Jazmine makes her debut
JC
Jazmine, the mixed girl from the Boondocks crew made her debut on the cartoon tonight. She played her stereotypical naive self — getting upset when Riley told her that Santa wasn’t real (after Riley attacked the mall’s Santa twice, they decided to hire a black Santa — the self-hating mixed/black guy who we have discussed before, who actually works as mall security). Riley leaves Jazmine to cry about the realization that Santa is all myth…and the mixed/black Santa, now in his regular mall security clothing tries to comfort her by telling her that Santa is indeed real. He then says a couple of things that point to his feelings on mixed identity. He is one of the few characters who holds it up on a pedestal, but it’s mostly because he has real hate for black people and his own blackness — hence, the “self-hating” title. He tells Jazmine (regarding the Santa issue) that he doesn’t expect anything more from Riley, but he says to her:
“Being a mulatto, you should have more sense.”
Of course! Add in “whiteness” and you get a smarter, more reasonable person than someone who is just black (sarcasm)…and when Jazmine questions the realness of Santa again, he answers:
“…he’s real as the Irish blood charging through my veins.”
This character is very quick to defend and bring up his mixed identity. He is definitely a character who fits into that stereotype that we are always trying to fight — that mixed people identify as mixed as a way to distance themselves from their blackness/Asianness/Latino identity, etc…that if given the chance, those of us who are part white would identify as white. This is the kind of old-school thinking that we try to challenge because it is very much derived from the days of one-drop when it was impossible to claim mixed heritage. You were one or the other, but definitely not both. It will be interesting to see how they continue to address mixed identity — hopefully we will get to hear from other characters about it too (would most like to hear Jazime’s take on it…).
Jeff Stevens wrote:
The comment about Jazmine being mulatto and should have more sense immediately stood out, as did the comment about “Irish” in his veins. I think there is more thought and depth given to these characters than critics give them credit for. There are subtleties there that I think a white author wouldn’t be able to include.
I also appreciated Huey’s comments about the pagan origins of Christmas and how December couldn’t be the birth month of Jesus.
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 1:08 am ¶
Dave wrote:
Thanks for this critical look at Boondocks. It’s articles like these that make me, as a mulatto, glad that mixedmediawatch.com is out there. If only your microphone was as loud as Aaron McGruder’s.
I haven’t seen the episode yet, so I’ll try to watch it as soon as possible. My only question is, if he self-identifies as a mulatto, why call him a mixed/black guy? Perhaps watching the episode will answer this question for me.
For people interested in a online, non-racist, pro-mulatto community, I encourage you to check out http://www.mulatto.org. All are welcome. There is an on-going discussion thread on our message board discussing Boondocks and its portrayal of Jasmine and other mulattos. Hopefully soon, in newspapers and on the television, there will mulatto-produced and created depictions of mulattos to compliment and provide alternatives to the works of Aaron McGruder and others.
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 7:08 am ¶
HaPass wrote:
“…that if given the chance, those of us who are part white would identify as white.”
No offense, but hasn’t that been true for most hapas, on average? Most of the hapa girls I’ve known only ever dated White boys with the long-term hopes of eventually assimilating more into White America..
Anyone have marriage statistics on hapas? Like, what % marry what races? I know 66% of US-born FULL Pinays and Korean women marry White men, for example. So, I can only wonder what % of hapas marry what?
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 9:59 am ¶
Renu wrote:
which network airs “Boondocks”?
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 3:28 pm ¶
tony wrote:
Cartoon network I think…..
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 4:39 pm ¶
jen chau wrote:
a couple of things:
i called him “mixed/black” because it’s unclear whether he is meant to be a mixed or a black character…and the truth is, he can be both. it’s hard to explain, but i think you would understand better if you were to watch. he is usually identified as a black man (e.g. everyone referred to him as a black santa), but then he identifies as mixed….this is typical for many of mixed identity — people identify you differently than you would yourself. anyway, i guess i was trying to cover bases since he has been identified as both on the show.
and renu, it’s on the cartoon network in adult swim!
most hapas try to pass for white?? mmm……not the ones who i know!
and i don’t think you can equate marriage decisions and desire to pass. that’s a big assumption you are making…
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 4:45 pm ¶
little mixed girl wrote:
so…they use the word ‘mulatto’ in that show?
friggin derogatory… -_-
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 8:04 pm ¶
eric daniels wrote:
Dave you seem to come to this site to promote your site, and your anti- black rants are getting tiring. If you want people to come to your site, make it interesting. Even Interracial Voice (a conservative anti- black pro- mixed site) is visually cool to look at.
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 10:18 pm ¶
Aurora wrote:
Because of your misinformed opinion of Uncle Ruckus, I’m going to assume you don’t read the Boondocks strip on a regular basis. Ruckus is the archetype of the “self-hating black man” and is referred to as such in both the strip and the cartoon. This is why he plays up his alleged minute amount of white and Native American ancestry, which some African-Americans have; he hates black people and does not want to be considered a black person. This is why he thinks Jazmine should have common sense purely based on the fact she is half-white; Uncle Ruckus has also claimed in a couple episodes to have “re-vitiligo - the opposite of what Michael Jackson has”. So while he is technically mixed, to say he is a stereotype of mixed people is laughable, and couldn’t be further from McGruder’s intentions as the strip’s creator. He is a stereotype of the self-hating black American.
Posted 25 Dec 2005 at 9:27 pm ¶
Hapa Meister wrote:
HaPaSS, where do you live, my unfortunate hapa brother?
Posted 05 Jan 2006 at 6:37 am ¶
Mulatto Unity wrote:
to eric daniels,
What would an anti-mulatto, pro-black guy do on a site like this one other than the usual black anti-mulatto/anti-mixed online-activism?
Posted 19 Feb 2006 at 1:10 pm ¶
mulattos are a danger to civilised society.. wrote:
HEY..im a black guy speakin my mind when i say that..most mulatto people(men and women) usually date with white boys and when they older they date black guys..personally black guys don like to share girls with white men..so fukin choose..
Posted 03 Mar 2006 at 11:56 pm ¶
Jasmine wrote:
I would just like to say that, JASMINE IS BLACK! There is no such thing as mulatto or mixed! That is what that is what Aaron is trying to say. My mother is white and when my father died I begin going to an all white school. and let me tell you this they made sure I knew who i was! I little BLACK GIRL!
Even when we were slaves the so called mulatto was a slave to! They did not see no mixed white child! All they saw was a black child. And when the so called mulatto people see that then you’ll understand.
I mean if you want to be real we are all mixed with something! That’s why you see that black people come in all colors. We all got a bit of white blood. (Now there are a few of us that don’t) Do you see them getting all sad. I didn’t know were I fit in. If you black you’re black, having so called white blood don’t make it diffrent.
If you don’t believe me ask one of your white friends what race they think you are.
Posted 02 Jun 2006 at 10:14 pm ¶
replier wrote:
wow thats a relli good way to put it jasmine (the girl with the comment above) I didn’t exactly know how to put what you were thinking into words cuz i was thinkin the same thoughts too. I think you really got ur meassage across. The slave part was really interesting I’m just glad you posted that.
Posted 03 Aug 2006 at 9:43 pm ¶