Are we all going to be latte?
CVK
(Thanks to Tariq and Matt for this!) That’s the question posed by The Toronto Star in an article they published over the weekend about the mixed race community in Toronto. MMW is briefly mentioned in the article.
It’s interesting that the photo they used to illustrate the article is done Kip Fulbeck-style - all naked shoulders and collarbones. Let’s hope this doesn’t become some kind of standard for depicting mixed folks.
They are the New Métis. While there are mixed-race individuals a generation older than Charmaine, experts say that today there’s a much greater willingness among such adults to define themselves as mixed-race rather than allying themselves with the background of one parent.
Just like the Métis, a culture is emerging around mixed-race people, with its own distinct identity — they have their own websites, books, clothing lines, even dolls. No matter how diverse their backgrounds, these individuals share remarkably similar experiences — including the feeling they don’t belong in the culture of either parent.
brad wrote:
The problem with this brief snippet is that it continues to focus on mixed-race people as a separate group. Why can’t someone be mixed and identify with both or either side of her identity? That said, when people write of future generations being one color they know very little about genetics. A gene for blue eyes or brown eyes will always be (unless some mutation occurs). As the article posted on MMW awhile ago showed, it’s quite possible for two brown-skinned mixed race people who had some African facial features to have a child who looks very Caucasian.
From a cultural perspective, continued “mixed-race culture” is also dependent on the individuals and they’re children. Some people with a mixed-race background decide to recognize themselves as only one race (based on their phenotype or culture). I think I find many Latin American cultures, for instance, play a good game around race. For instance, in Mexico, it’s commonly said they everyone is Mestizo, mixed. However, Caucasian features are prized highly to the extent that the standard of beauty is based on Caucasian looks.
Personally, I want to be able to recognize all parts of my background but realize that some parts of my identity are mean more to me than others.
Posted 10 Jul 2006 at 11:42 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Brad, I hear where you’re coming from. It’s one of the reasons why I like organizations like SWIRL that maintain that however a mixed person wishes to identify should be left up to them, and not an outsider. I personally identify as mixed/biracial/first gen mix, whatever, and/or as both white and black. But I’d never demand outright that another person of the same heritage identify the same way.
That said, there are some things that mixed folks of various backgrounds often find in common, mostly due not to BEING mixed per se, but by how mixedness is perceived/treated by others in the society. Similar experiences despite dissimilar backgrounds indicate that the causing factor is external, not internal or innate.
I doubt there is a definable “mixed race” culture or subculture. However, education and other identity resources that at least acknowledge our existence is a bonus… doesnt’ count as a culture, except in the sense of enriching the overall culture in which a person resides.
Your point re: Mexico (and other Spanish-speaking nations in the Western Hemi) seems correct. Heck, Peru just voted in its first native president not too long ago (which due to history, many of the native peoples are mestizo), when an overwhelming majority of the nation are native peoples. The outgoing Mexican president Vincente Fox looks like he just walked off a Spanish ship. The pattern has been repeated early and often.
Posted 10 Jul 2006 at 12:05 pm ¶
brad wrote:
Lyonside:
I agree on all accounts. I think the element of the mixed/multiracial “movement” that I dislike are the racial Stalinists led by A.D. Powell, who believes that if you disagree with her positions, you are open to and deserving of character assasination. Over the last few years when I started to explore writings on being mixed, I started visiting different websites and found Powell’s writings and those her adherents. There’s a strong undercurrent of hatred of Africans and those she considers monoracial black Americans. When mixed African-Americans, especially those who have a predominately Caucasian phenotype, refuse to identify themselves as white, Powell goes for the jugular for their not following her beliefs. (No one in my family got her letter ;-)
For instance, in her essay attacking Gregory Howard Williams, you labels Williams against his wishes as a “very white” man! The article then proceeds to savage Williams and his family. If you haven’t read Powell’s essay, here’s the link:
http://interracialvoice.com/powell4.html
Powell’s hypocrisy is laughable in that throughout her writings she rejects being labeled as “black” because she has African ancestry, decrying a forced label. However, Powell feels that she has the right to label others and punish those who don’t follow her beliefs.
Posted 10 Jul 2006 at 1:51 pm ¶