-
“If the initiative is approved, gay and lesbian couples would enjoy the same civil, patrimonial, inheritance, housing and adoption rights as heterosexual couples.”
-
“Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson used the word maricón in an exchange over a year ago with shock jock (and racist) Don Imus and now Richardson is scrambling to apologize.”
-
“Barcelona’s Cameroonian striker, Samuel Eto’o has continued his campaign to eradicate racism in football by asking fans to make their opinions known in an internet survey.”
-
” In the e-mail, she urged Dolock…to read Jeff Benedict’s Without Reservation…and spoke of privileges Indians enjoy and reparations “paid today — by us — to folks who simply by accident of birth can claim Native American blood in some fraction
-
“Is it so hard to believe people feared him because they thought he was a volatile jerk? Or that a white actor of middling fame who disrupted his workplace would have also been fired? In his rush to make himself a martyr, Washington fails to consider thes
-
“Groups that have been in this country the longest are likely to develop cancers that are most common here, like breast and colorectal cancer…Recent immigrants…suffer from the same types of cancer that are predominant in their native countries, like s
-
“Their crossing that night was financed, according to court documents and testimony, with payments totaling $225,000 by an Encino sports agent who would become the first agent ever convicted on federal charges of smuggling athletes.”
-
“An estimated 50,000 Iraqi women and girls who have fled from the civil war into Syria have turned to prostitution in their desperation to eke out a living.”
-
” The NAACP filed a federal lawsuit today against 13 sub-prime mortgage lenders alleging discriminatory lending practices against blacks.”
-
“Even infants at 3 months of age demonstrate signs of racial preference, but this preference is limited to the race they are mainly surrounded by. Heightening cross racial contact mitigates the effects of the bias.”
-
“But when I turn to the mirror in my bedroom to admire us together, I am shocked. She seems so alien. With her long, dark eyelashes and shiny, dark brown hair, she doesn’t look anything like me.”
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
S wrote:
“I Love My Mixed Race Baby – but…”
I crubge everytime I hear or read statements like this. They usually come from white women who are almost single-handedly creating an inferiroity complex. I can’t count how many times I have PERSONALLY heard white women complain about their mixed daughters hair and eye color. Most parents are concerned with health, with persistant ear infections, slow potty-training, etc. Nope, not some of these mothers. I have heard them complain right in front of the child, one of them even comparing their childs “wild” and “frizzy” hair to “Emily’s silky, straight blond hair”. One woman almost had a miscarriage because she was stressing over the uncontrollable texture that her daughter “might” have and that her skin would be too dark for her to ever marry (hmm, what would make her think that???) Pathetic. Of course, when they discuss the future of their daughters they say “I’m concerned about the complexes they may develop because of the hostility from black women.” Typical. Sad.
One of the most beautiful (inside and out) women I know has the worst self esteem I have ever seen and she dates/accepts the worst men on the planet. Her mom blames black women and bias from white men, but really her own family members tormented this woman. Her own WHITE relatives.
Posted 13 Jul 2007 at 6:45 am ¶
gatamala wrote:
A Gymboree “I’m now a Racist” confessional.
I’m too through with the “baby won’t look like me” mess. There is definitely a difference depending on the race of the parent. I know black women with biracial children (of any combo) and you never hear this shit, no matter how light the baby is.
1. A child may not look like you color notwithstanding. I’ve known folks who are literally the dark-skinned clone of their light-skinned parent (& vice versa). (features, body type, voice, mannerisms….)
2. I’ve witnessed (ex) in laws talk about how “dry” their biracial child’s hair is and disparage it. Ummmm you should have thought about that before you got with dad.
S – It’s ironic how the project their own insecurities on to bw considering they are the source of the racial self-esteem issues. Discussions I’ve had with friends and acquaintances revealed that the level of self-awareness and acceptance usually has something to do with the mom’s race.
Posted 13 Jul 2007 at 7:58 am ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
re: Cuba surpasses world:
Gays are equal in Cuba… years after lgbt people we persecuted there. Here, we told them they weren’t allowed to have sex (Lawrence v. Texas) or get married or adopt. We can’t even wrap our head around non-straight relationships and we call ourselves a democracy. Seems a bit ironic that gays have more rights in countries that we blacklist. I’d like to see Michael Moore do a film about that.
Posted 13 Jul 2007 at 12:54 pm ¶
mr guy wrote:
I’m confused about this lady.Shouldn’t she have thought off all of these things before having children?Or at least talk about these issues and fears with her indian husband PRIOR to having children?Not after noticing that her child with NOT look white and becoming upset after realizing that fact?I feel sorry for the husband and especially the daughter.
Also.I seem to see a lot of article like this with white women lately.Anyone know why??
Posted 13 Jul 2007 at 1:36 pm ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
re: I love my mixed race baby, but . . .
Lowri, the author of the piece, is exactly why so many people of color object to the parenting of children of color, including their biological multiracial children like in lowri’s case, by white women.
it’s unfortunate that she thinks that way because she only worsens the stereotype that white women’s privilege will get in the way of their properly raising their children to be aware of issues of race.
here is a really good interview on NPR called “White Mothers, Black Sons”
Posted 13 Jul 2007 at 1:45 pm ¶
WomunOfColour wrote:
Is South Asian considered black in the UK?
Posted 14 Jul 2007 at 5:46 pm ¶
gabby wrote:
I didn’t know how much reading that woman’s “I love my mixed race baby – but” article would affect me. And by affect me, I mean piss me off and make me sick. I left the following comment:
“I agree with Jo. And I also wish I’d never read this. My father is white, and my mother is Filipino, and I don’t look like either of them, or like my siblings who had a different father, but we’ve never been anything but a loving, whole family who do not think of each other differently because we look differently. Or at least I thought so. But lo and behold, maybe they all this of me this way. The mixed-race child who “blows their cover” as a “real” family, the one who stands out, and doesn’t belong, and whose own parents could tell perfect strangers, on an international news site, that they think of this child as an alien.
And it’s because she’s dark? Because she’s *dark*, and you say you don’t think of yourself as a racist? If that isn’t a racist thought, then I don’t know what it.
Good luck.”
Posted 14 Jul 2007 at 7:21 pm ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
womanofcolour: in british history, south asian and black immigrants and their children have unified under the umbrella term “black” for political reasons. some people of south asian descent continue to use this term, while others do not.
Posted 15 Jul 2007 at 2:41 pm ¶
S wrote:
Yeah, I was confused about the use of the term “black” as well.
Doesn’t her post blatantly point out the worldwide bias against dark skin? I mean, instead of saying “I’m going to help change this bias for the sake of my daughters future” she wishes her baby would have (some kind of way) conformed to European Standards. Bad Baby! Mommy wanted you to look 100% white. It’ O.K., Mommy will keep yo out of the sun so you won’t become a darkie. Bad Darkies!
Posted 16 Jul 2007 at 2:11 pm ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
a note on the use of “black” by people of African and South Asian descent in the UK:
“Black is a term that embraces people who experience structural and institutional discrimination because of their skin colour and is often used politically to refer to people of African, Caribbean and South Asian origin to imply solidarity against racism.
The term originally took on political connotations with the rise of black activism in the USA in the 1960s when it was reclaimed as a source of pride and identity in opposition to the many negative connotations relating to the word “black” in the English language (black leg, black list etc.). In the UK however, there is an on-going debate about the use of this term to define South Asian peoples because of the existence of diverse South Asian cultural identities. In the USA, the term ‘people of colour’ is increasingly used instead of, or alongside black.
Some South Asian groups in Britain object to the use of the word “black” being applied to them. Some sociologists argue that it also conflates a number of ethnic groups that should be regarded separately – Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians and so on.
Whilst there are many differences between and within each of the groups, the inclusive term black refers to those who have a shared history of European colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism, ethnocentrism and racism. One solution to this is to refer to “black peoples”, “black communities” etc., in the plural to imply that there are a variety of such groups.
It is also important to be aware of the fact that in some contexts “black” can also be used in a racist sense.
The capitalisation of the letter “B” in the term “Black British”, “British Asian” are shifting ground and it should be stressed that social scientists need to be very clear that the use of these terms does not prioritise nor indeed conflate ethnicity and citizenship. ”
from Equality and Diversity: Language and the BSA
Posted 16 Jul 2007 at 2:23 pm ¶
Kellie wrote:
My first reaction after reading the Daily Mail article was “yuck”. Then I started to think, well, at least this lady is being honest about her feelings and maybe she will get herself together before she seriously damages this kid. But I have since decided that this is a case where honesty is not a good thing, at least not in such a public place. This is something that she should be talking over with her therapist – it should not be published for the world to read. This is HER problem – and it is a big one. And I agree with Mr Guy that this kind of stuff has been showing up too often lately.
And anyway, why is it important for your child to look like you? Having a child should be about wanting to parent, not birthing a clone.
Posted 16 Jul 2007 at 8:04 pm ¶
S wrote:
It’s pretty common, and maybe even instinctive to want at least one of your children to look like you, I understand that. But all the way down to skin color???
I know a white female who said her aunt was praying for her 1/2 black child to have “their” (white) hair. And that she didn’t know what to do with that “black stuff”. Well, the baby girl did not come out with “the white stuff” and her hair is in constant disarray. She noticeably wishes her hair were like her mother’s, and sometimes hears her mother put down her type of hair when speaking with black men (the ones who hate black women). Now, there is a good black man who is dying to be a father figure to this little girl but the girl has developed a distrust for all black men because of the types that her mother has surrounded her with (plus, the mother says the man isn’t tall enough for her to be seen with). It’s sad because that child rarely looks happy, and looks even more miserable around her white family members and classmates. People often ask why it is that her fully black playmates (having 2 black parents) have hair that is far longer and finer than hers. What is a six year old supposed to say to that? Black women (despite putdowns from the white mother) offer to assist with the upkeep of the little girl’s hair or give referrals to others who can help. The mother dismisses it as black women being obsessed with hair. Meanwhile her child is being teased, mainly by little white boys, yet the mother has new highlights or totally new hair color in her near-butt-length hair every month or so. She is always looking good so she can find a rich black athlete to marry and her daughter always looks like a depressed mess…at age 6!
The difference between her and other white women I know is that I think she wants to change, she rarely plays “the victim” and has already changed the way she talks around her daughter.
Posted 17 Jul 2007 at 5:21 pm ¶