No More Race

Moving Blog To Wordpress

2010-01-02T00:02:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me say Happy New Year! to you. I hope 2010 is a great year for you and I look forward to sharing lots more on the subject of the craziness of race and racial labels. Oh, we have so much to talk about.

I posted my new blog tonight and have made the move to migrate my entire "No More Race" blog over to Wordpress. Please go over there and continue to follow me and keep in touch. If you subscribed to my blog, you can do the same over there and I hope you do.

Here is the link that will take you there. See you over at my new spot.

Take care.

Earnest

A New World Indeed

2009-12-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Wow I just noticed how long it's been since I last posted on here. My apologies to my two readers. :-) Life's been crazy. I hope all is well with you.

I came across an interesting piece you may or may not have seen on Yahoo. Check it out, it is about the rise of "bi-racial" Americans and how important the 2010 Census will be for documenting just how much our society has become more Mixed. Worth the read.

Here it is.

"Interracial Couple" Denied Marriage License in Louisiana

2009-10-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

This story really speaks for itself. No comment necessary. This from the Associated Press as I saw it on Yahoo News. And yes this just happened, in 2009.

NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."

If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

Bardwell estimates that he has refused to marry about four couples during his career, all in the past 2 1/2 years.

Beth Humphrey, 30, and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.

Humphrey, an account manager for a marketing firm, said she and McKay, a welder, just returned to Louisiana. She is white and he is black. She plans to enroll in the University of New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in minority politics.

"That was one thing that made this so unbelievable," she said. "It's not something you expect in this day and age."

Humphrey said she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples. Bardwell suggested the couple go to another justice of the peace in the parish who agreed to marry them.

"We are looking forward to having children," Humphrey said. "And all our friends and co-workers have been very supportive. Except for this, we're typical happy newlyweds."

"It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzmann. She said the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 "that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry."

The ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and recommending "the most severe sanctions available, because such blatant bigotry poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the administration of justice."

"He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it," Schwartzmann said.

According to the clerk of court's office, application for a marriage license must be made three days before the ceremony because there is a 72-hour waiting period. The applicants are asked if they have previously been married. If so, they must show how the marriage ended, such as divorce.

Other than that, all they need is a birth certificate and Social Security card.

The license fee is $35, and the license must be signed by a Louisiana minister, justice of the peace or judge. The original is returned to the clerk's office.

"I've been a justice of the peace for 34 years and I don't think I've mistreated anybody," Bardwell said. "I've made some mistakes, but you have too. I didn't tell this couple they couldn't get married. I just told them I wouldn't do it."

A Bright Future

2009-10-07T07:40:00.001-07:00

I'm just thinking how the saying goes that sometimes things have to get bad before they get worse. On race relations right now I am hoping all this tension in the country over Obama and all, is just a sign that a new dawn is coming. And you know what, deep down I really do believe this is what is going to happen.

As Jesse Jackson would say (can't believe I'm quoting Jesse) "Keep hope alive."

People Have Simply Dispensed With All Pretense

2009-09-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

I just had my latest Huffington Post piece published today. You can see it directly here. But here it is as well.
___________________________________________________________

SOME WHITE PEOPLE HAVE SIMPLY LOST THEIR MINDS

There is no other way to say this but to put it all on the table. Some white people have simply lost their minds because they are besides themselves trying to figure out how in the world they slipped up and let an African-American man in the White House, as President of these not so United States.

While thankfully there are a few whites who have been willing to speak up about what is really bubbling up, or more like, spewing forth lately, people like former President Jimmy Carter, Tim Wise and some other bloggers here on The Huffington Post, most people simply have tiptoed around the huge white elephant in the room. The outrageous incidents, which seem to be increasing in frequency -- Glenn Beck's obvious racial appeals by saying Obama hates white people, Sen. Joe Wilson's unprecedented outburst before the world yelling at the President, the birther's refusal to accept the truth, the almost mob like town hall meetings where some people openly carried signs that were perfect for a Klan rally, Rep. Lynn Jenkins' "White Hope" remark, 'tea party" leader Mark Williams referring to President Obama as "an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief," the uproar over the President of The United States daring to give an inspirational speech to America's school kids -- I could go on but you get the point -- these are nothing more than the ugliest of racism that has simply boiled over the sides of our famed and mythical melting pot.

Right-wing whites have simply reached the point where they cannot take it any more. And the message seems to be that they will say and do whatever it takes to de-legitimize this President. And they seem to be certainly saying "never again." The saddest part about all of this is that it was just a few moths ago that many of us in the multi-ethnic coalition that banded together to usher in the Obama era were celebrating what looked like the start of a new seemingly post racial America. But just nine months later, I have to say I don't think I have seen a time when the bitterness and seeming us against them mentality was more evident. And by "us against them," I mean whites against the flood of people of color that are seeming to challenge the idea of what it means to be America and American. All you had to do was look at the faces of some of the Congressman in the crowd at President Obama's speech to see the venom that was only thinly veiled. It almost matched what we saw and heard from some of the people in the crowds at the recent town hall meetings.

The irony in all this is the challenge the Rep. Wilson's, Glen Beck's, Sean Hannity's and Rush Limbaugh's throw down by trying to intimidate the rest of us by daring us to call out this racism and to call them what they are -- silly men, and some women, who have seen the future and realize that the future is one where white men are not the only ones with a seat at the table anymore. And this scares the hell out of them. So they spew this crap and dare us to stand up to it and speak the truth. But we have to let them know that we will not back down, that we will not go away, that we will indeed call them out, no matter how many times they target a Van Jones, or whoever is next since they can't get to Obama. This country is changing, for the better, whether they like it or not, so they might as well accept it and find something else to do. The Republican Party can only make a fool of itself for so long before it completely implodes. And no attempt to put a Black mouthpiece like Michael Steele in front can disguise the fact that the Party is losing control of itself and some of these formerly disguised racists that pretend they are not anti-Black. No just anti anything from an African-American who dares actually have the gumption to call himself President and dare to do what he promised he would do when the country duly and fairly elected him.

I know President Obama is in a tough place and he can't really call these people out. He has to be "Presidential." But we can speak up. The issue is not health care reform or President Obama being too far left, because we have had people on the left run this country before. And we have had battles over health care, social security and other issues before. What we have never witnessed, at least when it came to the respect afforded our country's leader, whether it was former Presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, is this level of disrespect and overt vitriol directed at a President. All Presidents have had their opponents. But when you think through what has been directed at Obama, and his family for that matter with some of the truly low things that have 'slipped out" of people's mouths, like the South Carolina Republican activist, Rusty DePass, who said an escaped gorilla was probably Michelle Obama's ancestor, there is no denying this is beyond civil disagreement.

But I for one am not going to be intimidated into silence and I will call these racists what they are. I can accept and respect differing viewpoints, but what President Obama, and the rest of us, don't have to accept is racism disguised as patriotism. Let's call it what it is, racism born out of a fear that those darker skinned people have taken over. This is just not the America they expected, at least not so soon.

Is this the 60's Again?

2009-09-16T15:48:00.001-07:00

What is going on in "post racial America'? Between Rep. Wilson yelling at the President, Kanye West and Taylor Swift, Glen Beck and Van Jones, Rush Limbaugh and anybody darker than him, Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, birthers, truthers, town hall mobs, black kids beating up a white kid on a bus, a white man beating up a black mother in Atlanta while yelling racial slurs, and numerous other incidents, I can't tell if we have moved ahead or backwards in terms of ethnic relations in this country, not to mention just plain ole civility.

Who's at fault for all this and why have we moved backwards? Some on the Right blame President Obama for ushering in this free for all. The left (and I include myself in this group) blame Republicans and other right wingers for doing everything they can to disrupt the Obama administration in hopes that it fails.

Whatever the reason, any hope of moving into a post race focused world following Obama's election has evaporated. At least for now. I do think this craziness will pass, but not until certain people finally recognize that the door that has been opened to people of color is not going to close, so they might as well give up. But that realization will not come easily or soon I am afraid. And in fact I suspect things will get a bit crazier before they get better.

Damn I've Been Tagged

2009-08-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like I've been challenged. My friend over at Zen's Sekai I tagged me with this and I must now return the favor and pass on the challenge. So here goes.

The meme works as follows. You post five things about yourself. Four are untrue. One is true. All are so outlandish, implausible or ridiculous that no one would be inclined to believe that any of them are true. And despite the pleas from your readers, you never divulge which is true and which are fabrications. You then tag five other people (four seriously and one person you are pretty sure would never participate).

Here are my five:

1. I was arrested and spent some time in jail.
2. On a dare, I ran naked through the quad in college.
3. I witnessed a murder.
4. I interviewed the then President of the United States.
5. I have an artificial finger.

The five lucky victims who are hereby tagged are: Shirl,Rashaan, Laura, Squeaksdaddy,and MilePerHour.

Barack Obama Is Not Black

2009-08-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Re-posted from my blog on The Huffington Post.

In this supposed "Post Racial" age of Obama you would think that the silly concept of race would simply ease its way into obscurity. And I am not even talking about the stupidity of racism that has in some ways gotten worse as so many on the far right have simply lost their minds at seeing an African-American family in The White House.

No, I'm talking about our concept of race itself. The fact is that we have what some see as the first black president (sorry Bill Clinton) and what others rightfully recognize as our first bi-ethnic president, since Obama is undeniably not all or mostly black, he is half. Now I know to some, both blacks and whites, as silly and erroneous as it is to say it, half black simply means all black. This notion is the result of the concept of white ethnic purity which lead to the age-old but still going strong "one drop rule" that states, quite simply, no matter how stupid and wrong, that one drop of black blood makes you black. Frankly, I am still amazed that blacks accept this as much as whites do even though it means our blood is somehow tainted. But then again, I do know that for blacks, the acceptance is rooted in two things, one being the need to keep our numbers up for statistics and the other that any mixed person who does not unequivocally state that they are black is somehow ashamed of being black. So one is based on choosing to be inaccurate and the other based on self-esteem issues.

Ironically, the concept of race, which is a pseudo-scientific concoction anyway, has gotten more muddled of late than it has gotten better. I remember years ago people of mixed background had no choice on what to check off on demographic surveys that forced them to pick sides. Then came the "Other" category. An improvement in a way, but who wants to be "Other?" Well, thanks to a number of groups making sure the U.S. Census made more effort to be accurate in our rapidly changing society, one that is decidedly more mixed than it was just a few years ago, the choices increased. So we made progress. Right?

Well, just a couple of weeks ago I got my middle school kids' registration papers and, of course, there was the obligatory demographic survey for us to fill out. Much to my surprise and chagrin, the form proved that whoever is responsible for determining our governmental concept of that term "race" has gotten even more confused.

The form was simple enough in design, being a simple one pager. The top section asked you to fill out your "Ethnicity," for which you had but two choices. Ethnically, you were either Hispanic or non-Hispanic. That was the extent of all the world's ethnicities. Mind you, our kids go to a school that has over 30 languages spoken in it -- from Russian to Japanese to Armenian to Spanish to English and much more. But ethnically you were simply Hispanic or non-Hispanic.
Now the second and last section was even more interesting. In the infinite wisdom of the powers that be who try to define "race," the second section offered many choices. In this section, you were to pick your "race." Oh, oh, there is that pseudo-scientific word again. So much to my surprise, "race" now was defined by choices like these -- Japanese, Philippino, Chinese, Indian, etc., and of course there was black and white. White was seemingly the catch all for the Persian, Armenian, Iranian and other Middle Eastern kids who did not have categories of boxes for their "race." Why Asian's had countries for race and others didn't I had no idea.
I was flabbergasted. What used to be ethnicities and cultures were now separate races. And if you think I was confused my wife, who is Mexican American, was really thrown off. Of course, on the top of the form she could check 'Hispanic." But on the bottom there were no categories for "Mexican American" or "Mexican" or anything that related to a country of origin, though there was such for many Asian countries. Was she supposed to check "white," which she is certainly not?
And for our kids, who are half Hispanic and half non-Hispanic, which box should they have checked on the top of the form? And on the bottom they only had "black" but nothing to represent their mother.

Oh boy, this sure didn't seem like progress. It was pure unadulterated silliness. Many, many people, and the numbers are growing, cannot simply be defined by these stupid boxes. When will we let go of the concept of "race" that does nothing but continue to entrap us all in believing that that which is not real is way more than it needs to be?
Barack Obama is both black and white and he is neither black nor white, and he is mixed and he is half. He is all of those things and he is none of those things. They are simply labels that we use to make life supposedly simpler even though in the end, they make it much more complicated. It is stupid and I don't choose to participate in the silliness.

By the way we checked both boxes, Hispanic and non-Hispanic and we checked black and added a box for Mexican-American for the bottom.

The Wide Wide World of Cultures

2009-08-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

I got an email from a gentleman the other day who contacted me because we share the same first and last name and he came across me while Googling his name. When he introduced himself he gave me a bit of his history and among other things pointed out that as a former Air Force man he spent a lot of time over in Japan many years ago. He also remarked about how much he really likes Japan and misses it very much.

Now that got me to thinking how two other good friends I have come to know thanks to the Internet are both African-American men married to Japanese women and both are great lovers of Japan and the Japanese culture as well. And I couldn’t help but wonder about inter-ethnic dating or marriage and which cultures seemed to be the most common, least common, etc. I am sure there are statistics out there that answer this and I’ll probably look it up. And I am excluding for the sake of this curiosity, American White and American Black, since we can already guess that would be the most dominant combo since those two are the most obvious.

My guess is Asian and Black would be the smallest group, despite my personal connections to those couples. And I would guess that Black and some Hispanic culture, say Mexican-American or Puerto Rican, would likely be the next largest to White-Black. And I say that based on population size and proximity, as well as shared economics and issues.

However it goes, it is so interesting to see the world coming together like that. And to come across so many people who have been brave enough to step outside of their familiar zone. The world is so big and so full with so much to gain from. Thank God people do see the choices are as wide as the field.

Which Box Should I Check?

2009-07-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

I came face to face with the insanity of race the other day as I looked over my kids' school registration papers. Among the usual papers was an "ethnicity survey" that I presume is used for federal reporting or funding or something. I've got no problem with that.

But here is what we had to fill out.

The first section for "Ethnicity" gives you two choices - Hispanic/Latino or non-Hispanic.

What the...?

So now ethnicity is either Hispanic or non-Hispanic. That is it? And you can only check one box. So since my kids are half Hispanic and half non-Hispanic, which one box should they check?

Then comes the second section where you check your "Race." Here they say you can check as many as needed. Which of course is a big improvement over many years ago where even here you used to be able to check only one box.

The choices included many Asian categories of "race." Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, you get the picture. So now these are supposedly different races and not just different countries of origin or cultures?

And of course there was the standard "White" or "Black." But interestingly no Brown category for race. I guess that was covered under ethnicity in the first section which means Mexican, Honduran and Brazilian people or simply Hispanic but Asians can have countries which makes them have races.

I am confused.

Now I get that Hispanics can be black, white and brown. But so too are there Asian Hispanics. And if my wife is Hispanic thus checking that box under the ethnicity section for example, what is she supposed to check in the "race" section where there is nothing available for her that is a "Brown" category. She is not White nor Black nor any of the Asian categories. Which also means what are my kids supposed to mark on this form? I am truly not getting this.

Race is so untrue that even when they tried to fix these forms, they have only served to make them even more useless and confusing.

You Tell "Em Rachel!

2009-07-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

You gotta love this from Rachel Maddow. If you haven't seen this, her rebuke of Pat Buchanan who made the statement that "white people built and made this country" you should watch it.

I love Rachel Maddow.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Paris Jackson's Debut A Beautiful Thing For The Blended Family

2009-07-12T23:36:00.000-07:00

One more thing about Michael Jackson I promise. Despite the fact that his kids are clearly not his biological kids, seeing his daughter, Paris, really for the first time unmasked and speaking, was so so wonderful considering she and the family were broadcast to the entire world as a family that was certainly not mono-racial. Even if adopted, they are still his kids and still a good example of a blended or Mixed family.

I loved seeing her and look forward to seeing more of the kids. I just hope they get a shot at a normal life, at least as far as normal can be considering.

Richard Nixon on “Interracial” Babies

2009-07-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

O.K. we already knew Richard Nixon was a complete crook and liar. But now we can add to his legacy, complete idiot.

As you may have heard, the Nixon library released last week more recordings of this crazy man. Which by the way, I don’t understand why they keep doing this since they exist to honor the man, and yet the more we know about him; the more history will see him for what he was, a person totally unfit to run this country. Anyway, one of the things Nixon can be heard expounding on in this most recent batch, is his opinion about exceptions for abortion. In a nutshell he said that while he was against abortion generally, he felt that there were two exceptions that should be allowed, in the case of rape and in the case of Mixed, black and white, babies.

Yep.

That’s what the idiot said.

Need I say more?

What a fool he was.

Forever A Fan of Michael Jackson

2009-06-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

Wow I’m still in a state of shock about Michael Jackson passing away. It just doesn’t feel real. I was, no I am, one of his biggest fans and supporters. There will never be another entertainer like Michael, with that kind of longevity and fan base worldwide. What a loss. We all have to go sometime, but this was definitely too soon for him.

I still remember how cool that he sang proudly the lyrics “if you wanna be my baby, it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white.” That was great. That song and its lyrics didn’t change the world, but coming from someone as big as him, it certainly put forth the concept of inter-ethnic harmony and love in a big way.

Of course there was the irony of such words coming from a guy who seemed to want to deny his own ethnicity and become another. But I don’t really care about that. Michael had issues no doubt. Don’t we all. In the end, he was a flawed human but a great one no less. What he gave to the world was a supreme gift, and music, the world for that matter, will not be the same without him.

The irony for me was that as a kid I was so connected to Michael partly because I was his mirror image (when he was a kid with the afro and brown skin). Literally everywhere I went, strangers would stop me and my parents and say how much I looked like Michael Jackson. So I felt a special connection. How odd then that he died on my birthday, June 25.

I guess we will continue to be connected, because that date will now have even more meaning to me.

Sports As The Example

2009-06-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

My wife very often wonders why, and most men, are so into sports. And frankly I have no idea. Maybe it’s just that old male testosterone thing needing an outlet.

But one thing I love about the sports world is that if you look at most teams in most major sports you will see a world that is ideal, at least in terms of how different ethnicities can get together, work together and bond, with no concern for skin color.

Look at the Lakers team that won recently. A Chinese star, a Spanish star, a star from Eastern Europe, a White American, and several Black American stars. All bonded together and celebrating on a stage the other day. And in a stadium made up of people from all backgrounds coming together in harmony.

That is one reason I love sports. On the field, or court, players don’t really care about skin color. And neither do the fans that root for their teams.

So are sports unimportant? On the contrary they are very important. There is no better example of what we can be than sports. (Of course this is no excuse for me to watch every game on television though so I can’t push this notion too far with my wife, she won’t buy it as an excuse every time.)

A Virtual Fist Bump

2009-06-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

I don’t know what’s going on but much to my delight in the last few days I have been seeing a large number of Mixed couples. Is something going on that I don’t know about? Has there been a meeting in Burbank I didn’t get invited to?

Whatever it is, I love it. Seriously, I must have seen at least 10 couples in the last 3 days, plus seeing at least 4 mothers with kids who were clearly Mixed. And the mixtures I’ve seen have run the gamut from Asian-White, Asian-Black, to Hispanic-Black, White-Black.

And it’s funny, when I see these couple I have to resist the urge to run up to them and give them high fives or something. Ironic, huh, since the point of all this is to get to that place where seeing such couples and families is not considered out of the ordinary. So I try to notice without noticing. But inside I am giving them a virtual fist bump.

Love that knows no boundaries. What a concept.

I Remember Why I Left Texas

2009-06-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

I don’t want to make it out that Texas is the worst place in the world for ethnic relations, since no place including California is immune from problems, but it certainly ranks up there.

Last week I had to fly to Texas and though the trip overall was a good one, believe me I am very glad to be home. As I told my wife when I got back it was just so strange that it seemed nothing has changed there in terms of ethnic relations. I spent most of my time in the North Dallas area, which if you don’t know Dallas, is mostly white. And everywhere I went – restaurants, music spots, stores, you name it – there were few blacks and Mexicans, or any other ethnic groups besides Whites, mingling around. I saw no intermingling at all. And needless to say, as the only Black in most of the establishments I went to with my friend, who happened to be White, I got that look of curiosity – oh look there’s a Black guy in here.

But having been raised in Texas for the most part it didn’t really make me uncomfortable to be honest. But it sure was a reminder that it wasn’t the place I wanted to live my life. Again I want to say I know there are good people in Dallas and throughout Texas. I know many. It’s just that there is also more of an acceptance there of a separation of groups that I am not personally comfortable with. Some people can live that way, prefer it even. Not me, I’m not that person.

A Baby In A Coffee Shop

2009-06-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

My wife and I were sitting in a local coffee shop here in Burbank the other night and had the pleasure of sitting across from a table of Japanese people who had a month and a half old baby with them. The baby was so cute and did that baby thing much of the time, which was to stare at people, in this case Dianna and I. Well what hit me, besides the perpetual wonder at new life and the life cycle, was that the baby was already living in a world of no more race. To her we weren’t anything but something to stare at, to try to figure out. It was a reminder that the silliness of race is absolutely a learned notion and though it will be impossible to stop that baby from learning the concept, we can at least hope for and work towards, making it less of a real issue.

Thank God for babies and the chance again to get it right.

A Very Special Day in Honor of a Very Special Couple

2009-06-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

If you are Mixed or are in a Mixed, or I prefer to say, blended relationship, then you probably know about the Lovings. It is to the Lovings that we all owe a great debt because it was they who challenged our nation’s laws on what was referred to as miscegenation, or people marrying outside of their “race.”

The Lovings did not set out to change our country, or specifically 1958 Virginia since that is where their challenge began, but change the country they did when the case of the black woman and white man who simply wanted to have the right for their marriage to be legally recognized in their state, and everywhere, went to the Supreme Court and they won.

So out of that, to commemorate and celebrate what their love and efforts did for all inter-ethnic couples and their kids, a special day came to be recognized, at least by many Mixed people, and that day is Loving Day, which is appropriately titled as both the name of the couple and also of what they were simply trying to do. People all over America will be celebrating this special day in ways large and small, like my friend Zen, from the blog Zen’s Sekai I – by Land... who is having a special gathering of friends this weekend, most of whom are in Mixed relationships, at his home in The Bay Area. Many people don’t know about Loving Day, but we should all do our best to spread the word, so people of all kinds, not just Mixed people and couples, come to know what a special day this is and so no one forgets the special couple that made it all possible, by striking down laws that prevented interracial marriages.

So Happy Loving Day to you.

For more on The Lovings check out this site.

The Choice of Who We Love Is Not Based on Ethnicity

2009-06-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

I saw the silliest thing on Facebook the other day. If you are into Facebook, then you know there are all these snapshot polls and personality quizzes people like to pass around. I think you can make up your own, which is kind of cool actually. But one the other day was likely a good intention gone bad.

The quiz was “Which ethnicity should you be dating?” Frankly I did not click on the link or participate in it so I don’t know where it goes or how it makes the conclusion. And at first blush it seems to me that the designer of the quiz probably meant well since even the notion that people should consider dating someone of a different ethnicity is a good one to put forth.

But my problem with the premise of the quiz is that it makes it seem like we should date someone based on their ethnicity – “what ethnicity should you be dating?” That flies in the face of what most of us who are in inter-ethnic relationships believe. We simply believe that we should be allowed to date anyone we choose regardless of their ethnicity, not because of it. Secondarily I don’t even want to know how they make the determination in this poll or quiz, because I am afraid it has to be based in part on stereotypes of the ethnic groups to make such a determination, since how can it take into account that people are individuals regardless of ethnicity.

Anything that makes it seem like we are choosing our partners for any other reason than love based on a personal connection is, in the long run, detrimental to getting us past an ethnic or race based way of seeing the world. The point is to love based on no boundaries, not because of distinctions.

Are Police Officers More Racist Than the General Population?

2009-05-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

I read an article this week in the local paper here in Burbank about a major discrimination lawsuit against the Burbank Police Department being filed this week. The lawsuit is being brought by about five officers, three Hispanics, two males and one female, as well as an Armenian man and I believe one Black man. They allege that over the years they have been subject to numerous cases of ugly racial statements, discrimination, retaliation and general mistreatment. I don’t even want to repeat some of the stupid things that were supposedly said to them and that they had to listen to. Just suffice it to say that they were often the typical slurs and ethnic innuendos. If what they are saying is true, and frankly it is hard to imagine five people deciding to come forward with this kind of lawsuit if they weren’t sure of their case considering how hard it would be for them to keep their jobs otherwise, that I believe it must be true.

One of my initial thoughts upon reading this, is wow, can this be in my town, Burbank, in California? But it is a reminder that racism doesn’t stop at the borders of certain cities and towns. Look at the cops in New York City that viciously beat up that black man a few years ago, think about Rodney King and Mark Furman. So little Burbank is not immune and I should not be surprised.

My second thoughts were what is up with cops? Is there a certain breed of person that chooses to be a cop? Does it attract bullies and small minded people? I don’t think that is true overall, because I have met some really cool police officers and I do believe what these people do on a daily basis for all of us is indeed heroic and remarkable. But somehow these incidents happen, from one side of the country to the other and in police departments large and small. For the most part I’m going to stand by the belief that police departments only reflect the larger society. That a small percentage of them are racists, reflective of the society at large. But equally so, many are fine people.

But there is no getting around the fact that it is incredibly scary to think that in the case of a racist police officer, they are licensed to carry a gun and can legally mess with you whenever they feel like it. It is not harmless bigotry. So if the facts of this lawsuit are true, I hope the Burbank Police Department is made to pay a high price and as a result forced to make some serious adjustments to the force and in the mindset of its leadership and officers. Only then can all the people feel safe.

How To Decide If You're Black

2009-05-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

An interesting article is highlighted in the sidebar to the right, which I am providing the link to right here. A very interesting, short read about how the writer is tired of people who wish Obama were identified as Mixed or "bi-racial" instead of black. He details in his piece the criteria he uses to determine if a person is black.

In a nutshell, though you should read the piece, he thinks if you are perceived as black then you are black. A very simplistic notion, but nevertheless, one that many people use.

Let me say again, as I have before on that argument, the only problem with that is that it would also mean it is o.k. to call yourself anything you want if you look a certain way, say Mariah Carey, can say she's white since she looks white for the most part. And that thinking is also problematic because it means others will decide for us who we are and why in the world would anybody give up that kind of power to strangers?

I don't get it. But read his piece here.

A Very Good Week So Far

2009-05-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

This has been a great week for me as a writer. First I must say I am proud to announce that I was selected by Shirl Whitfield to receive the "Shades of Black and White Award," which was created in honor of her outstanding blog of the same name. It is given, I am told "to deserving bloggers who are comitted to bridge the gap of racism due to their passionate writing, their excellent communication skills, their courage to "put it out there" and because they truly care about the only race that matters, the human race."

I am deeply honored. One request for those who receive the award is to pass it on, so I will be doing that in the next week. I definitely know there are many deserving writers out there.

I also wanted to pass on that I made my debut today as a new featured writer for TheLoop21.com, an online community, a place for conversation, about the progress of people of color. I will be writing twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays, a blog called Hollywood and Vine:The Intersection of Entertainment and Black Culture. My first piece is called "Tyler Perry As The Chosen One." Check it out.

Thanks for reading this and caring about the issues of what most call "race."

A Real ‘Inter-Racial” Relationship

2009-05-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

I went and saw the new Star Trek movie last weekend with the family. We all loved it. Even the kids who don’t really know Star Trek. My wife and I of course were raised watching Star Trek so it was wonderful to see this updated version of the story.

But the best part of the story was the new relationship that was portrayed of Uhura, played by the beautiful Zoe Saldana, and the young Spock, played by that guy from Heroes, whose name I cannot recall. The fact that this was a relationship that none of the original series ever hinted at, it was surprising and a bit of a stretch since die-hards know Spock as having absolutely no, or certainly very little emotion. So a love relationship seems not likely. But nonetheless it was a nice addition to the story. And the best part about it was that their affair certainly showcased a real “interracial” relationship for all to see and enjoy.

So I loved it and salute the film’s writers and makers for doing it and allowing a beautiful black female to get such an important romantic relationship on the silver screen. Though it just occurred to me that this is not Zoe Saldana’s first time playing a character involved in an interracial or inter-ethnic relationship. She also starred opposite Ashton Kutcher in the comedy remake a few years ago of “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?” So maybe she has an affinity for these relationships and situations. If so, good for her.

So if you haven’t seen it, you should. It is fun on many levels and this special relationship, which does not spoil any of the story with my telling you this since it is alluded to in the trailers and whatnot, makes it even more interesting. I think when we do think on a galactic scale, our petty cultural differences become really small.

Seal and Heidi Klum in Us Magazine

2009-04-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't read the article yet myself, but apparently Heidi Klum talks a bit about her Mixed family in the latest issue of US Magazine. And she and her hubby, Seal, are on the cover of the issue. That's nice. I'm sure there are quite a few people not happy to see that cover staring at them in store checkout lines - the Supermodel and her black husband, superstar singer. I of course love that it is there for all to see and deal with. It is a new world people.

Standing Up To Your Own Family's Racism

2009-04-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you don't already read the blog, "Shades of Black and White," I strongly encourage you to do so. The writer is really good and she is so honest and unflinching in what she shares. This particular posting, which I link below, is incredible. As you will see it is about what she has experienced and dealt with since her parents have shunned her and her family, including their own grandchild, because she dared to marry a black man.

I have recounted before here how my wife and I share a somewhat similar experience, though not quite as drastic. My wife grew up with a Mom who regularly used the "N word" and who made it clear that blacks were considered less than Mexicans (or Mexican-Americans), which she is. Somehow my wife was able to grow up with that and still find a way to fall in love with whomever she chose, which happened to be me, a black man. I totally tip my hat to her and anyone who can overcome that kind of upbringing to make this kind of choice. What strength.

I was a bit luckier. I grew up mostly around only blacks, but my family did not openly exhibit any racism. I don't recall ever hearing anything that was negatively directed at whites or others. And frankly, thinking back, now I think how strange and wonderful that was of my parents, particularly considering I grew up in a small town in Southeast Texas in the 60's and 70's. So I was very lucky. And to this day, no one in my family has ever said anything about my choice nor have they treated Dianna any differently than anyone else from what I can see.

Now I don't say this to say my family was better, only to make the point that I am really amazed at people like Shirl and my wife, Dianna, who can deal with what they did growing up and be so amazing as adults in going against their parents. I wonder if I could be so strong were I to have that kind of situation as a child. Most people simply accept and become their parents when they grow up. It is just the way the world is.

So kudos to these two particular women, and anybody else who stands up to their families and racism. I am in total awe and truly do thank you for having that kind of courage.

Here is the link to Shirl's posting.

An Apology For Being Racist

2009-04-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read this article that I found on Yahoo you really should read it. It's the story of an old white gentleman who though he was notorious for hating blacks when he was younger, and even viciously beat a few in his life during the Civil Rights Movement, now is going about apologizing to everyone he can find who he wronged.

It is an interesting read and makes you think a lot about the root of hatred. One of the more interesting things I found in the piece though was the fact that even during the height of his hatred, he would bring his young wife to a "black speakeasy" to show off his dance moves to her. How odd. To hate blacks so much and yet have no problem going into a black club and dancing with them. O.k. that confuses me a bit. But I guess it is about the fact that as long as blacks are in their own place they are o.k. It is when they wanted to integrate that he had to beat them down.

As far as the apology to blacks, frankly I accept it. I understand it is sort of a death-bed apology but still the public nature of what he is doing can be a great lesson for a lot of people so I think it is a good thing.

Check out the article here.

A Lack Of Ethnic Concern

2009-04-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

I was doing my thing at the mall last night here in Burbank while waiting for Dianna, sitting on a bench just watching the flow of people go by. People watching is one of my favorite things to do. People are so interesting - styles, sizes, personalities, etc.

As I remarked once before, I am just thrilled to see the cultural diversity that passes by here. I heard numerous languages as I sat there - Russian, Armenian, English, Spanish, and some I could not place. Reminded me that in my daughter's nearby elementary school, there are over 50 languages spoken in the homes of the students.

But again what I noticed equally was the absolute lack of any seeming concern about ethnic or racial differences. This is especially evident obviously in all the teens strolling through. Even when they were not hanging together, the groups seemed to flow as if all this diversity was normal, as it is to them I guess. How wonderful. And of course there were a few mixed teen couples thrown in. And again, no one seemed to care.

Thank God for this generation. I am not silly enough to think there is no racial or ethnic animosity among any of this younger generation. But I can tell they are mostly coming from a place that is eons beyond where most of us adults started from.

Did my heart good watching the scene.

Party Like It's 1979

2009-03-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

Man, I've got to be better about writing regularly. My apologies to anyone who reads this on a regular basis. I have thoroughly chastised myself and will do better. I promise.

What sparked me to write on this day, though, is that in the last couple of weeks I have gotten notices that the 30 year reunion for my high school class in Southeast Texas is coming up this summer. (O.K. so I just dated myself badly. But oh well.) Anyway, the main reunion is this summer. Not sure if I will be going as frankly I'm not really into traveling halfway across the country to see some of these people who I have not talked to or seen in that long a time. My philosophy is that if we wanted to be in each others' lives we would probably have been in communication without such an event. There are a couple of friends from my graduating class I still stay in touch with, and we do so without a planned, once in a while, event.

But here is how this whole thing relates to "No More Race." There is a second 30 year reunion planned for the fall, this one for the "Ebony Class," i.e. the blacks who were in this particular class. A separate event altogether. Mind you, the Ebony Reunion does not mean that black alumni will not be going to the main event this summer. But I am sure Whites and others will not be invited to the Ebony Reunion. You have to understand, first that this kind of separateness happened way back when I was in school with these folks. I believe there were separate parties and graduation events back in 1979. And I do remember there being an Ebony Club. But frankly I am just amazed that here we are in 2009 and we're now talking about people who are in their mid-40's, and we're still talking about the idea of blacks organizing a separate event for blacks.

I remember that back then I was opposed to such separateness and didn't partake in any event that excluded any group. And obviously I haven't changed in that regard. I mean what would that mean for my family for example and my Mexican-American wife? Would she be welcome? I know people think differently in Texas than they do in some other places, but I am still amazed. And don't get me wrong, certainly there is a place for black organizations, say an NAACP or a 100 Black Men type group. I am not denouncing such things. But the difference is, those are organizations committed to social change and the betterment of a group of people. That is wholly different than saying we just want to be with people like us for our social event. Clearly in the case of the Ebony Reunion, it is based on a feeling that blacks need or want an event that excludes anyone but them, an event I guess where they can let their hair down without whites or others around.

Wow.

The more things change in some ways, the more they stay the same in others, and this is particularly true in certain places where 2009 is just like 1979.

A White Perspective On Racism In The Age of Obama

2009-03-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

My friend over at the blog, Zen's Sekai I - By Land, sent me this article. It is very interesting and tackles head on the issue of racism, from the perspective of a white American. Here it is:

By the way, Andrew M. Manis, the author, is associate professor of history at Macon State College in Georgia and wrote this for an editorial in the Macon Telegraph.

Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?

For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are African Americans finally going to get over it? Now I want to ask: "When are we White Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?
Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes" should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in "Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."
Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.
We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years, conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment, perhaps. But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.
But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven what conservatives are always saying -- that in America anything is possible, EVEN electing a black man as president. But instead we now hear that school children from Maine to California are talking about wanting to "assassinate Obama."
Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?" How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us? How long until we white people can - once and for all - get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?
How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations?
I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?
How long before we starting "living out the true meaning" of our creeds, both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that "red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?
Until this past November 4, I didn't believe this country would ever elect an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long enough to see us white people get over our racism problem. But here's my three-point plan: First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House that Black Slaves Built, I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service) will protect him and his family from us white people.
Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying, in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President Obama. Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of our damnable color prejudice, "We HAVE overcome."
**************************************

It takes a Village to protect our President!!!

Not Half or a Part

2009-03-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

This is a very interesting article and perspective from a woman who is part Japanese and part Afican-American. I like that she considers herself not half and half but all and all. I hadn't thought of it that way. Makes me rethink a bit. Check it out here.

Life's Lessons

2009-02-27T19:55:00.001-08:00

Forgive me, but I’m going to go off topic for this entry. With my wife and I moving the family a couple of weeks ago to a new home, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the struggling and hard times so many of us have been and still are going through. Though we have made steps in some ways, like finding a wonderful house for us, we are by no means out of the woods when it comes to struggling to make things happen and to give the kids a sense of normalcy in a time when normal is not at all the norm.

Dianna and I often say we were in a recession before most people even knew there was a recession, or at least before the government would admit that we were in one. Needless to say it has been a long year or so of trying to maintain, and improve, our finances. Moving into a new house isn’t so much a fact of things getting better financially, as it is a fact of circumstances conspiring simply to make this choice the right one at this time. We have no illusion that we are better off, though others on the outside might think so. In fact we know that some would think that we are crazy to move up in house size and house payment at a time when the economy is so bad and money so hard to come by for us and so many people. And yet that is also a lesson of these times. Sometimes the right decision is not about money, but about options and opportunity. When you don’t have a lot of choices presented to you, sometimes you have to choose things you wouldn’t normally. And as I said before, these are not normal times.

And yet as I reflect on our situation, and hear so, so many stories from friends and others about how much financial, job, and family stress there is, I also think about the fact that no matter the situation, if we do not die from it, there is something to learn, to gain, to make us better. The only question is how am I better as a result of all this monetary craziness and struggling to make ends meet?

Part of me thinks that whole “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” stuff is just something made up by someone who was an overseer of men to make those who toiled for him feel better about putting up with his crap. But having been through many ups and downs in my life, I have come to realize that actually there is indeed truth in those words. Don’t get me wrong, I have had times when I was making money hand over fist and I have had times where I had no idea where the next dollar was coming from, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I prefer those times when money is easy. But I can also say that I have indeed learned a lot – about myself, my family, my friends, other people and life in general from these down times.

Here are some of the things I learned in no particular order:

-that laughter is free
-that being optimistic, though hard sometimes, makes a big difference
-that my wife is a real trooper and can hang in there no matter what
-that my kids are as happy and full with food off the $1 menu as they are at a
regular restaurant
-that meditation works
-that nature is beautiful and free and all around
-that there are some really really good people out there
-that there are some real sour pusses out there who will enjoy your down moments and
that you have to learn who they are so you can avoid them even in good times
-that my kids have “gotten it” when it comes to learning that the most important
thing is that we are all together
-that my parents were a lot smarter and resilient than I ever gave them credit for
as a kid
-that having lots of money doesn’t make you better than someone else
-that having little money doesn’t make you less than someone else
-and that where you live, and the size of the house, have absolutely nothing to do
with who you are

I could go on, but these are some of the most important. In the end, I have to be grateful for having the opportunity to be a better person. I have often said the best way or time to measure a person in terms of who they really are is how they behave and respond to things going poorly. Most everyone is good and decent when things are going the way they want. It is how you handle the bad that separates you. So I’ll say this about these times, we’re all getting a chance to see not only how we personally handle it, but how those around us do too.

I try to look at every day as a new opportunity to not only make things better financially for my family, but to also see if I can become better at being. The financial thing is not always easy and I some days, many days lately, don’t do so well on that one. But the second daily goal is always in my power and doesn’t cost me anything. And though I can’t say I get better every single day, I do make progress. And the irony is not doing so hot on the first goal is the perfect opportunity and tool for me to do better on the second.

In that sense I guess I should be thankful for these hard times. But believe me, that doesn’t stop me from wishing this particular opportunity would finally pass. Hey I can also learn a lot, I am sure, from being on the upside, you know, things like humility and what not. So I’ll definitely be glad when I get the opportunity to be a better well-off person. The proverbial valley we’ve been in may not be that deep compared to what some others are experiencing, but boy it sure is wide. Guess for now, I’ll just have to keep on keeping on.

Skin Color Is A Useless Way To Define Who We Are

2009-02-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

Oh Man I want to see this movie. Check out the trailer below. The movie, called "Skin," is based on a true story about a white woman, in that she was born to two white parents in South Africa, though she had brown skin and African features. Here is what was written about the film on The Loop website:

It's an odd story really, a black girl born to white parents in apartheid South Africa in the 1950s. It may be odd, but it's the real life of Sandra Laing.

She was at the premiere of the film based on her life, Skin, at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles Wednesday night to prove it.

The film synopsis calls Sandra's brown skin and coarse hair texture "a genetic abnormality."

Well, that "genetic abnormality" is otherwise known as a throwback gene. Someone in the Laing clan was passing (for white) and those genes popped back up in Sandra.

The film drew parallels to America's own segregation history and how absolute the racial lines were. Just one little drop of black blood could dramatically alter the course of your life.

The apartheid was indeed more severe, and lasted a good 30 years beyond segregation laws in America. Still, Sandra Laing's experience was the same as countless other mulattos in America — eventually you have to choose a race. And choose she did.

Sandra Laing was beaten, ridiculed and then disowned by her parents after she became pregnant by a black man. After that, she didn't see her mother for 20 years and never saw her father again.

Interestingly enough, the film has sparked conversation and an opportunity to learn from South Africa's grim history. The film's director, Anthony Fabian, showed the film to the South African parliament, and they immediately requested another viewing and are making showing the film mandatory in all schools. (Read about how black history is taught in America.)

How wonderful that a country with such an extreme racial history is so willing to remember and learn from the mistakes of the past. Talk about a push toward post-racism.

Seems like the United States is behind. We're still debating whether we should continue Black History Month now that we have a black president and refusing to talk about our own racist past.

Go figure.

If ever there was an example of the stupidity of our racial classifications this story is it.

Congratulations Tiger and Elin

2009-02-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin on the birth of another child, a boy. The pic above is them with their first child and Tiger's mother. What a wonderful picture of the ideal of no more race.

What An Awesome Responsibility

2009-02-06T16:51:00.000-08:00

I was just watching my kids, unbeknownst to them, the way parents do some times when we are amazed that we have brought these wonderful little people into the world, and was thinking, what will the world hold for them in the future?

Are we making the right choices on what we do with them, what we teach them?

Will they end up anything like we expect and hope them to be in terms of their morals and attitudes and behavior?

Thinking about it, you realize how little control over it you have as parents and yet how awesome the task is in trying to steer them to where we hope they end up. I can only hope that some of what we teach, both intentionally and unintentionally, since much of what they learn from us won't be things we thought we were teaching, gets through positively. And I certainly hope, and believe it will be the case, that their ethnic mix, will be something that gives them strength and a perspective that gives them a leg up on being the type of people that will do something, even in small ways, that make the world better than it was when they came into it.

Black Is The New Black

2009-01-31T21:49:00.000-08:00

Boy it's something how things change, huh?

It seems that all of a sudden being Black is the new thing for 2009. With Barack Obama getting elected and living in the White House it seems like the Republicans have now decided that they had better get on board with the new "trend" and have selected their first ever African-American person to head the Republic Party, Michael Steele. I guess they figure the writings on the wall and they need to show that they are down with the times. And it looks like this year's winning Head Coach in the Super Bowl will also be a black man (not the first though since Tony Dungy already broke that barrier). So we black men had better recognize that this seems to be our year and get going before the clock runs out on us. We're the hot thing. Black is the new black. I even heard Larry King say that his young son told him one night recently that he wanted to Black, that he thought being Black was cool. Well there you go. We are the hot new toy.

I better get going while the goings good before the clock runs out.

We Are Not Post Racial Just Yet

2009-01-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

I am cross posting this from my blog over at The Huffington Post (published on Jan. 20).

What a fantastic few days this has been. I am still on a natural high as John Denver would say. Now that President-Elect Obama has gloriously become President Obama we can finally turn our attention to the real work of getting this country back on track and into that famously promised "post racial America."

I, like most people, am realistic enough to know that President Obama cannot fix everything that is wrong with our economy and country. Sure there will be those who are looking for him to fail, waiting for those first missteps. But I think even they can't expect one man to fix in a few months or even a few years what has taken eight years to mess up. But I am indeed amazed at the number of people, in the media and that I know personally, who truly do expect America to be now and forever free of its ethnic, religious and racial differences. And this is not coming solely from White Americans who some might think are doing a bit of wishful thinking that minorities can now stop complaining about getting a fair shot. I have also come across some Black Americans who seem to believe that President Obama is going to make everything OK for everybody, or that all Black people's credit scores are now raised as one comedian joked... Doesn't Obama doesn't have enough on his shoulders?

But frankly I have to admit, I too used to think the success of one Black man (and I refer to him as Black since he himself chooses that descriptive) would mean that all Black people would rise with him, that when strangers looked at me from now on, they would think Obama and not Willie Horton or some other more recent negative association. I clearly remember the day after Obama's surprising win in the Iowa caucus, the win that caused most of us to believe that where we are today was possible, how when I was out in public I walked a bit taller, a bit prouder, feeling that everyone who saw me surely must be thinking positive thoughts about me and all Black people. After all, the Obamas proved that all of us were not bad, that some of us were even educated and people to be admired. But that feeling did not last long for me. As the campaign waged on and all the ugliness of the Jeremiah Wright affair, the rise of PUMA, the William Ayers mess, the Bill Clinton coded words after New Hampshire and in North Carolina, after all that, any notion that race was not going to play a factor in Obama's life, and mine as well, was washed away for the most part.

And still, like so many others, I couldn't help myself, there was still a bit of hope, of the belief that the oft-mentioned post-racial America Obama was supposed to usher in, was real. Is it real? Is it coming?

Well, I can definitely say that it is not here yet. But that doesn't mean that it's not on the way or that the inauguration of President Obama, and the multiracial coalition of people who helped him get to this day, are not signs that our nation is indeed moving on a path to that promised land. I do believe that we are undeniably closer to that ideal now than we have ever been in our country's history. And that is certainly worth celebrating.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Post racial we are not. Even President Obama has acknowledged that one man, one term of office, is not enough to change our history and the stain of race. The very fact that a whole new level of heated and passionate racial debate has arisen in the blogosphere related to whether Obama is America's first Black President or whether he is our first Mixed or Bi-Racial President is proof that race still matters to many people. To many the distinction is incredibly important, some believing the debate itself to be another example of those in the majority trying to take something away from Black people by denying that Obama is fully Black. But whatever one thinks about the debate, the fact that it is being waged is the key. And as I said before I have even encountered blacks who act like President Obama's swearing in and triumph means that they have the right to demand anything they want. I have seen examples of this on more than one occasion. The most recent involved a young Black man who was hawking his band's music CD to passersby on the street in downtown Burbank. When people, including me, wouldn't stop and heed his call to buy his CD, he actually invoked Obama to try to shame us into buying. He addressed me particularly, angrily actually, that times were different and Obama's election meant that I should feel obligated to support him as a sign of solidarity. The fact that he was being an ass or that I, and others passing, simply might not be interested in his music at that time weren't even considerations to him. All that mattered was his expectation that Obama's victory meant that we should all want to buy his album since he was, like Obama, Black.

It matters greatly that we now have, in The White House, a person and a family that has dark skin pigmentation, if only because it allow us to tell our kids that they too can be President some day and really mean it. We can now say America has indeed, at least in this case, in this ideal, lived up to its promise that anyone can ascend to the highest office. But incidents like the guy on the street and the recent police shootings of young black men in San Francisco, Houston and Philadelphia, are certainly proof that the mere existence of President Obama cannot lull us into believing that we have reached the pinnacle of racial progress in America. It is true that the only time we will surely know we have become post racial is when the election of a Black person, a Hispanic person, a Muslim, or a woman, is not really newsworthy by itself. Oh, do I look forward to that time.

But for now I am, like most of you, thrilled that we have at least gotten to where we are today, able to witness what we saw on Inauguration Day. We may not be post racial yet and Obama hasn't solved our economic crisis in his first days in office, but what we are witnessing every time we see him and Michelle and those darling girls actually living in The White House is a seismic shift that, at the very least, lets us know if we continue to work at it (and we all have to do our part as Obama said) that the America we want, that post racial America, will get here, and maybe even sooner than we expect.

"The View" Debates Mixed "Race"

2009-01-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

I never really watch "The View" but every once in a while they do have interviews that are newsworthy and that get my attention. Conservative columnist and author Ann Coulter was on this week promoting her new book. While much of the post show media attention has relelated to Coulter's argument that single mothers are to blame for most of society's ills (certainly a ridiculous assertion), the part that peaked my interest the most was the discussion around Coulter's segment of her book where she apparently takes some prominent Mixed people - President-Elect Obama, Halle Berry, and Alicia Keyes - to task for what she says is their convenient labeling of themselves as Black because it benefited them, even, as she put it, while ignoring their white mothers, who in each of their cases, raised them when their Black fathers were not around. Needless to say it is an interesting argument.

Equally interesting was the lead in to the Coulter segment when the hosts of "The View", mainly Whoopie Goldberg, Barbara Walters, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck, gave their own opinions as to why these prominent individuals and other Mixed people rightfully chose to call themselves Black, mainly because, as Whoopie put it, the world will view them as such, so that is what they are.

Now while I am not a fan of Coulter, as I think her opinion on this is based simply on arguing against anything and anybody liberal or minority, I do have to say that I also don't completely agree with the women on "The View."

I do believe Mixed people have a right to make their own determination about which part of their identity they most identify with and feel comfortable claiming, but I also think the opinion of "the world" has nothing to do with it. The minute we give in to the idea that "the world" is the decision maker on who and what we are, is the time we might as well accept all kinds of silly and often racist notions. And I do think there is something a bit wrong in walking around calling oneself as simply one thing, Black, all the while standing next to mothers, in these cases white mothers or grandmothers, especially if that mother raised you in a "white environment." Don't get me wrong, I do get the point made on "The View" that if Obama or Berry or Keyes stood up and said "I'm White" they would be laughed off the stage because they certainly don't look the part.

But therein lies the rub. Halle Berry, Alicia Keyes. Barack Obama, and many others, have as much right to call themselves White as they do Black. It would be equally true. Or equally wrong. Regardless of what they look like. And what of all the other mixtures - Asian and White, Hispanic and Black, Indian and White? And all the others? Are they all supposed to wait for society to tell them what they are allowed to call themselves? Regardless of reality or how they feel or how they were raised?

As for Ann Coulter's view, I think she got one key part wrong. I don't think our society ever makes it "convenient" or "advantageous" as she insinuates, to identify as Black. I'm not sure which world she lives in on that one. Our society, and world, doesn't give out too many bonuses for dark pigmentation, at least not compared to the ways we have been, and in some ways continue to be, penalized for it. So the fact that the three people she mentioned chose to call themselves Black may have a lot to do with the one drop rule being all powerful in most people's eyes, but it certainly wasn't a choice made of political or career expediency.

Well, I've been saying this issue was going to get a lot more attention thanks to Obama's rise, and this brouhaha is just the beginning. As I've said before, I welcome the debate. It can only help us move forward. Below are two key segments of the show. If you haven't seen it, check 'em out. Very entertaining, and a precursor of more to come I'm sure.

The "N Word" Resurfaces

2009-01-09T17:56:00.000-08:00

You know how you can be doing and feeling so good some times and then one seemingly little thing can bring you down?

I had one of those incidents not long ago. My wife and I were walking back from somewhere to our condo, down a fairly busy street in downtown Burbank. It was, as usual, a beautiful day in Southern California and my wife and I were enjoying the weather, our conversation and life in general.

As we neared one local movie rental shop, an older homeless woman, I think she is Anglo-American, a regular in this area and probably the only homeless person we ever see around Burbank, was camped out at a bus stop in front of the store. We didn't think anything about her as we'd seen her before and though we knew her to be a bit grumpy, we knew she was harmless. So we kept on talking and walking on our path that would take us past her seat at the corner stop. To our complete surprise, she looked up as we were about to pass her and proceeded to yell quite loudly, "GET OUT OF HERE NIGGER! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Now imagine our shock. I hadn't personally heard anyone call me that directly since I was in junior high in Texas during some racial strife at our school. The last thing I expected was to hear it on a street in Southern California, and from a homeless woman no less. It's something when even a homeless person thinks they are better than any black person. You just have to shake your head sometimes. And the funny thing is Dianna thought the woman was talking to her, and Dianna is Mexican-American. So I'm still trying to convince Dianna the words were not meant for her.

Needless to say, Dianna and I kept on walking and didn't stop to say anything to the woman. What would be the point? She is clearly a bit not right in the head and there would be nothng to gain. But I have to admit, hearing those words definitely shook us up a bit and its hard to get them out of your head. Dianna and I soon went back to our conversation but of course the incident has remained with us. In some ways, I think it was more upsetting to my wife than to me. I'm not sure Dianna has ever really heard the word used so forcefully and so negatively, and targeted so directly.

The old woman is still on the street and we have walked past her since, though we take a wide berth and avoid going directly in front of her if we can. Some might argue why let her get away with that, even causing us to alter our path in anyway. But I think this is one of those sitations where there is nothing to gain in dealing with a possibly mentally ill person. Were it a different individual and a different situation, no doubt we would take a different action.

But you know since that happened, I do ask myself, how whould I have responded if my kids had been present when the lady said something like that? In that case, I think I would have had no choice but to confront the lady directly, or a least say something back to her, not name calling of course, but some comment to let her know her words were stupid and uncalled for. And of course I would have had to have a conversation with the kids about her words and action. But since it was just me and Dianna...

But it does make me think that though we have warned our kids about the existence of stupid people out there, knowing that sooner or later, they will definitely hear something ignorant said about and to them, can it ever be enough to prepare you. Like I said, Dianna and I are older and wiser and we were still literally shocked to hear those words directed at us/me.

Oh well, I take the incident as a reminder that we have to stay aware that ignorance is still alive and well and that it exists everywhere. But it is still so disturbing to have something like that happen to you.

The Beauty of So Many Cultures

2009-01-04T18:38:00.000-08:00

I was doing some people watching the other day at the mall here in Burbank and once again was struck by the wonderful mixture of cultures that we have here. It reminds me that we made the right choice of where to raise our children. And yet I still wonder if in a way they are getting a warped sense of what the rest of the country and world is like when it comes to the mixing of cultures in one area. Will they have a hard time if they decide at some point to move to an area or city that is more dominated by one culture? Will they then have a rude awakening?

Ultimately, I know I can't worry about all that. All we can do as parents, no matter where we live, is try to give our kids a strong sense of who they are, and a pride in their cultures. And at the same time I hope we are giving them a strong sense of appreciation for all the other cultures that exist around them. In that way, I hope they will always choose to live in an area with this kind of mixture because they too will come to love seeing so many people of so many hues and languages and experiences. Multiculturalism is such a beautiful thing.

Looking Forward To A Bi-Cultural 2009

2008-12-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

With 2008 coming to a close, thankfully so for many reasons, the main being the disaster that has become our economy with so many people having such a hard time. We can only hope that 2009 is going to be much better for all of us. In fact, it is hard to imagine it being any worse. Here's to a great 2009 for all of you.

On the "racial" front, I am particularly excited about what the new year will hold. After all, we will have the first Mixed President in our country's history taking office within weeks of the start of 2009. Not only do I suspect he will do wonders for our economy (though I don't for a minute think he's a miracle worker) but I also think he will make a huge difference in our standing in the world.

But as it relates to the focus of this blog, Obama will be a constant reminder to all of us on just how far we have indeed progressed. Oh I know there is a big debate out there right now in some circles about whether Obama is "black" or if it is more appropriate to call him "bi-racial." While I think this is an important distinction, I also am thrilled that his standing has forced this semantical issue to the forefront, regardless of which side one argues. The fact that we are talking about it all is simply wonderful. One way or another, Mixed people (and therefore Mixed relationships) will get more prominence. And that is a good thing. The more those of us who are either Mixed or involved in bi, or multicultural, relationships are in the limelight the more it is an opportunity for the message to get out that we are the way to the future and to a world that spends less time focused on skin color and differences and more time focused on simply being and loving one another.

So here's to 2009 and a world that gets us closer to the title of this blog, no more race. Let's keep taking the steps to get us there, for us and our kids, as I consider all kids to be "our" kids because we are responsible for all of them, not just the ones we brought into the world directly. Thanks for reading and for sharing.

The Magic of Racism

2008-12-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking today about something I read on another blog about Mixed kids, particularly those mixed with anything and Black, and how for most people that old one drop thing is the most important thing in the world. Black and anything is simply black.

Reminds me of something else I read that says the reality in America is this - a white woman can give birth to a black baby, but a black woman cannot ever give birth to a white baby.

Ain't that the darnest thing? What a stupid world this can be sometimes.

Another Mixed Woman Raises The Beauty Standard

2008-12-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

I am always happy to see Mixed people shine in the public arena since it brings the future (and present I suppose) of ethnic relations to the forefront where people cannot ignore how the world is changing.

The new Miss France, Chloe Mortaud, is also multi-ethnic, with an African-American mother and a white French father, and apparently, is darn proud of it, as she seems to like talking about her make-up. Good for her.

And it is yet another example to our 10 year old daughter of how the standards of beauty are adapting more and more for girls and women who are not the typical beauty ideal of so many years of blonde hair and blue eyes.

Being Mixed In Texas

2008-12-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

We just got back this past weekend from a trip to Texas (Austin and Port Arthur) to visit family for Thanksgiving. It was a good trip, though we drove all the way there from L.A., some 22 hours straight one way. Hey times are hard and flying was out of the question. It was well worth it seeing all the family, on both Dianna's and my side.

But what was particularly interesting to me on the trip, which hadn't happened in three years, was noticing again the reactions or looks we got from people when they saw our Mixed family. We get so used to be in L.A. where we hardly get noticed at all, that I completely forgot about the fact that in many parts of the country, like Arizona, New Mexico and especially Texas, seeing a Black and Mexican-American couple, and their bi-ethnic offspring, are not the norm. While we did not get any reactions that were overt or negative, I certainly noticed there were plenty of times when people gave the family the double-take and that long, slow glance at all of our family. If only I could have read their minds. That is the only thing that would have made it more interesting. And needless to say, the looks of curiosity were definitely more noticeable in the small towns we would stop in to gas up or to use the restroom facilities.

Ah, life in America. I had to hold myself back from saying to these people, "Get used to it, more like us are coming soon." But I think driving through these towns and red states with the "Obama '08" sticker plastered on the back of the car was enough tweaking of their noses we needed to do.

Blacks Embrace "One Drop Rule" The Most

2008-12-03T09:43:00.000-08:00

I know I have been delinquent with my posts this last month but it has been a really busy time for the family and business. Trip to Texas, holiday stress, etc. So forgive my infrequency. I'm endeavoring to be better.

I came across this interesting article in The Washington Post and the subsequent storm brewing over it. I have written before that Barack Obama presents a great opportunity for us to move forward on the issue of Mixed ethnicity people. And I have also written extensively about the fact that I hate that people so easily comply with the racist "one drop rule," none more so than black people themselves. Well read the article for a good piece about this whole issue. I found the article on the Jack And Jill Politics blog where the writer was clearly bothered by the idea that there was something wrong in simply accepting the notion that Obama is the first "black" President. The opinion of the writer on "Jack and Jill" is the type of response I think we can expect from many in the black community who think making issue of Obama being Mixed or "bi-racial" is a slap at black people. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is simply more accurate. President-elect Obama is in fact 50% white. Though many do not want to pay attention to this reality, that is not our fault for pointing out the reality. And I, for one, refuse to accept the racist notion that we should ignore his 50% white make-up and act like he is all black.

But in the end, this discussion is part of the mess we'll have to go through to get to where we need to be.

"One Drop Rule" On Its Final Leg?

2008-11-11T16:03:00.000-08:00

There is (or was) an excellent piece in the news section to the right on this blog. In case it is gone, here is a link to it. You really should read it. It delves into what I have been saying in my last few blogs, that Obama's prominence is going to mean a lot for moving Mixed people to the forefront of our consciousness. What the article also delves into though is how complicated the whole "one drop rule" is, while it asks, whether we have finally gotten past it.

One of the most interesting things about the idea that a person like Obama, or Tiger Woods, or Halle Berry, or any number of other Mixed individuals, is the fact that the people who most accept the inherent racism of the idea are Blacks. I have always felt that this is borne more out of a sense from many Blacks that anyone who dared call themselves Mixed or "bi-racial" was really ashamed of being Black, or was turning their back on the Black community. Part of it also of course is simply wanting to claim as theirs a person who has made it to the top of their field.

Whatever the reason, it is certainly understandable, even if inaccurate. Which of course is different from some Whites who subscribe to the "one drop rule" out of racial superiority or the notion that Whites are more pure. But whatever the reasoning, I will certainly do my part to help us all get past this outdated and limiting notion of what "racial" identity is. And thanks to Obama, I will have many opportunities to bring this matter to light along with the many others in the Mixed and inter-ethnic relationship communities.

Interestingly, it will no doubt get quite complicated on this issue before it gets altogether better. I suspect there will be a backlash of sorts from some segments when and if Obama brings up his Mixed heritage. We'll see how it plays out. But however it does, it is a discussion we have to have.

Mixed People Have Much To Cheer

2008-11-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

I have to say I still haven't come down from the feeling I had on Tuesday night. And as I think ahead to what is in store for President Obama (doesn't that sound nice?) I also can't help but be tremendously excited about what his prominence will mean for the acceptance of mixed ethnicity individuals and relationships. I even predict that there will be an even greater increase in the number of mixed relationships and children as a result of people more and more coming to see Obama and his family as a "normal" part of life, even an attribute to desire.

I know right now most people are going on and on about his being "black" or African-American (which he actually is since his Dad is African and his mother American). But give it time, we'll be able to draw more attention to his mixed heritage as time goes on.

Already, our kids are proud to see someone who they know is like them, in the highest office in the land. It helps them have pride in their African-American side, and it also helps them know that being Mixed is not only o.k., but can also be an attribute, something that this country should have always celebrated, and certainly this year, proved that is accepted, in the biggest way.

What A Day!

2008-11-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well busy as I am, I had to jump in here and say "Oh. My. God!" What a night it was last night and how truly excited I am at what Obama's election means for our country in terms of "race" relations.

I do have to say though, I am still a bit disturbed at all the headlines that refer to him as simply "African-American" when that is only half of what he is.

But oh well, one thing at a time. I am so excited about his victory. Thank you America!

Busy Week

2008-10-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say I haven't forgotten to write this week, I've just been swamped with some family matters. Will get bak at you next week. Have a good one.

The South Shall Not Rise Again

2008-10-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

I know the South isn't the only place where we still have outdated notions of the evils of "race-mixing" but articles like the one in today's New York Times, titled "For Some, Uncertainty Starts at Racial Identity," still makes me glad my family and I don't live anywhere near there. Here are some choice excerpts from the article, referring to Barack Obama:

“He’s neither-nor,” said Ricky Thompson, a pipe fitter who works at a factory north of Mobile, while standing in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store just north of here. “He’s other. It’s in the Bible. Come as one. Don’t create other breeds.”

Whether Mr. Obama is black, half-black or half-white often seemed to overshadow the question of his exact stand on particular issues, and rough-edged comments on the subject flowed easily even from voters who said race should not be an issue in the campaign. Many voters seemed to have no difficulty criticizing the mixing of the races — and thus the product of such mixtures — even as they indignantly said a candidate’s color held no importance for them.

“I would think of him as I would of another of mixed race,” said Glenn Reynolds, 74, a retired textile worker in Martinsdale, Va., and a former supervisor at a Goodyear plant. “God taught the children of Israel not to intermarry. You should be proud of what you are, and not intermarry.”

And how about this line:

“He’s going to tear up the rose bushes and plant a watermelon patch,” said James Halsey, chuckling, while standing in the Wal-Mart parking lot with fellow workers in the environmental cleanup business. “I just don’t think we’ll ever have a black president.”

My Zen practice challenges me to have compassion for these people, but I'm sorry, these people are idiots. And it gives me a bit of pleasure knowing that no matter how much they may not like it, there is nothing they can do to stop the amount of ethnic mixing that is going on in this country and that will only increase in the years to come. Even in this New York Times article, there was an example of this:

Bud Rowell, a retired oil field worker interviewed at a Baptist church in Citronelle, Ala., north of Mobile, said he was uncertain about Mr. Obama’s racial identity, and was critical of him for being equivocal and indecisive.

But Mr. Rowell also said that personal experience had made him more sympathetic to biracial people.

“I’ve always been against the blacks,” said Mr. Rowell, who is in his 70s, recalling how he was arrested for throwing firecrackers in the black section of town. But now that he has three biracial grandchildren — “it was really rough on me” — he said he had “found out they were human beings, too.”

Read the entire article here.

The First "Black" President?

2008-10-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

O.K., my last video blog before I get back to writing. I couldn't resist this one, especially since it does get into the mixed ethnicity status of Barack Obama. Truly funny.

A Video That Captures The World We Hope For

2008-10-10T11:20:00.001-07:00

Continuing my string of interesting videos, check out this very inspiring music video, which to me is about a lot more than electing Barack Obama, it is also about people coming together.

2008-10-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

Who would've thought Ann Curry of "The Today Show' was funny? I didn't even know she was Mixed. Check out here comedy routine which for the most part talks about her Mixed heritage. Well done and once again shows being Mixed is not the tragic event some like to make it out to be.

SNL At Their Best

2008-10-06T08:23:00.001-07:00

This is just too good. Queen Latifah absolutely steals this with her expressions.

Mixed Kids Are Often Better At Dealing With "Racial" Problems

2008-10-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned before how there seem to be no shortage of people and "studies" that subscribe to the idea of the tragic or torutred Mixed child, which I have always found to be a bit out of touch with reality. Well, here is an academic study that gives the other side, a report that says on the contrary, Mixed people and children are possibly better adjusted than same ethnicity people. The study is "A Positive Approach to identity Formation of Biracial Children" and was authored by Mary Ann Cunningham at San Jose State University.

Here are some of her findings:

...Some studies have found that it is more likely for interracial children to experience difficulties related to a poor self-identity, such as gender confusion, self-hatred, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, delinquency and alienation. Yet other studies have found interracial youth to show high levels of creativity, adaptability, and resiliency" (Herring, as cited in Hoskins, 1996).

And this:

A study by Alvin Poussaint, M. D. of biracial children disproved the myth that these children have conflicts over which race to identify within society. "Rather, biracial young people appeared to be more open-minded and seldom used racial labels to describe others" (Gay, 1987, p. 41). Tiger Woods, the twenty-one year old golf pro, has brought the issue of multi-ethnicity in to the limelight, lately. He has openly stated that he objects to being called African-American. His parents raised him to embrace all of his heritage. When he was a boy he made up a name to describe himself, "Cablinasian", which encompasses Caucasian, black, Indian and Asian. "But to be called any one of them, he said, was to deny a part of him" (Leland, 1997, p.59). Times are finally starting to change; multiculturalism is "in". Multi-ethnicity confers both individuality and a sense of shared values. Though, this does do not mean that the path is easy. Multiracial children know who they are and where they come from even if society does not accept it. Racism still exists, but "by asserting their multiracial identities, they can throw light on the nation's racial irrationality, even pressure it" (Leland, 1997, p. 60).

And finally,

In conclusion, an interracial child is not preordained to experience conflict as a result of their mixed heritage. If the family is open and communicative about both or all the cultures that have come together to create this child, the child can grow up to appreciate diversity in themselves and in others.

The main point of her study and report, is that in the end, it is how the child is raised and how they are taught about their heritage that is the primary key to whether or not they experience conflict over being Mixed. Makes sense to me. But again, I don't base my beliefs on whether these studies support or run counter to my experiences. I just know that people, and our responses to all kinds of things, are not just a factor of the color, even if the color is a blended one, of our skin.

Ethnic Self-Hatred

2008-09-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Today I want to pass on an excellent piece I read over at Anti-Racist Parent. Well worth reading. Here is the link.

A Strange Irony

2008-09-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

A quick thought. As we teach our minority kids about how bad we had it (and still do in some cases), teaching about Jim Crow and slavery, discrimination in general, do we unwittingly pass on a sense of inferiority? You have to wonder if it ever enters the child's mind the wonder why we were so targeted, why we let whites and others, do the things they did. Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating not teaching history and discrimination realities. Just thinking that the irony as we do so is that though we try to concurrently teach how wrong such practices were and are, we may have to accept that built into the discussion is a seed of inferiority that we need to be vigilant about overcoming.

Tell It Like It Is

2008-09-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

I know I'm going into politics again, but you really have to read this piece by Tim Wise, a white man who is unafraid to say the truth even when others who share his skin color will not. I think it is appropriate for this blog because the attitudes he speaks of are a big factor in holding up the barriers we face to getting beyond racism.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin’ redneck," like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.

A Day To Remember

2008-09-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Not much to say except days like this remind us why no more race, or division, is an important goal, no matter how impossible and unreachable it may seem.

Where Does Ethnic Hatred Come From?

2008-09-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am reading the great book, "Jackie Robinson: A Biography" by Arnold Rampersad. I just finished reading one chapter that detailed the incredible vitriol and hatred Robinson encountered on one trip to Louisville, Kentucky when he was still playing in the minor leagues, though still the first Black to do so. Later, Jackie would describe the language he heard, the slurs hurled at him whenever he did anything on the field, as some of the worst he ever experienced.

It's just amazing to imagine what that had to be like for him.

It makes me wonder, how can people have so much hatred inside of them, to do that to a person, to hate them so much that you can't control yourself, so much that spit flies from your mouth? All because of their skin color. Intellectually I understand bigotry. But then again, do we really understand this highly irrational reaction to difference?

When I read or hear about stuff like this, and while things may not be as blatant as back then we all know it still exists if only more subtly, I do wonder if we really understand where this stuff comes from.

Poor Little Mixed Kids

2008-09-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. Yet another study that purports that Mixed kids and people have it bad in terms of being screwed up. Here is one key conclusion:

If we had to pick an explanation that best fits the facts, it would be the old sociology model of mixed-race individuals as the “marginal man”: not part of either racial group and therefore torn by inner conflict.

You know by now I think all of this is a bunch of hooey. By the way the same study concluded that Mixed kids were more attractive than non-Mixed. How they determined this I don't know.

At the end of the day, I think the model that is the basis of studies like this is intrinsically flawed because it presumes everything is black and white. For example when they say "mixed" or "interracial" are they focused on those our society perceives as polar opposites black and white, or are they looking at other cultural mixtures as well? From what I can see they tend to focus on black-white. But even in the case of black-white children, there is just way too much anecdotal evidence that these kids go through all the same issues and problems that everyone else does. Undoubtedly there is more on the plate for them, but again, to what degree do these studies take into account the family situation of the kids studied - whether the parents are together, whether the parents are poor or rich, what communities do they live in since some areas are more accepting than others, are the parents involved with the kids? Many questions that these academic studies don't seem to include when they simply conclude that Mixed means conflict.

There are just too many examples in our society of highly successful Mixed people to say that inherently they are prone to problems, and that list is way bigger than Barack Obama, Halle Berry and Mariah Carey. If you want to read the article about the study click on this link.

A Good Speech With No Substance

2008-09-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't written anything this week. It has been a crazy and busy week. Frankly I try to stay away from too much politics on here, unless it relates to "race" and culture. But I can't resist with all this new swirling around on Sarah Palin, who the media seems to be gushing over for being able to read a good speech last night.

John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, to be his running mate has to be one of the most cynical selections I have ever seen.

It is painfully clear that the entire reasoning behind the selection is to court all the disaffected Hillary supporters still running around out there. But come on. McCain wants that group so badly that he may well have completely blown up the logic and premise of his whole campaign. While I have no doubt he will succeed in getting many of the Hillary nutcases who still don't know what to do with themselves, does he really think women in general are so shallow that they would support ANY woman he picked?

I'm not even a woman and I'm insulted. This woman's resume is even shorter than Obama's, one of McCain's major criticisms of the Senator, and she has absolutely zero foriegn policy experience, another issue McCain has tried to hammer Obama on. And yet, we are supposed to believe he really thinks she is qualified to be President of the United States, since a VP has to satisfy that criteria as well. This is even more so considering McCain will be the oldest President to ever be sworn in should he pull off a miracle. I think the idea of the Republicans selecting a woman is great, because it does grab headlines and it does make their campaign also a symbolic one. But is this all the Republicans have? You really do have to wonder how the decision was made for example to pass over Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas if a woman was what you wanted. Or Condeleeza Rice? Was it just to get a young woman to counter Obama's youthful appeal?

It won't work.

I trust that women and young people are not the shallow thinkers McCain seems to think they are. I also think what this says about McCain is that he does not have the confidence to pick a strong woman, or man, someone who can stand up to him in terms of what they bring to the table, meaning someone who has equal or stronger credentials than he. No, unlike Obama who chose a VP who is clearly his equal and someone who has the experience to challenge his decisions, a trait that demonstrates Obama's leadership style, confidence and courage, McCain went with someone who in no way can call on a real resume of experience to challenge him.

There are also those who say McCain's choice, a monumental flip flop on his stance that the Presidency requires years of experience and foreign policy credentials, is no more of a contradiction than the change candidate, Obama, picking a Washington insider to be his running mate.

Wrong.

Change is not threatened by working with insiders. On the contrary, much of the change that has occurred historically has come from people working from outside with those working on the inside. So there is no contradiciton in the Biden selection. Just Obama's recognition that he will need someone on the inside to help smooth the way for the change he seeks.

There is absolutely no credible way to soft peddle the contradiction in a campaign that belittles its oponent for not being ready to lead and for not being able to handle foreign policy in a dangerous world, which are the main cornerstones of the McCain campaign, and then picking a back up that has far less experience than your opponent. The Republican's might as well throw that argument out the window.

No, this is a calculated risk based on a misguided belief that women will take any woman he throws out there. And sadly, I doubt McCain even realizes the insult. Palin may be a good person in general. But come on, most of her constituents are deer and moose. She is not the second coming of, or a substitute for, Hillary Clinton. I have seen Hillary Clinton. Palin is not her. Good try McCain. But you continue to misunderstand what this election is about.

Watching History

2008-08-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

There isn't much to add about what we all saw in the stadium in Denver last night. But I would be remiss if I did not go on record as saying what an absolutely inspiring scene that was. Like so many others have said, I never thought I would see such a sight in my lifetime, a Mixed Black person standing before a crowd, a stadium no less, of people, black, white, brown, Asian and otherwise, accepting the nomination of a party to be President of the United States. There is indeed hope that one day we will get beyond all this "racial" silliness.

Coincidentally, I have been reading a book right now about one of my heroes, Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball in 1947-1948. And it is interesting and a truly positive reality that in "just" 60 years or so, we have come from Jackie having to put up with the BS he had to just to prove he could compete with whites, to a man named Barack Obama standing in a sports stadium thisclose to being President. It certainly puts all this in perspective. Jackie Robinson, and so many others, opened the doors that have allowed Obama to walk through. I have no doubt, Obama will continue the tradition for others.

From The Mouths of Babes

2008-08-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

Further proof that as adults we often, no, let me rephrase that, most of the time, we overcomplicate things that are really simple at heart, is the wisdom our 11 year old son put forth during a great conversation the family was having the other night.

We were talking about prejudice and different people getting along or not getting along for various reasons. And Lawrence decided to sum it all up. He said simply "There aren't any different races of people unless you come from a different planet, otherwise we are all the same species."

And there it was. I know most adults will start saying oh he's just a kid and doesn't understand yet what he's talking about. I say the opposite is true. As adults we try too hard to make things more complicated than they need to be. As I wrote about the other day, there are studies and studies analyzing "race" and behavior and all sorts of things. Ridiculous. Save your money. A child can probably tell you all you need to know. Racism and prejudice is learned from the overthinking adults, who learned it from their parents. And then because we all believe this crap to be true, it is ingrained in us and we act accordingly. Truth becomes what we believe it to be, not what it really is.

But a kid hasn't got all that built in yet. They aren't corrupted yet. We should listen to them. Maybe we adults could learn a thing or two.

An Update On Daughter Wishing She Were Other

2008-08-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd fill you in on the latest with our daughter and her self-identity issues. The other day I wrote that she was wishing she had blonde hair and lighter eyes, which caused her mother and I much concern.

Well she seems to be dealing better with that issue. Her mother and I tried an interesting strategy that seems to have helped. Not soon after our daughter's pronouncement of wishing she had more anglo traits, she also informed us that she wanted to be in beauty pageants and that this was one of the reasons she wanted the blonde hair, light eyes and lighter skin tone.

My wife and I saw our opening. We pulled down from the Internet pictures of the last two Miss USA's and the last two Miss Universes. We knew what she would see and indeed it caught our daughter off guard. The last two Miss USA's are African-American and Mixed, both with brown skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Last year's Miss Universe is from Japan, dark hair, tanned non-pale skin and dark eyes. And the most recent Miss Universe is from Venezuela with brown skin, dark hair (when she doesn't dye it) and green eyes. The only one in the bunch with non-dark eyes.

Our daughter actually had a big smile on her face when she looked at the pictures.

But the true sign that this helped her was I found her yesterday writing a letter to "American Girl Magazine" in which she told me she was writing about how she used to want to look different but once she saw the recent beauty pageant winners, and that they too had dark hair, brown skin and dark eyes (mostly) she was happy with herself.

I was quite pleased.

Needless to say I know this is not the end of her issues and that the pendulum is likely to swing many more times on her self-image. And dealing with the downsides of what beauty pageant images can do to a child's sense of self in terms of beauty in general and weight issues as well. But for now, I have to at least be glad that these pageants have accepted a wider ideal of beauty at least in terms of skin color and hair color. It certainly proved to have an impact on our daughter.

The Tragic Psychology of Mixed People

2008-08-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

We cannot underestimate the importance of understanding the social, psychological and experiential differences that may increase the likelihood of psychological disorders among this (biracial Americans) fast-growing segment of the population.

This is from a study conducted by The University of California - Davis. The article can be found here.

The study was primarily focused on "bi-racial" Asian-Americans apparently, but it seems to delve into an issue that some believe is true for all Mixed people, that they are psychologically damaged. It is not the first study to say that Mixed people, of all kinds, have more issues as teenagers and are more likely to get into trouble, be depressed, etc.

Frankly I think this whole phenomena is overstated, but it is worth noting and paying attention to.

"Racial' Superiority In Sports

2008-08-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here is another reminder of how much work is still to be done. This one from the Olympics (I told you I'm an Olympics nut)

I came across a news piece this weekend on Michael Phelps, the swimmer, on his historic feat of winning 8 gold medals (don't remember where, I think it was a Yahoo news story). There were hundreds of comments posted on the piece, many simply applauding his effort and accomplishment. But there were a large number of posts that got into a back and forth on racial superiority in sports. How sad. There are people out there who just cannot resist digging up racial issues whenever and wherever they can. I mean this isn't Hitler's games when the veracity of his Aryan superiority theory was put to the test. And yet many years later, people still look at these things to prove whether one group is biologically better than another. Sad. But a reminder we still have work to do.

The Changing Concepts of Majority and Minority

2008-08-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Much is being made in the media of a report released today that says by the year 2042 whites will no longer be the majority.

Here is part of the report as covered by the Associated Press:

White people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2042, according to new government projections. That's eight years sooner than previous estimates, made in 2004.

The nation has been growing more diverse for decades, but the process has sped up through immigration and higher birth rates among minority residents, especially Hispanics.

"The white population is older and very much centered around the aging baby boomers who are well past their high fertility years," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "The future of America is epitomized by the young people today. They are basically the melting pot we are going to see in the future."

First let me say I hope no one thinks of this projection as a bad thing. The more diverse our country becomes, the better off we will be. I think what divides us - the concepts of majority and minority and how we are all subconsciously trained to act accordingly - is partially impacted by the fact that historically one group dominated. Increasing numerical equality should impact our seeing more people of all cultures in our media, on televisions shows, on the streets, etc. That can't help but impact our society in a positive way in the long run. And yet I suspect there will certainly be some tensions as our country changes in this way. Groups largely underrepresented in the past, say Hispanics, may experience growing pains as they become, if they are not already, the largest ethnic group for example. And vice versa, there will certainly be some resistance from some whites who prefer America being overwhelmingly white. But I think any tensions will ultimately work themselves out and the necessary adjustments will be made. And in the end, our country will truly resemble a a more equally fabulous blend of cultures and colors, including surely increasing numbers of people who are Mixed (which by the way were not included in the population projections to my knowledge but who I know will also increase greatly by then).

By the way, don't be mistaken by the report. When it says whites will no longer be the majority, that is only true when you lump them against all other ethnic groups as if they were one. As a single group, whites will still be the largest demographic by far.

The Dreaded "I Wish I Were Other"

2008-08-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well it has finally happened. That dreaded moment most minority parents fear will come at some point. Our 9 year old daughter came to us last night and asked how old she had to be to have surgery on her nose because she thought it was simply too big.

Oh. Boy.

Needless to say, my wife and I were appalled to her this but we we didn't blame her or jump on her for this all-too-common self-denial that happens to a lot of minority children in our society that bombards us with images of white standards of beauty. Of course we stopped her on the spot and gently tried to make sure she knew that we thought she was perfect as she was and make sure she understood that beautiful noses came in many sizes. She seemed to accept what we were saying but I could tell the belief that she wanted to be other was already in too deep for us to get it out of her that easily.

I wasn't wrong.

This morning she came to me and declared that "though she knew she was beautiful and all that, she wanted to try blonde hair and hazel eyes."

Oh. Boy.

Again, I calmly asserted how beautiful she was as she is but I also asked why she wanted these changes. Her only answer, that she thought blonde hair and hazel eyes were pretty and that she was tired of dark hair and dark eyes. To be honest I think I did o.k. to deflect her at that moment, but as prepared as I thought I'd be for this moment, I was somewhat at a loss.

My wife and I will have to discuss this one some more. Clearly we have some work to do. I don't think we've done anything wrong up to now, because I do think it is so hard to keep every bit of this "white envy" out in our culture, but we clearly have not done enough. By the way, we asked our 11 year old son if he was happy with who he was and his appearance and he said he was completely happy with himself. Doesn't mean we shouldn't stay vigilante or that he wasn't lying. So we'll up the ante there too. But I also recognize this issue strikes a bit harder on minority girls.

So despite our efforts and my vigilance on issues of "race" the self-esteem issues of cultural beauty have seeped in. I did not think we would be immune. But it is still tough when it happens.

A Truly Beautiful Ideal and Sight

2008-08-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you I am an avid sports fan. Almost all sports. And I love all things multi-cultural. So you gotta know I absolutely LOVE the Olympics. And this year's opening ceremony! Wow!

But truly the best sight of the Olympics and the opening ceremony in particular is to see the wide swath of colors, cultures and ethnicities that the people of the world represent. And to see them getting along, at least for these couple of weeks, how wonderful. It shows getting along is possible.

And I have to add, while I tend to root for a lot of countries, particularly Japan, in addition to obviously pulling for the USA, I do have to admit that at times like this it is particularly nice to look at our delegation and see that in just our delegation alone, so many cultures and ethnicities are represented. It says a lot about what our country is about at its heart.

It Seems Like The Racial Divide Is Growing More Pronounced

2008-08-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

An unfortunate irony of Barack Obama's rise to the top of the Democratic Party heap and his being thisclose to the Presidency is that contrary to his Mixed ethnicity bringing people together, there are some indications that racial ugliness may actually get worse. Wouldn't that be ridiculous?!

It seems like people who are predisposed to harbor racial prejudice are simply sparked to bring it closer to the surface because of Obama. And the people who are more open minded, more prone to want to strangle those close-minded ones who don't get what he can do for us or understand what he represents in terms of progress. The rift is getting bigger, it is getting harsher, more clearly divided.

Of course this isn't Obama's fault. He can't do anything about all that is put on his shoulders in terms of feelings on both sides of this divide. But somehow, I have to keep believing that in the long run, we will be better off that a "racial" ceiling has been busted and that people, from all sides, can see someone who looks different than others at his level have looked in the relatively long history of this country. The divide of prejudice and discrimination won't close as fast as we might have hoped, and it looks like it may actually widen a bit in the short run. But I do believe eventually it will close, maybe it'll be by inches not feet, but that's progress too.

The Language of Racism

2008-08-04T15:00:00.001-07:00

I have been having an interesting internet discussion with someone over at one of my favorite sites "Anti-Racist Parent." Though slightly off topic from the original post that I was responding to over there, "How Should We Refer To The Race of Our New Baby," the brief discussion (which I sincerely hope to continue at the writer's own blog, "Mixed Race America," which looks to be quite interesting as well) dove into how important it is, or is not, to fight against the use of the term "race." If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I believe that changing our language is one, if not the first, step to overcoming our insane focus on all things racial.

The point the blogger and I seemed to disagree on was whether it was possible to fight racism while simultaneously accepting the social construct that is race in the first place. And since I cannot fairly articulate another person's point, please check out her site or our discussion at 'Anti-Racist Parent." While she and I disagreed on this issue I totally respect her comments and viewpoint. We have a lot of work to do to make the world a more accepting place when it comes to issues of prejudice and racism, so there is plenty of room for attacking the problems from many different perspectives. The good news is that there are lots of people out there who are doing what they can to make a difference.

In the end, it is certainly true that the concept of race is unfortunately very real to most people. Personally, one of my contributions to the fight against the racism that results, is hopefully to get enough of us to stop accepting the foolishness of the racial concept and to stop buying into even the language that contributes to our acceptance. Words do not do physical harm, and therefore may not be our biggest concern. But words can create realities that lead to very real and very physical and psychological harm.

Few words can compare to "race" in terms of the importance that has been placed on it. So much so that even those fighting against the results that flow from the concept, even accept its usage as something too big to get rid of.

I just can't.

I am not foolish enough to think my bi-cultural kids will not have to deal with the siliness of "race" and racial identity concerns. But my wife and I also agree that what we will certainly do is teach them that dealing with the illusion of race does not mean they should continue using the language of "race" and racism. Whether that is a large or small step, is debatable. But what is surely not, is that the impact of that little word has come to mean so so much to so many people. How strange then, that it is a word that is biologically meaningless, with it roots in division. And yet it is uttered every day as if it is o.k.

"Race" Is Ego At Work

2008-08-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

This post takes the discussion to a different level than usual, but I was just reading a book on Buddhism and the concept of the ego and it occurred to me that there is a relationship to our "racial" problems.

The concept in Buddhism of the ego is that it is this seemingly real construct that gets in the way of seeing things for what they truly are, and it is this construct that causes us to suffer as we try to live according to what we believe our identity to be.

The concept of race is just like that. So much of how people interact seems to be based on ideas about who we are and who we are supposed to be based on what we look like on the outside. All too often we then make ourselves live according to expectations and fitting in, more than we live according to simply being and what is "on the inside."

An interesting insight into our issue from the world of Buddhism.

A Long Overdue Apology For Slavery

2008-07-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am glad to see that the House of Representatives seems to be moving in the direction to have the US government formally apologize for the tragic stain of slavery in this country. Of course, this is not without great controversy. Some people think since slavery is in the past, that no one today did anything wrong, so how can they apologize. Others are afraid that legally admitting to such a wrong will open the doors to reparations and potential lawsuits leading to such.

I think neither point matters. At the end of the day, our government, at one time, fully took part in and benefited from the enslavement of an entire ethnic group. It is arguably the worst act our country has ever committed and one that still has an impact on "race" relations to this day. We apologized for, and paid reparations for, locking up Japanese Americans in internment camps. And we have, to some degree, tried to make up for what was done to Native Americans. So I don't see why the government shouldn't be on record for admitting a great wrong that was committed on the backs of Black people.

Now don't get me wrong. I am totally against reparations for the descendants of slaves. For one, I think by the time you define who should get it, which would include many "white"people because we may be surprised at how many whites have Blacks in their family tree, it would go to almost everyone in the country. And what about Mixed people, would they get partial reparations?

But the real reason I am against reparations is the fact that handing people a check won't do much for changing their lives. If anything should be done, it should be to guarantee that the money was invested in inner-city schools, in jobs programs, in health care for Blacks and others. These efforts would be far more meaningful and far more long-lasting than handing out checks.

But regardless of this issue, acknowledging a great wrong is a basic and important step. Will such a proclamation change my life or anybody else's? No. But what it will do is far more important. It says to me and every other American, that Africans and their descendants (of all stripes) are not crazy in thinking that slavery had a profound impact, and still does, on all of our psyches. And that alone, to me, is incredibly meaningful. And just maybe it is a step towards finally getting beyond the wrong. We even try to teach this basic principle to our children, that apologizing is important when you have done something wrong.

Shouldn't our government be held to the same standard? No one alive today may be a slave in this country, and no American today may be a slave owner. But that does not change the fact of history and the fact that our government, from then to now, has never acknowledged that what was done was terribly wrong. Apologies do matter. Even when it is as overdue as this.

"Black In America" Not Worth It

2008-07-28T08:24:00.001-07:00

Well, I finally caught the CNN series "Black In America." And I have to say I was very disappointed, even bothered by Soledad Obrien's piece, particularly considering she is bi-cultural herself (that's her on the left with her kids).

I just don't think the series did anything to shed new light on the subject. All of the issues covered have been done before. Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad they did it. It's just that the promise of the program, especially with the way they publicized it, was so high. And maybe that's my fault. I expected too much.

But beyond that expectation, the greatest problem I had was that it was so one-sided. I don't think it really gave a fair or balanced since of what it is like to be "Black in America" as the tag for the series goes. All too often it focused on the view that the experiences of poverty, job troubles, housing, health care, etc., were totally unique to Blacks. And in almost all cases I kept saying to myself, but the problem or example they were giving impacted, and was felt by, others in almost the same way.

But of course, like in my last blog entry, the thing that bothered me the most were the times she covered what she called "inter-racial" relationships (and by the way her use of the word "race" over and over was particularly appalling to me, hammering the idea that we are totally distinct). Besides the part in the clip I referenced in my previous entry, much to my horror, I learned she had more negatives on these cross cultural unions. In one case, she focused on a young man, the product of a white father and black mother, and pretty much focused on his being not fully accepted in either world. And on another occasion she was talking to a father who had two sons in "inter-racial" relationships and she was quizzing him about that, insinuating a problem. She even said to him "many people will be angry about that," as if that should factor in.

Soledad, what gives? Maybe she wanted to go a different direction with that stuff and the whole piece, but was pressured by her bosses, who knows. But at best the piece was a reminder of the work still to be done. At worst, though, the series could do more to make it look like Blacks are altogether different and set apart than any other ethnic group, which certainly doesn't reflect my experiences as "Black in America." We certainly have issues to be dealt with, but so do all groups, and I certainly think we have far more in common than pieces like this choose to indicate.

CNN's "Black In America"

2008-07-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't yet watched CNN's 'Black In America" series, but I am planning to catch up on it. And though I'm thrilled that they have done it, I do wonder how many non-blacks watched it. Do many non-blacks care to watch something like this? I hope so. If they do, maybe it will do more than increase CNN's black viewership.

But I saw a piece today online that made me look at one part of the documentary, the segment on Mixed couples. When I pulled the clip I was hoping it was going to be positive, but in the end, sadly, I felt exactly the same frustration as the writer of the piece that got my attention. The CNN piece only focused on the negative side of these relationships, mainly one couple's problem and coflict over how to identify their kids. That was the focus of the piece. Nothing positive about the kids. It focused on whether to call the kids black or something else. Granted, that is an issue, but there are other aspects of being Mixed, or black, if that is the direction a Mixed person or couple chooses to go.

I tell myself that maybe this was only a teaser of the issue and more will come, more that will highlight the positives of being Mixed and the impact Mixed people have had on the Black community, as well as the broader population. I hope I am not fooling myself.

Here is the response I read. Remarkably, it was written by the 16 year old Mixed daughter of actress Lyn Whitfield.

Mixed in America
Grace Gibson (16-year-old daughter of Lynn Whitfield)

Although I found this segment of “Black in America” to be highly informative for the general public, I was disappointed that the interviews in the section on what it is like to be biracial in America seemed to focus only on the more negative aspects. With the eyes of the world now on Barack Obama, I had hoped for a more balanced discussion on what a positive symbol a mixed race person can project.

Obama’s candidacy embodies change and hope for so many in this country of all generations, genders, races and cultures. His message of bringing us all together as Americans is enhanced by his mixed heritage. The biracial person personifies the breaking down of racial barriers that so many fought and died for in the civil rights movement. It is what Dr. Martin Luther King stood for and what his legacy of equality imparts to us today. So one should feel nothing but pride to be mixed in America.

If parents of biracial children are too concerned about what race their children identify and associate with, the only outcome will be confusion. They should rear their children to have enough self-esteem and self-confidence to be their own persons — encouraging them to be strong children who can grow up to be strong biracial adults.

There should be no need for them to say “I am black” or “I am white” because they are neither, yet they are both. Trying to force a choice is often done just to accommodate the people around them. Why should it be so difficult to understand that a person can be and take pride in two races, ethnically and culturally? Those who cannot accept this are perpetuating the kind of ignorance that would only resegregate society by taking away a positive symbol of integration, the mixed child, and restricting him or her to an either-or status.

In a world where a biracial man may well become the next President of the United States, all that a parent should be trying to instill in a child is pride in his or her race or races.

I am proud to be a child born to two loving, talented, creative people – a mother and father who happened to be of African-American and English descent, respectively. I do not feel confused at all nor do I have an identity crisis. I do not feel lost in society nor rejected by any race because I am all races in one.

I am the melting pot, and in our global society, soon all the children of the world will be a mixture of races as well. So why should we try to pick and choose what we want and don’t want our children to be? Why can’t we just accept our common humanity and try to refocus our energies on more pressing matters such as Hurricane Dolly in Texas, infected children in flooded Burmese streets, earthquake victims in China, AIDS patients in Sub-Saharan Africa or those here in Washington, D.C.?

As the world confronts these and other serious challenges to survival, why add more complications by trying to reduce a living symbol of racial harmony to a checked-box identity?

To see the original CNN piece that sparked this go to this link.

Mixed Couples Must Be Rebelling Against Something

2008-07-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

The title of this piece seems to indicate the view that some people do have about mixed couples. Whether it is they are rebelling against their parents, they hate their own ethnicity, or whatever, it is always something other than the couple simple loves one another. At least that is how some see it.

There is an article in the news section to the right on this page that takes it to the next level. In The National Review, someone is even writing that Obama must have communist leanings since he is from mixed parents. Oh my.

Check out the story here or at the link on the side if it is still there when you read this.

"Race" Is Not Real

2008-07-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a quote from a great piece in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle:

The debate over what to call Obama - and the growing recognition of mixed-race Americans - is also a reminder that there's no such thing as racial purity and, indeed, that "biologically, race is a fiction," said sociologist Jorge Chapa, the director of the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society at the University of Illinois.

As you may know, I have long said that the first thing all of us need to do is get past the usage of the term "race." I really think it is the root of our problem. "Race" gives the impression that what separates us is biological and beyond superficial things like skin color, hair texture, etc. We do represent different cultures and ethnicities, but that difference is not seen as as big a divide as the belief that we altogether are different species as the concept of race would have us believe. I propose instead of bi-racial or multi-racial, we say bi-ethnic or bi-cultural, or multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. Or even mixed.

It is far more accurate and in time I believe will make the barrier to getting beyond "race" seem a lot less formidable.

Here is a link to that San Francisco Chronicle article on the prominence of bi-cultural people. Unfortunately as good as the piece is, the author does use the term "mixed-race." Oh well. progress comes in small steps sometimes.

The Word No One Should Ever Use

2008-07-17T12:35:00.001-07:00

The latest thing to make the news from Jesse Jackson's mic slip is that supposedly he used the "N" word during this well-publicized rant as well. Something along the lines of "Barack is telling niggers how to behave." Oh. My. God.

This is worse because Jackson is on record as being opposed to blacks using this word, asking that comedians and rappers refrain from its usage. But apparently he uses it.

Let me go on record as saying, I know all the arguments that by us using the word we take its power away and the term of endearment argument as relates to the usage of the word's close kin "nigga." But I don't buy it. I think it is stupid under any condition to call each other a word that was, and is still used, to denigrate us. And I think there is no way to keep using the word and somehow not deep inside, internalize its root meaning, its real intent.

Whoopie Goldberg apparently also thinks it is o.k. to use the word, as I saw a clip from "The View" today that indicates she used it several times during the show, on purpose, for shock and to make a point, that she too thinks that we now "own" the word and it is less meaningful.

Just stupid. No matter how much we use it on ourselves it doesn't change what it means to the racist who throws it at us in an attempt to bring us down, like a homeless woman did at me a few weeks ago on the street.

And our usage of the word only confuses matters. Because no matter how we spin it, it is indeed a double standard to be outraged when somebody else says it, but to think it is cute when a black person says it.

I don't think so.

Good Video On Myths of Being Mixed

2008-07-16T09:03:00.001-07:00

I came across this video from "Addicted To Race," a site and organization that also has the goal of promoting a less "racial" focus in our society. It makes some great points. Check it out. My only problem with it, is that they seem to buy into the notion that there is such a thing as "race" when it comes to defining people. I don't. I think that concept is the basis of our problem and from my perspective changing our language is a critical first step. But nevertheless, this is worth watching.

Are Blacks Fair Game For Satire?

2008-07-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

At first blush, this seems like an easy question to answer. Shouldn't we, and other minorities, be treated equally? Isn't that what the struggle for equality has been all about?

Well, the answer is not so easy and clear-cut. Actually I think the root of the major blow-up this week over the controversial New Yorker cover depicting the Obama's as America-hating, secret terrorists is that the whites who run the magazine simply don't understand that you can't satirize minorities and women in the same way that you do white men. It is a fact, albeit an ironic and unfortunate one, that is lost on the cover artist and many on the left who in their liberal righteousness and intellectually-based thinking don't seem to understand. Sure, in theory the Obama's and any minority, should be fair game for such high-minded satire. But here is where intellect-based liberalism blinds so many to plain old common sense.

To satirize the Obama's the way The New Yorker did, and then to defend it as what they've always done, as they say, look at how they've skewered the current President Bush and other whites, is to miss the boat entirely. Barack and Michelle Obama have incredibly and deeply intense cultural, racial and even religious bigotry leveled at them. It is a part of their daily life as well as their political campaign and impacts them and everyone that is in the same demographic in a way that no political satire of George Bush ever could.

Satires of people in power, both currently and historically, do not have the same impact, potential and real, that it does on people who historically have been the brunt of very real physical and emotional suffering. When you satire George Bush all white people are not implicated. That has never been part of the language of satire in this country. It is clear that satire about one white man is just that.

But thanks to the history of racism in this country, it is foolish not to realize that a caricature of a Black woman and man (as Barack is perceived and considers himself to be) is also a caricature of every person that looks like them. Equally as important to understanding the broadness of minority satire is understanding that the implied humor or wittiness that is generally inherent in satire is simply impossible when the root of the subject being satirized is based on something so hurtful and a very real reality for a culture of people. Racism and bigotry are not intellectual discussions for Blacks. Easy to laugh and chuckle at such cerebral satire when your life is not impacted by the depiction. Because at the end of the day and at the end of this campaign season, Black men and women, not just Michelle and Barack, will still have to wake up everyday and navigate a world where these images are not a joke but a real perception of who they are.

And that's just not funny.

The Politics of Race

2008-07-10T10:18:00.001-07:00

This is somewhat off topic from the normal focus of this blog, but I couldn't resist.

Yesterday the story got out about Rev. Jesse Jackson's slip on the open mic. Ignoring the part about castrating Obama, since that is just the way some people talk, as apparently Jackson does, the bigger issue is what he was so angry about.

Jackson apparently is upset because he believes that Obama talks down to Black people about personal responsibility. What's interesting about this whole thing is that it shows that there is a clear shift in the role "race" will play on the national stage.

Jackson represents a different way and a different time. Which, by the way, doesn't mean that I think we don't still need hard civil-rights leaders like Jackson or Al Sharpton. I am glad they are out there and on my and the Black community's side.

But Obama does represent a changing of the guard to a more race transcending way of doing things. And I think at the end of the day, it is hard for people of Jackson's era to accept the passing of the torch, even though getting to this point is what they have spent their lives dedicated to. Believe me, I understand that it must be tough for Jackson. To be both excited that the way he paved has paid off, but to also know that this young guy, Obama, is now the one every one will look to for the lead on the Black community.

So in a way it was sad to see what happened yesterday. But I think it is just part of the process, albeit a clumsy part due to Jackson's gaffe, of the changing of the guard. Obama's ascendancy does not and will not solve "racial' strife but it does indicate that times are indeed changing. It should not be surprising that it will take a while for the transition to be accepted by all, and no one ever said it would be smooth and without incident. No major cultural shift ever is. And if you haven't recognized it yet, we are definitely going through a major cultural shift.

The Funny Side of "No More Race"

2008-07-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

My wife, who is a proud Mexican-American woman, is living proof though of what life might be like for those who fall into an unidentifiable ethnic look. I, and most people, have no problem identifying her as Hispanic, but we are surprised at how often she gets mistaken for some other ethnic group.

I kid you not, people have labeled her Mixed (Black and White), Persian, Jewish, Armenian, White, Thai, Spanish, Mexican, and who knows what else. That's what people have expressed at different times so who knows what people thought who didn't say anything.

Dianna gets a kick out of it. Hey, it allows her to blend when she feels the need I guess, so she can use it to her advantage. Though, generally she is quick to point out her Mexican roots. Makes me think how interesting that will be for people when the day comes when mixing creates such interesting blends that it will indeed be hard many times to identify what a person is.

Don't get me wrong, there is beauty in the uniqueness that different cultures offer in terms of skin tone and features. And I would never want to see that go away completely. But imagine the bigot who can't decide whether to discriminate because he or she just can't decide what you are.

Interesting.

Can We Talk Our Way Out Of Bigotry?

2008-07-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

I was thinking the other day about the focus of this blog (well I guess I think about it everyday to be honest), and an interesting thought hit me.

Is it possible to get beyond a "race" focus by focusing so much attention on it? Is it at all possible, like some argue, that by thinking about race or racism all the time, we risk making it more of a big deal than it is? To see it where it is not?

My blog is titled "No More Race" because I would like to see our society and world get to the point some day, even if it is long, long time from now, where we no longer define each other and our relationships by what color our skin is or what ethnic group we belong to. And yet I write about race almost every day.

Obviously I know the base belief that the only way to rid ourselves of the racism disease is to point out its usage and its effect on our society. And that is ultimately the reason I do believe it is important for those of us who write on his subject, or are activists on this subject, to speak out whenever we can. As in medicine, you have to target the problem to get rid of the problem.

But I do believe I and others have to be careful to not see a problem where there is none. And to also draw attention as much to positives in this area as to negatives. Which is why in this blog I try to focus more on examples showing where Mixed relationships and people are moving forward and making a difference than I do on examples of ugly discrimination against them. I do believe that more can be done to move us forward by focusing on positives than negatives.

But it is an interesting irony is it not, that the goal is to focus on racism to get rid of racism. Maybe it is better to look at it as shining a light since we all know that people tend to behave more as they should when their is light on them than otherwise.

Is The Mixed Child Internal Conflict Avoidable?

2008-07-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are both reading Barack Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father." It is very clear reading it that Obama experienced great internal conflict growing up part Black and part White. Frankly I was surprised at just how much turmoil he went through trying to figure out his place, just where he fit in in our still polarized society and world.

I have read or heard of other Mixed people growing up not knowing where they fit in, of feeling caught between two worlds. This is generally true when the mix is White and Black, which most people unfortunately consider to be polar opposites. Not having grown up with that I cannot really know what that is like. But I have also heard of some who say they never really had many problems with their status. So who knows, maybe it is a factor of where you grow up and how your parents handle it.

Obviously it is my hope that our two kids do not struggle with their identity or feel some sense of ethnic isolation. As I have said before, in an effort to try to make this less of an issue, we chose to move to Los Angeles from our native Texas and our home in the midwest specifically to make sure that they would at least grow up in a city that had many ethnic groups and where ethnic mixing was not so uncommon.

But I am not naive enough to think that this will inoculate them from racism. We just wanted to give them a chance of at least seeing more people that looked like them and realizing that they were not oddities like they might be in some other places. But I suspect that as they get older the time will come when indeed they are challenged to "fit in" to one group, to pick a side. And maybe they will be conflicted. I do think to a small degree being that they are mixed with two "minorities", Black and Mexican, that it will be less of an issue than if they were Black and White. But still there are certainly Blacks and Mexicans who will challenge their identity.

As a parent, all I can do is hope we have provided them the tools and the self-esteem to deal with the natural identity issues that any teenager goes through, their Mixed status being an added "bonus." Already I get some indication that they see themselves as the best of all worlds, something to be proud of for being Mixed, since we have always pointed out to them all the famous and successful Mixed people there are in the world.

So when the conflict comes, if it does at all, right now I feel confident that these two will do just fine. And if not, I hope at least, my wife and I can help them steer their way through it.

Which Group Is More Accepting of Mixed Relationships?

2008-07-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

My wife posed an interesting question yesterday? We were talking about yesterday's blog about the Indian father having his black daughter-in-law killed since he couldn't accept her into the family while the woman's family had no problem accepting her Indian husband. We tied that to the situation in our family where my family has no issues with my wife being a different ethnicity from me, yet her Mexican Mom and has made it clear she does have issues with Blacks. This made my wife wonder why is that Blacks seem more accepting of interracial relationships and children than do whites and others? Or, she wondered, was that an accurate assessment.

My answer to her, though I couldn't say I had any empirical evidence to support my opinion, only anecdotal, was that while she and we shouldn't be fooled, there were plenty of blacks who had very harsh opinions about mixed ethnicity couplings, it was indeed my experience that Blacks were more likely to accept these relationships over all. At least in my experience.

I think this is true because Blacks have long accepted the notion that to be Black means so many things. We come in so many shades and hues, hair textures, body types, you name it. And we also have long known that our ancestry in America was mixed with the blood of Native Americans, Whites, Hispanics, you name it. It is not uncommon at all for Black families to have at least one Mixed relationship in their extended family.

Now increasingly this is also true of all groups, thankfully. But I think it is just something Blacks have had to accept much sooner in our history. The idea of "racial" or ethnic purity is just not as important in our culture. At least to most. So here's to hoping on this, other groups catch up to Blacks on this one.

Hatred Is Not Just a Black and White Thing

2008-07-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

A story out of Atlanta was reported in the news yesterday (link below) about an Indian (as in from India) who was convicted of murder for hiring a hit man to brutally murder his son's wife, who was also the mother of his grandchild since they had just had a baby, simply because she was black.

Yep.

He did it because of the "shame" on his family because his son had married the woman.

Apparently the Indian man's son knew his family would have issues with the marriage, due to their acceptance of India's strict caste system where lightness and darkness of skin color makes a huge difference, and had tried to keep it completely hidden from the family. But clearly they found out.

Just goes to show that racism is certainly not just something between blacks and whites and not just an American thing. Indeed it could be argued that nobody does discrimination better than India did due to that centuries old and deeply ingrained and enforced caste system. Just a reminder of how much still remains to be done on a global scale.

Oh by the way apparently the murderer's son has done the family right this time, he remarried - an Indian girl this time and he has no contact with his own baby who is being raised by his former wife's parents in Atlanta.

Here is a link to the story:

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5237459&page=1

Is Obama "Bi-Racial Or Black?"

2008-06-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

That was the question CNN or some other mainstream news organization posed in one of their major pieces the other day. The problem with the question is the basic problem with our society in general. We have an insane need to categorize, to fit everything into neat little boxes. And making that instinct worse, is the further need to define everything in "black and white terms." You are either this or that, is the conventional wisdom. You cannot be both.

How silly.

At the end of the day, the nature of Barack's family tree gives him the freedom to choose to identify himself any way he chooses to. That is his personal choice and one he seems to have made based on how people see him when they look at his skin tone. While I would love it if he had chosen to bring light to the mixed ethnicity moniker by identifying as mixed, multi-racial or bi-racial (despite my being against any usage of "race"), I do understand why he has made the choice he has, as I do when Halle Berry calls herself black. Though for Obama it is much more political since he risks great push back from his black base if he were perceived to be shunning "blackness."

But back to the main point. It is not necessary to say whether Obama is Black or Bi-racial. He is both. It would also be equally correct to identify him as White, Hawaiian, Multi-Racial, any of the above. They are all absolutely correct. Now I do applaud the media for trying to get this right. I have been known to write to editors and journalists myself to make sure they noted a person was mixed and not "black" when they did not acknowledge the distinction. My purpose in doing so is always to point out that to simply label a person black (or any other single ethnicity) when they are more than that, buys into the racist concept that whites are pure and blacks and others are not. But to move that discussion into a pure either-or question is still missing the point.

Progress won't come easy I know. At least they did bring it up, is one way to look at it. But hey, I'm still pushing for them to go all the way to accepting and understanding the new reality.

The Trouble With In-Laws

2008-06-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have been having a big discussion about whether or not we should limit our kids' contact with her parent's, our kids' grandparents, since they are quite undeniably racist.

The thing is they are not the kind that has ever or would ever say anything that is blatantly bigoted in front of me or the kids. They are the kind that is more subtle than that. They tend to simply make it clear that our kids are just not as on par with the other grandchildren, that they are "less than" and more of an interesting and cute amazement.

That does not mean my wife has not heard them be more direct in their opinions of blacks when she was growing up and when we were dating. She certainly heard the "N" word on many occasions let's say. And based on other comments they have made to her, it is not like they have become more enlightened since the kids have been around these 11 and 9 years.

The good thing is we live in Los Angeles and these grandparents are in Texas so we don't really see them all that much anyway. But of late my wife has come to the conclusion that she has had it with putting up with their attitude. I have always felt we should limit our time around them since I am not one to fake affection or hold my tongue. But at the same time I have also been concerned of damaging the kids by keeping the away from their grandparents, concerned that that could also do harm since the kids would at some point wonder why they could not see them and ultimately learn of their views anyway.

This week, thanks to posting a question on the wonderful site, "Anti-Racist Parent" we got some good advice from others, and the overwhelming consensus seemed to agree it was more important to keep the kids away from anyone who treated them with disrespect than to feel obligated to a familial tie that was not loving.

My wife and I had pretty much concluded that. Frankly I am still not sure we will never allow them to see their grandparents on my wife's side (my family has no issues with their multi-ethnic make-up), but we will certainly make it very very limited visits. We know we can't keep them protected from stupidity all their life, it is just so much more complicated when that idiocy is within your own family.

Like James Brown Said, "I'm Back!"

2008-06-26T14:21:00.001-07:00

After spending some time working on a broader concept for my blog over at "A Different Way" I have happily and excitedly decided to restart this blog again. It seems no matter how hard I try and no matter what my other interests, nothing seems to motivate me more in terms of social causes and political/social discourse than the issue of race relations and multi-ethnic relationships and children.

So I am back at it again and look forward to focusing again on these issues. So much has happened since I was last here, from the primaries and general election to other national and world affairs that I think bringing our issues to the forefront and again demonstrating just how critical it is that we increase our efforts to improve the "racial" dialogue in this country, is of supreme importance.

So come back, join the discussion when it suits you, or just read and think about what is printed or appears here in the news or video section. I am so happy to be back!

Michael Vick, Dogs and Race

2007-08-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

The whole sad saga over NFL quarterback Michael Vick is made even sadder by the "racial" and ethnic divisions over how people are responding to it. It is all so reminscent of the OJ verdict and how the country divided along ethnic lines in their reaction to his acquittal in the criminal trial. I have seen and read reports lately that show once again, whites are overwhelmingly negative in their response and view of Vick, while blacks and hispanics either support him or take a wait and see approach. Again, this goes to show that our views of the world and justice are still colored by our skin tones and our experience of life from within that perspective.

Dog fighting, and the horrible allegations leveled at Vick, is truly sickening and anyone involved in it should indeed be osracized from civilized society as well as paying the price of criminal punishment. And I do understand all those who have judged Vick guilty already. The reports are so overwhelming. So it does seem like he is guilty.

But therein lies where I, like many of the other people of color and others who withhold their judgement, focus our attention. He SEEMS guilty but until he has had his day in court, we believe we have to hold full judgement. I think minorities simply have experienced too much of a rush to judgement used against us to easily fall into that trap and do the same. And ironically, though the judicial system has not historically been on our side, we do believe he deserves a chance to defend himself before the media and leaks decide Vick's future. Even in the case of white athletes, the Duke lacrosee players, we have seen how a rush to judgement can be wrong.

By the way, I do agree with Vick not playing this year, at least until this matter is resolved. But that is only because it will be impossible for his team to focus with such a distraction going on around them. It is fair to the team and the sport. But I also say, give Vick a chance to answer the charges before he his life is ruined. So it seems, when it comes to the justice system, or how quickly someone is assumed innocent or guilty, unfortunately race still does matter.

Death Threats Over Inter-Ethnic Marriage

2007-07-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

It is so bizarre to me to think that even in the year 2007, there are people out there so offended by the idea of love and marriage between people of different ethnicities, particularly black and white, that they would call or write in death threats to the couple. But that is exactly what happened over the last few weeks leading up to the wedding this past weekend of a black Boise State football star and his white Boise State cheerleader fiancee, now wife. Apparently, the couple and their families had to hire extra security for their wedding due to these threats. People really do need to get a grip. By the way, thankfully the wedding went off without a hitch.

The only reason lots of people even knew about this pretty normal wedding (in terms of numbers of inter-ethnic marriages) is that the proposal took place on a very big national stage. Immediately following Boise State's incredibly dramatic upset of Oklahoma last year in a nationally televised bowl game, the football star ran to his girlfriend and proposed to her in front of millions of people as the television cameras captured the whole thing. Her acceptance and their subsequent embrace and kiss must have sent shudders through many a racist watching the game or the numerous replays on news shows. I guess it was their worst nightmare, the athletic black sports star taking "their" beloved" white cheerleader, for many the ultimate symbol of the girl everyone wants to marry.

So, many months later, they were still furious. Enough to try to stop it. What nutcases. Congrats to the newlyweds. And to those who couldn't stand the thought, get over it. There is nothing you can do to stop the fact that love across ethnicities is stronger than bigotry.

Some Other Identifier?

2007-07-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking, is there some other way for people to categorize themselves without using race or ethnicity? I understand that ethnicity, or skin color, is possibly the most obvious and therefore easiest way to differentiate people. And even as I write this, it occurs to me that this is likely where this whole ethnic identifier mess got started. Groups, or tribes, had to recognize who was not one of their own, and the quickest way to do that, was to notice how they looked. So I get that. But here we are, some thousands of years later, and we are still doing the same old thing. Even as we move to "bi-racial" and "multi-racial" tags, we are still in a sense buying into the main premise that visual ethnic identifiers must still be at the root of how we look at each other. This new, broader category is of course a move forward, but it is still not the detonation of the root problem that in the long run, we must rid ourselves of.

I suppose people will always look for the easiest way, and classifying people by hair color or height just doesn't make sense either. And even more importantly, maybe I'm completely wrong to even think in terms of a new identifier that can replace race or ethnicity. Because isn't the point, to get beyond any classifications or groups? Maybe. But then again, I think people will always find something to base their notion of "other" on. It is just a question of how insidious that basis will be and whether they can do so without placing judgement at the same time. Who knows. Just something to think about.

Passing

2007-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

I just read an interesting letter in an article online by a bi-ethnic woman (black and white) who ran into the problem of people at her job holding it against her when they found out she was mixed with black. They apparently did not know this because she does not "look black" in that she has green eyes, fair skin and straight hair. So since she never brought up her mixed heritage they assumed she was part of the "all-white" club at this particularly law firm in New Jersey. And some felt she had hoodwinked them by not proclaiming her half black status at the door. How interesting.

This makes me think of two things. One is that people need to learn, and learn quickly, that these days there is a lot more ethnic mixing going on than most know, so it would probably be smart to not make assumptions about what people "are," even when they look like something you assume to be obvious. The second thing is this whole issue of "passing," or pawning oneself off to be something other than what they are, ethnically speaking. That New Jersey woman had no obligation to wear a sign saying, "by the way, I am not all white" nor should she have felt obligated to pronounce it to people. As long as she did not deny that fact or hide it out of shame or some other reason, it sounds like the problem was not hers but the people who made assumptions based on skin color.

The problem was probably that people at that firm had made comments about blacks or other minorities, not realizing she was minority (multi-ethnic) as well. If people would just treat all people with respect then they wouldn't have to worry so much about the language or joke they are about to use with someone, someone who may or may not be what you think they are.

The Half and Half Test

2007-07-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

So here is an interesting test I would love to try on people. So imagine this.

Me: (putting on the table a special concoction fruit that is split down the middle and is half apple and half orange) So is this an apple or an orange?

Average Person: Neither. It is half apple and half orange.

Me: (putting on the table a block that is split down the middle and is half wood and half plastic) So is this a block of wood or is it a block of plastic?

Average Person: Neither. It is half and half so it can't be just one.

Me: (pulling out a sheet of paper and two bowls with paint in them, one blue and one yellow) When I combine these two colors, will the combination be yellow or will it be blue?

Average Person: Come on, every kid knows together they would combine to make a different color, green. So it would be neither blue nor yellow anymore.

Me: (pulling out the last items, a picture of a white woman and a black man and also a picture of their biological child) Half black and half white, is the child white or black?

Average Person: Don't be silly. The child is black.

You see what I mean?

History's Role in Identity Pride

2007-07-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

This being the 4th of July, I was watching a series on The History Channel or something like that which had a series on the revolutionary war and our fight for independence. Watching the shows I was reminded how easy it is for those of us of color to slip into thinking so little about ourselves. And this is especially poignant to me these days because my son, who is 10 years old now, is very much into history, particularly military stories. So he watched a lot of these kinds of shows. And it is very easy when watching these shows to think the only heroic people are those with white skin. Obviously people of color, black, native american, hispanic, asian, all played significant and often heroic roles in the development of our country. We just have to dig a little deeper sometimes to find those examples since they are not the usual stories featured in books and on television. So as we celebrate this day, we have to remember that it took a rainbow of colors to get us to where we are.

Being Proud of Being Mixed Is Not The Same As Being Ashamed Of One's Ethnicity

2007-06-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

I just read a column on an African-American-oriented website by a gentleman who espouses the belief that people who label themselves as "mixed" or "bi-racial" do so primarily because they are ashamed of being whatever the sole ethnicity is that others feel they should claim to be. He referred, for example, to Tiger Woods, who he says should only be labelled black but who is someone who embraces his multi-ethnic heritage instead.

I am not surprised to read this sort of opinion. Even when I write these postings for my blog and write about how proud I am of my multi-ethnic children, I can see how small-minded people might very easily think I must have some shame in simply calling them black, which is what most would prefer to call them. And I also recognize that as I teach them to be proud of all that they are, not just half, that I have to be very careful, even with them, to not give them the impression that simply being labelled black is a bad thing. Because it is not and I know I am personally quite proud of who and what I am and what we, blacks, have contributed to this world.

So I do understand why that columnist feels the way he does, this idea that "bi-racials" are running from something. All I can say is that for all the Mixed people I know, and for me personally, this is far from the truth. Choosing to focus on the multi-ethnic as opposed to the singular racial identity simply is more accurate. And it is more in keeping with how every other community is allowed to identify. Frankly I find it insulting that blacks are the only group that is forced to live by the "one-drop" rule. I am actually more surprised that blacks don't choose to fight this rather than be shackled by it. So it is not about being ashamed of anything that people call themselves bi-racial or mixed, but rather it is about being allowed to accept both parents as equal, it is about living outside of what others try to force us to do out of outdated racist notions, and it is simply about getting beyond stupid classifiers based on skin color, when that should be the least important thing in our lives.

Supreme Court Ruling Complicated In Its Implications

2007-06-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been away so long. You don't want to know about my computer woes. But I am back at it again and hopefully this time I will remain a daily if not semi-daily contributor again.

Well this is as good a day as any to get back in the saddle. Today the Supreme Court, in a split decision, struck down voluntary "race-based" diversity programs at public grade schools. Their ruling essentially says "race" (their word since you know I hate the term and find it a misnomer) cannot be used as a factor for schools as they attempt to implement programs that diversify their student bodies. Conservatives, of course, hail the ruling, while liberals and Democrats have decried it as a slap in the face of the longstanding "Brown V. Board of Education" that essentially destroyed the old separate but equal doctrine.

Now you would think someone who writes a blog based on the notion of "no more race" and getting beyond the concepts of race, would be ecstatic at the Supreme Court ruling. After all, the Court is saying we must stop focusing on race in making decisions about people. Right?

Well, here's the problem with that ruling though. The programs that were used in this case, like many others that will be affected, were rooted in the goal of bringing people together across racial and ethnic boundaries. Which in the long run is exactly what we need to be doing if we are ever going to reach the true point of ignoring race. I agree with those schools in their philosophy based on the belief that getting young people to spend time around each other is the greatest thing we can do to helping them see for themselves that racial and ethnic differences aren't the most important thing. Socializing, playing and learning next to each other goes a lot farther than subjecting people to lectures and preaching racial acceptance.

Now do I recognize the irony of using race to promote a future of no more race? Of course I do. But we sit in such a screwed up, racially-sensitive world right now that sometimes it does indeed require counter-intuitive ideas to get us to where we need to be. And I know this for sure, having the "races" living and being educated in separate worlds does not do anything for a real coming together. So I do believe that we took a step back today. But no matter what the Court has done, I also think the lid is already off he jar for the most part, and this decision won't, in the long run, stop the inevitable that we see occurring.

Another Multi-Ethnic They Want To Label Simply As Black

2007-06-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

Ah, the rush to simplify the so-called racial tags. I noticed that once again, people, in this case the media, have been quick to call a celebrity-athlete "black" almost at the same time they acknowledge that he is of mixed ethnic heritage. This time it is relation to internationally known Formula 1 racing phenom Lewis Hamilton.

The media have had to move quickly to label the young British man, as he is considered to be to F1 what Tiger Woods has been to golf, a non-white in a sport dominated by whites, who has risen to the top at a meteoric rate. Indeed what Hamilton has done is nothing short of extraordinary.

He currently leads the standings in F1, which by itself is a feat since he is so new to this top level. But he comes with credentials that are awe-inspiring. In this, his debut year Hamilton has set three Formula 1 records in quick succession. At the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix, he became the first F1 driver to finish in the top three in his first three F1 championship races. After he finished second at the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix, he became the youngest driver ever to lead the drivers' championship. Hamilton gained his first victory at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix in June, the fourth youngest to do so. In gaining his first Grand Prix victory in his sixth race, Hamilton became the first driver since Pablo Montayo in 2001 to win a race in his first Formula One season.

Wow. And of course when I heard several news reports on his recent victory and rise to the top of the standings, he was labelled the first black person to do so. Hamilton's being only half black is again too complicated for most. Hopefully, he, like Tiger, will publicly call attention to this error. Being on the world stage as he is, he is in great position to call a few people to task on this all-too-common mis-labeling.

What Will The Future Hold?

2007-06-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking about the premise of this blog - no more race - which refers to the future as brought about by all these multi-ethnic people that are becoming more and more the norm. I would hope that their proliferation will mean that racism and the focus on race and skin color will go away at some point when their numbers become the majority, which I do believe will happen some day.

But the thought I was having was wouldn't it be a shame if all that happened after all this is that a new form of discrimination were to occur, one based not on which purity you were, but rather on which ethnicities you were. Something like those mixed with European ancestry and something else, discriminated against those mixed with Asian and something else. Or people thinking they are better because they are Mixed. Or those that will measure how many groups they can lay claim to versus anothe Mixed person. How awful. And I hope this is a nightmare that does not become reality. We all should be diligent to make sure that it doesn't. I don't really believe this will happen though as what I get from most of the multi-ethnic people I know is that they approach the world and people with a much greater sense of acceptance than most others do .So I don't see why this would change.

But strange things do occur. So it is not altogether out of the realm of possibilities that a new form of bigotry could arise. Like the great Star Trek episode where there was a planet of people who were black on one side and white on the other, right down the middle of their bodies. The planet was split into an ugly battle because some had the black on the left side and some had the black on the right side.

Substituting one discrimination for another is not the future I am hoping for.