and being African American. An African can’t claim being African American either - besides cultural differences there are huge ethnic (genetic) differences. So your analogy doesn’t fit because it’s based on incorrect information. I am African American, even if I was born and raised in Africa I wouldn’t be African, I’m still African American.</p>
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I don’t agree with this either. You’d be African.</p>
<p>I clarified… maybe that’ll help you. </p>
<p>We’ll have to agree to disagree, CPU.</p>