tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post3202629858402063188..comments2024-03-14T23:42:44.959+01:00Comments on AFRO-EUROPE: CNN: Black in America: It's not just about the color of your skinAfro-Europehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09824302981015575893noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-27427356919892134612014-01-08T17:40:03.937+01:002014-01-08T17:40:03.937+01:00Oh boy. Arguing among yourselves keeps people &qu...Oh boy. Arguing among yourselves keeps people "in their place". It is very sad to read. There is no right or wrong way for a person to identify culturally, ethnically, socially, based on their colour alone or by their heritage. Imposing our method of categorizing people(s worth) is abhorent. Asking things like "what mix are you" smacks more of dog breeding than being a person of worth and individuality and is beneath us to respond to such questions. The more that folks are sub-divided into categories, the weaker they become. Morgan Freeman said something recently, paraphrasing, that to get past racism we have to stop talking about it and just get on with life, live the life we want and then it will stop being an issue. When someone asks about how we classify ourselves based on our colour, we should answer with something which unites, such as "American", or "English" etc rather than what sets us aside. Stand up, dust yourself off, chin up, get out there and conquer the world. Act like you deserve respect, and respect will be yours. Good luck, folks, x Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18136776572238028574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-83348205030335283392012-12-20T07:53:20.317+01:002012-12-20T07:53:20.317+01:00DELETE! "Swapping," huh? You think you&#...DELETE! "Swapping," huh? You think you're so slick. You're still taking petty jabs. You are incorrigible. <br /><br />Afro-Europe, just ban her and let's be done with her. She hardly ever contributes anything substantial anyway save for rhetoric and vitriol.BlkVikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-13698597960265594092012-12-20T04:29:17.992+01:002012-12-20T04:29:17.992+01:00Afro-Europe, I never said anything about [all] Afr...Afro-Europe, I never said anything about [all] Africans. Please re-read the thread and see who started what with personal attacks. The online dating profiles was to show character (or lack thereof). But, I'm past that. Let's move on.<br /><br />Three people made personal attacks on me. One, I just looked up info in Google and laid it out for everyone to see.<br /><br />Let's all go back to swapping... stories about our experiences.truth2011https://www.blogger.com/profile/01742393873605338858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-3195740339176446232012-12-19T19:15:49.214+01:002012-12-19T19:15:49.214+01:00BlkViking, thanks for the apology. BlkViking, thanks for the apology. Afro-Europehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824302981015575893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-30147640904071993692012-12-19T13:06:57.344+01:002012-12-19T13:06:57.344+01:00Thank you Afro-Europe and apologies for my contrib...Thank you Afro-Europe and apologies for my contribution to the foolishness that overtook this very poignant thread. I think this website is an invaluable and respectable resource and I wouldn't want to ever take away from that. So, I will certainly do better.BlkVikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-38294537689982101062012-12-19T11:23:17.978+01:002012-12-19T11:23:17.978+01:00Truth, thanks for the apology. I have deleted your...Truth, thanks for the apology. I have deleted your apology comment because of a statement I am about to criticise. <br /><br />You have crossed the line by bringing in "online dating profiles" and other childish arguments in this discussion to try to discredit the person you were discussing with. Although I can’t imagine that anyone would take that seriously. <br /><br />Do yourself a favour and take a step back to look at your comments, because I think you are not exposing anyone, you are just damaging and discrediting yourself by commenting in this way.<br /><br />And lastly, I warned you once about your offensive comments about "Africans", the next time you cross the line of decency I will delete your comments, regardless the content. <br />Afro-Europehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824302981015575893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-79082588089646434182012-12-18T11:57:16.972+01:002012-12-18T11:57:16.972+01:00To restore the discussion as it was in the beginni...To restore the discussion as it was in the beginning, I have removed all the comments which were mainly based on personal attacks. So Gentlemen, Truth and BlkViking, please behave as Gentlemen. Afro-Europehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824302981015575893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-28727089337084434242012-12-17T22:34:07.205+01:002012-12-17T22:34:07.205+01:00In the December 13, 2012 issue of the the online A... In the December 13, 2012 issue of the the online African American-centered website, The Root, there was an informative article suggesting that colorism even plays a part in how Americans (of all races) choose elected officials.<br /><br />According to the article, the majority of Black elected officials, and this is especially true for New York, over the generations, have been lighter skinned. Now to me, this does not point a finger, necessarily, to a Black community seething in supposed anti-Blackness. We must take into account variables such as: The traditional African-American elite, particularly in New York, has been light-complexioned, in generations past the numbers of dark-skinned Blacks in college have been inferior to the numbers of lighter-complected Blacks, and, removing the blame from Black folks, it has been proven that WHITE AMERICA AS A WHOLE tends to place most of its racist neurotic projections on darker skinned African Americans. <br /><br />In White America's obsession and paranoia maladies of being violated by a Black male--be it sexual violation, home invasion, or robbery, it is usually the dark-skinned black man who fits their idea of the brute-criminal. Somehow, in America's psychosis of negrophobia, the farther the Black male's appearance distances from dark black skin, the less "dangerous" he is believed to be for the white body. Of course, this can be traced back to the days of the stereotypical "safe and trustworthy" mulatto house slave as opposed to the "untamed and wild" dark field slave, but we (Americans) never equate this complex past to the hows and whys we are still so adversarial toward each other today. (Oh, that's right! We're post-racial now. Racism no longer exists! I forgot.). SHM.<br /><br />Anyway, here's the URL for the article: http://www.theroot.com December 13, 2012 Article: "Is There Colorism on the Campaign Trail?"Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01896531632878621005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-56796218567542351802012-12-16T21:43:07.977+01:002012-12-16T21:43:07.977+01:00Hmmm...so because someone hasn't personally ex...Hmmm...so because someone hasn't personally experienced or witnessed something, it must not exist! It MUST be a lie and a conspiracy theory...even when there is AMPLE proof to the contrary (I suppose most of the posters on this thread who have firsthand witnessed and experienced intra-racial prejudice and colorism must be fellow conspirators working for the CNN think-tank). And while we're at it, the Holocaust was a lie too! Interesting. A person who is INCAPABLE of seeing or at the very least, acknowledging other perspectives and experiences outside of their own...hmmm, I know there must be a name for that...BlkVikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-14469683661351002512012-12-16T06:01:48.194+01:002012-12-16T06:01:48.194+01:00I just saw the last part of this CNN special. I ha...I just saw the last part of this CNN special. I have trouble believing that black people in America make an issue out of light and dark skin. I have never, ever heard a black person, outside of joking, ridicule someone for being too light or too dark.<br /><br />This is CNN making stuff up like they always do. Remember black people weren't going to vote for Obama because President Obama support gay marriage?<br /><br />Please. This is just divide and conquer. Every person in this video, from the very dark women to the yellow-skinned spoken word mentor, could be a relative of mine or any black person in America. Why would I make fun of someone for being too dark when that person could be in my family? My great-aunt is as dark as that one woman professor. Why would I make fun of dark-skinned people then?<br /><br />CNN needs to get a new topic.<br /><br />Not buying this propaganda from CNN at all. Everyone in this documentary is BLACK, no matter what their admixture is. End of story.truth2011https://www.blogger.com/profile/01742393873605338858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-44231637599581138822012-12-15T04:56:09.786+01:002012-12-15T04:56:09.786+01:00It must be interesting living in your world: a lan...It must be interesting living in your world: a land unrestrained by gravity, clouds made of bubble gum and gummy bears, friendly hobbits and stately Lions walking side by side, a place where insanity is sanity, truth is a lie and sh** spews from the mouth while one talks out of side of his a**.<br /><br />Somewhere, not too far away, in the mystical realm of the Apothecaries, lies a magical little oval shaped "candy" that just might free you from the Matrix for good! Transverse all of Narnia, Oz and Middle-Earth until you find it. I implore you.BlkVikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-28886131935676372262012-12-14T00:32:47.241+01:002012-12-14T00:32:47.241+01:00That's what he hears a lot from people that do...That's what he hears a lot from people that doubt psychiatry is real. They're in the same boat as people who think the Earth is flat.<br /><br />The woman isn't normal. She needs help with her issues since it's clear that her problem isn't her race, but mommy issues.<br /><br />Thank GOD Obama's father's absence didn't have bitter and angry about it. He sucked it up and went to Harvard.truth2011https://www.blogger.com/profile/01742393873605338858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-11347691699964119352012-12-13T10:41:14.672+01:002012-12-13T10:41:14.672+01:00John and Anonymous, thanks for discussing this, I&...John and Anonymous, thanks for discussing this, I've added your comments to the post <a href="http://afroeurope.blogspot.nl/2012/12/video-black-in-caribbean-race-and-class.html" rel="nofollow"> Video: Black in the Caribbean - Race and class in Haiti and Jamaica </a>Afro-Europehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824302981015575893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-24280636870157594122012-12-13T02:46:31.896+01:002012-12-13T02:46:31.896+01:00@ John
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll l...@ John <br /><br />Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look it up on amazon.<br /><br />You do not sound treasonous at all. I know that the US had meddled (and still is) in affairs of other countries(Latin America and the Middle East). They have propped up dictators and destroyed many economies. How else could the US be #1 without crushing other nations. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-56940624222236219452012-12-12T21:57:39.347+01:002012-12-12T21:57:39.347+01:00@ Anonymous: You're so right. Dessalines, Tous...@ Anonymous: You're so right. Dessalines, Toussaint, Boyer, et al DID apply the One Drop Rule---RIGIDLY!---when the Constitution was written. Sorry. I misunderstood you.<br /><br />What they did not take fully into account, however, was the fact that not all the "mulatres" (mulattoes) were killed or immigrated along with the white French colonizers. The city of Jeremie, for example, even up to today, was a stronghold of these biracial Haitians who escaped genocide, and there was a tacit agreement that if they would not try and re-enslave or economically crush the African-Haitian masses, their lives would be spared and they would be left alone.<br /><br />Fffffast forward to the 1915, 1916 invasion of Haiti by United States Marines and high-ranking members of the U.S. government, who dominated Haiti for over fifteen years, and you will see how, step by step, Americans helped re-instate the mulatres and even the lighter-skinned octoroon and quadroon Haitians as the commercial and educated elite of the country. <br /><br />I hope I don't sound "treasonous" for saying what I am going to say, but I can only read the pages of history as they are written: The United States is to blame, in a large part, for the rigid, unfair, racist class structure that we still see in Haiti today. <br /><br />From the time of the 1804 Haitian Constitution up until the Nineteen Teens, there was actually a dark-skinned AFRICAN-Haitian upper class, and there was even strong business and commerce in Haiti. But, the United States and other European Powers refused to administer aid or even recognize this new independent Black country as even being "legal", so they were on their own. Nevertheless, Haiti survived. <br /><br />If this sounds incredible, please read the old book written during the time of the United States Occupation, (by a white American racist of the time), "The Magic Island", and you will see how it was the intent of the American invaders to disempower Black Haitians and to SUPEREMPOWER mulatto, quadroon and octoroon Haitians as the rulers of the country.<br /><br />"The evil things that men do"..... Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01896531632878621005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-68300106178059621332012-12-12T17:31:35.559+01:002012-12-12T17:31:35.559+01:00Azizi, yes I am from Holland, but I am of Suriname...Azizi, yes I am from Holland, but I am of Surinamese-Dutch Caribbean origin. Afro-Europehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824302981015575893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-54039449840945154552012-12-12T06:02:38.073+01:002012-12-12T06:02:38.073+01:00@ John
Yes I understand that it doesn't. Init...@ John<br /><br />Yes I understand that it doesn't. Initially in the Constitution of 1804 it was decreed that all Haitian citizens were declared "black." This was implemented to get rid of the racial hierarchy.<br /><br />This was basically a one drop rule and for obvious reasons did not work out in a majority black country. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-61284117929150405642012-12-12T05:37:41.753+01:002012-12-12T05:37:41.753+01:00Haha **nodding my head in agreement** You are too ...Haha **nodding my head in agreement** You are too much fun while speaking so much truth. LOVE all the brilliant teachers here. And YES, I agree with everything you said. That's what I'm talking about--echoing again what Ms. Azizi Powell said, we have much internal and external work to do because there are too many glaring holes in this "we all are ONE" narrative that black folks insist on propagating. I truly yearn for the day when we embody that principle whole-souled--socially, politically, mentally and emotionally. <br /><br />BlkVikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-54629625211359149022012-12-12T05:14:38.826+01:002012-12-12T05:14:38.826+01:00Greetings Ms. Azizi Powell! I'm a black Americ...Greetings Ms. Azizi Powell! I'm a black American living in the greatest city in America not quite 14 months: San Francisco, California!Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01896531632878621005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-47270659980061843612012-12-12T05:04:05.125+01:002012-12-12T05:04:05.125+01:00Greetings Ms. Azizi Powell! I'm black American...Greetings Ms. Azizi Powell! I'm black American and Swedish, a dual citizen of both countries and also raised in both countries. However, I'm primarily based in the USA.BlkVikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-36874188973646092832012-12-12T03:30:11.819+01:002012-12-12T03:30:11.819+01:00Hello, Daniela!
Thanks for your comments. Yes, I ...Hello, Daniela!<br /><br />Thanks for your comments. Yes, I understand you.<br /><br />I have come to accept the position that <i>idealistically</i> a person of mixed racial ancestry who has White ancestry should be able to declare himself or herself White and be accepted by other people-including White people, regardless of how he or she looks (particularly skin color & hair texture.)<br /><br />After all, some ideas about racial identity and who is or who isn't White have changed in the USA since I was a young adult. For instance, I've read articles or blog comments online in which people say that they are White and that they have an ancestor who is Indian (Native American). I've always read about people in the USA who identify as a White person and are identified as White and that person says that they have an Asian ancestor. But I don't know common this is or how that person would be accepted if they didn't "look White".<br /> <br />Daniela, I also understand what you are saying that such a position is used or could be used by people who despise their Black African ancestry. I also believe that this idealistic position could result in less unity and less political power for Black people were in accepted without racism being eradicated.<br /><br />I think that in the USA a person of Black/White ancestry could say that they were White and not dislike his or her Black ancestry. But unless that person "looked White", other people are very unlikely to accept him or her as White.<br /><br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-38873233595001970242012-12-12T03:08:04.003+01:002012-12-12T03:08:04.003+01:00Greetings, John.
Thank you for sharing this infor...Greetings, John.<br /><br />Thank you for sharing this information. And thanks to the Afro-Europe blog for providing a forum to share & discuss this type of information from & with people of African descent from throughout the world.<br /><br />I'm interested in knowing the home nation of those commenters on this subject thus far who've shared their names. And I think that this information may be of interest to others. If it is appropriate, would someone or those people named please fill in this list? Thanks in advance. <br /><br />I believe that Afro-Europe is from Holland. Is that right?<br /><br />Daniela Gomes is from Brazil.<br /><br />Truth2011 is from the USA.<br /><br />BlkViking is from Europe? Is this right? If so which nation?<br /><br />Azizi Powell is from the USA.<br /><br />John is from ?<br /><br />Chico-Rei is from ? Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-42652947637553454302012-12-12T02:22:44.715+01:002012-12-12T02:22:44.715+01:00Haiti does not abide by the one drop rule. Far fro...Haiti does not abide by the one drop rule. Far from it! The racist hatred against the dark-skinned Haitian masses from the wealthy business mulatto, Middle Eastern (primarily Syrian and Lebanese), and white French elites is like Apartheid era South Africa.<br /><br />Until the 1960s, with the rule of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier," a Black Haitian my complexion (I'm the same color as the actor, Denzel Washington,) was not even seen in exclusive mulatto social clubs like the Bellevue, the Port-au-Prince Country Club, or any of the wealthy clubs in Petionville, just outside Port-au-Prince.<br /><br />In Haiti it goes like this:<br />The elite: Blanc (white), mulatre (mulatto,) and post Duvalier several dark-skinned Blacks have joined this class, but mulattoes still hold economic power.<br /><br />Blanc: The word means white, literally, but there are many dark-skinned Haitian-Americans, Haitian-Canadians and Haitian-Europeans who return to Haiti with wealth and education acquired abroad, and paradoxically they are often referred to as "Blancs". Blanc also refers to white foreign wives and husbands of Haitians who have moved to Haiti. Dominicans living in Haiti of any complexion are usually called Dominicain.<br /><br /><br />Griffe: A light skinned mulatto, usually with green or hazel eyes. Hair can be wavy or curly.<br /><br />Marabout: A very dark brown "black" person with European features and naturally straight hair. They are NOT considered to be the same as a "black".<br /><br />Negre: A Black person. They comprise the masses of Haitians. It is practically unheard of for a "negre", a "noir," to marry a mulatre or a griffe UNLESS that negre has lots of money and comes from a Black elite family. Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01896531632878621005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-22125753651931053872012-12-12T01:51:48.031+01:002012-12-12T01:51:48.031+01:00Dear Azizi, thanks for share this history, I alrea...Dear Azizi, thanks for share this history, I already knew about all these details, but is always useful to learn a little bit more. <br />What I wanted to say was right what JOhn said up here, how the one drop rule was a racist theory, but became a blessing because made African Americans more united.<br />In my opinion this speech "if you are biracial you can choose what you are", is only a way to share our people. I know that because this is the speech on my country.<br />When I was a kid for example, most of people, used to laugh about my hair, my lips, all my black featurings, saying that I had "a feet on the slave house", it is a racist Brazilian expression to say that a "white person" has black ancestors,I suffered with the racism, but I didn't know that was because I was black, after I realized that I was black and started to say that loud, the same people look at me and say, you know, you aren't black, because if you straight your hair you can pass as white, but when I used to straight my hair, they never let me "pass" as white. Do you understand me?<br />I know all of this is a new thing for the US, specially with the immigration, because most of latinos and people from Caribe are starting to bring their concepts of blackness to the US and it is totally different from the American concept, and now you have kids born in America, who are black, but don't feel themselves in this way, because their parents culture teach a different thing.<br />About to be biracial, triracial or whetever, I have three black grand parents, and one indigenous grand parents, all of them of course have european heritage, because our history, if we consider the American concept they are all black, my parents are light skin like me, my brothers are brown skin, in Brazil my parents can pass as white (even if they are going to suffer with the bad hair complex) but in America they are black, so I don't know how could you define me, but for me, I'm black, because myself, and my ancestors, I never felt comfortable as white, because I wasn't, but if I didn't have this concious and I was allienated life could be easier for me in my country. Daniela Gomeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249609954827375106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7595398753131290281.post-53253845245399210902012-12-12T01:35:52.757+01:002012-12-12T01:35:52.757+01:00The few Haitians that I know don't consider li...The few Haitians that I know don't consider light skin people as black, the same in Caribe and Latin America.Daniela Gomeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249609954827375106noreply@blogger.com