Black People are All Shades And Colors So, What Makes A Black Person Black?

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   vveaseyposted 10 years ago

   Black People are All Shades And Colors So, What Makes A Black Person Black?
   
   

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   christiananrkistposted 10 years ago

   I dont know. I guess you could say this about any race couldn't you? all people are many shades and colors. so besides some immediate family member being born on some piece of dirt surrounded by and imaginary name, i dont really know what makes anyone anything. Why dont we just refer to people as people?

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That's good question. But if you study the racial history of this country you may see the answer.

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      christiananrkistposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      this country certainly. history of other countries as well. I just think its sad we're in 2013 and still making a big deal about the color of someones skin tone. even in a supposed culture that says it doesnt matter.

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Especially in a country with a light skinned Black man as President. But I do remember a time say in the sixties when in school dark black children would ridicule light skinned blacks.

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Because after 400 yrs of slavery and 150 yrs of Jim Crow negative propaganda about blacks, many blacks didn't want to be black or dark skin, it caused a psychotic split in "black" people's psyche. The dark skin, light skin thing still goes on today

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You know vveasey we should be proud as a nation. There are countries where they are still killing each other over what happened to great grandparents. Genocide. Here we debate and demand. And progress. Great forum buddy.

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   Levertis Steeleposted 10 years ago

   We are all shades and colors because we have traditionally been the "dumping ground" for every races' children with a drop of black blood in them. Blacks, overall, never refused or dumped these children/people. There was nowhere to dump them. We "adopted" them regardless of their addresses. Maybe it is correct to say that the "One drop" rule dictated their destination. So, we are a people of colors. If we gave them all back, or dumped the ones that we conceived ourselves just as others did, they would be a people of colors, too. That is, if they accepted them. That would not have happened even in the recent past. I am aware that more Whites are claiming their children mixed with Black.
   
   What makes a Black person Black? It has been poured into the minds of people that any amount of Black blood makes any person black. If that is logic, then, anyone mixed with any other race is that race, too. If the naked truth is told, the majority of people are multi-racial, but I think that Blacks are the only race that realizes that many of them originated from two or more races no matter how dark some may be. Others will say that they have European, Asian, and Native American blood, but they will label themselves "White." Anyone else mixed with two of the same percentages, with one being a very small percentage of Black is Black. So, Blacks are set up to carry all colors that have Black in them. "Black" in describing race, does not always refer to the black shade. So, black is black skin, white skin, red skin, yellow skin, brown skin people with Black blood in them. A person of the Black African race is Black.

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You ain't never lied!

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   Ericdierkerposted 10 years ago

   I can't figure this one out. I have never seen a yellow man. Never seen a red man. And I don't think Caucasian flesh color is white. My youngest is supposedly half yellow and half white go figure!

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      Justsilvieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe those living in a multiculti, multiracial family have just become color blind.

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      Levertis Steeleposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      On the contrary, Caucasians do have White skin--all of them! The shocker is that Blacks have White skin, too. Every race's epidermis (top skin layer) is white. Melanin is in the second layer.

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Oh really if I put on a white shirt it matches my skin tone??? My skin is far more naturally brown and many other races are lighter. I am not even an off shade of white. Seems like you might have some issues. "All of them" Whoa nice racial profiling.

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   jansharesposted 10 years ago

   Two things: Cultural Experience and Perceptions of Others
   
   Cultural Experience
   A Black person is Black because of the rich cultural experiences of an ethnic heritage. This includes a shared history, the passing down of foods, religious affiliations, music, and art from generations past. Also the pains and struggles of those generations that have affected the experience and uniqueness of being Black, particularly in America.
   
   Perceptions of Others
   A Black person is Black through the eyes of those who define "Blackness" based on their perceptions. These perceptions include stereotypes, biases, and personal experiences that define for them what a Black person represents.
   
   You could ask, "What makes a White person White," and the answer above would also be applied. At the end of the day, it really is about cultural experience and perception.
   Thanks for asking this question.

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You're welcome. It's a question I think needed asking to get people thinking about something they may just take for granted

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      Justsilvieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think you gave a lovely answer, but I think for those of mixed parentage this is such a difficult question to answer and I don't believe they should have to.

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      50 to 75% of "blacks"  have mixed heritage 1st, second, third, fourth generations. but 400 yrs of  the "one drop rule" has caused all of us with "one drop" to b seen as "black" this ties us together but also deprives us of  us of our greater heritage

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hey I  just thought of it. one of my biological parents was second generation Basque refugee in Ireland who moved to the US. They call them Black Irish; Is that a big enough drop. (I am only speaking contemporary here - not about the history )

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Why are they called "Black" Irish?

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      Justsilvieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Something interesting I read on PBS  Most Americans seem unaware that this definition of blacks is extremely unusual in other countries, perhaps even unique to the United States, and that Americans define no other minority group in a similar way.

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      Levertis Steeleposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If one drop had been fairly applied to every race, no one would know their race today. Most people have more than one race's DNA. Those genetic DNA tests can have shocking results.

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      Justsilvieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If one drop had been fairly applied to every race, we would probably not have racism in this country. With DNA testing though I see a nightmare in the making or it could open peoples eyes.

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yep I'm "black"
      I had my paternal ancestral DNA tested and my DNA profile matches  closest to those who live in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland

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       Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       vveasey where did you do this. Both Biological parents are long dead as are my adoptive ones. All I really have is legend. I think I would like to know more.

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       vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       actually I had it done at two different sites because I thought my DNA test got mixed up with someone's else's.  It was done at http://www.genebase.com/ and http://www.familytreedna.com/‎ click  them it takes you to their sites

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   Justsilvieposted 10 years ago

   I remember discussing this in a political science class. The theory was that a modern day movement to designate someone as black is purely political and promoted by black leaders, the reason being, there is power in numbers. I have heard more black people than white people use the one drop rule in the last 20 years and try to argue to point when I pointed out the facts and the racist beginning of that rule. However I also know how anyone mixed was automatically designated to the minority race… never the Caucasians one by most Caucasians.
   
   I come from a very, multiracial, multiculti family and I find racial designations stupid and insulting. When my grandkids are all in one room they don’t seem to notice they are different in any way and if our whole family gets together no one seems to point out the different colors.
   
   I just hope when my grandchildren grow up this will only be a history question because I would hate to see them divided up and catalogued by color because of ignorance, fear and some innate superiority of one race over another.

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   CrescentSkiesposted 10 years ago

   Melanin and the refusal of people to stop calling each other by the amount of a pointless pigment in their skin. I've had to tell the "I'm not racist, I hate people of all colors and creed, especially the living kind." joke way too much recently.

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   jstfishinmanposted 10 years ago

   From the 14th century and even today, if you look at the "C" in the NAACP non-whites were called colored people, simply meaning non-white. The black community has always embraced the varied tones of skin pigmentation from albino to dark black and everything in between.
   All of us have mixed heritage in our blood, including me, with African and Indian blood in my ancestry, though I am fair skinned. 80% of blacks in America are of mixed race other than African, though some choose to be called African-American.
   I personally agree with Dr. King and we should get past dividing ourselves by the color of our skin, and call a man by his name and judge him by his character. I personally hate anything that divides humanity by skin color, including white or black.
   We were all created by the same God and all are descendants from Adam and Eve. That means that we are all related, regardless of skin color. Now all we have to do is act like it.

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Caucasian; literally means"resident or native of the Caucasus mountains" in 1795 Anthropologist Johann Blumenbach, tried to prove white people originated  there, but has been proven to be false. Caucasian is a made up term for white  people

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   Etherealenigmaposted 10 years ago

   Honestly, I don't know. Personally, this might upset a few folks, but I have never walked around claiming or labeling myself as a color. I'm a person. Period. I am multicultural because I have a diverse background, but there is not one person alive that is pure anything.
   
   I think the question is, what is the insecurity that causes some people to cling so desperately to a color? I think that no matter what your cultural background, you should embrace it or the culture of your choice, and live your life, not allowing anyone but God to define you. No one's life or path is defined by their color. That definition comes from their mindset. If their mindset is that their color defines them, then it does. The choice is up to the individual.
   
   So I'm sorry, but I cannot answer your question, because it seems to me that the only thing that makes a black person black, or a white person, white etc, is how they define themselves in mindset and spirit. That's it. Be blessed.
   
   Sandy
   www.sandramurquhart.com
   www.issuesinyourtissuesmassagetherapy.com

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      Im Heavenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I am of color.I often forget what color I am.My Black friends say Im to white to be Black. My White friend don't see me as colored.
      So 4 weeks I can go through life without any racist remarks.but every now & again someone will call me Nigger im 5

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