Why do some biracial people take more pride in the other race than the black or white side?

Question

I've noticed that a lot of biracial people that I know, or even plenty of celebrities seem to take more pride in the other half of their racial makeup than the black or white side. I haven't seen this much in mixed people who are black/white mix but if they're black and mixed with another race or white and mixed with another race, they seem to take more pride in the other race. Why do you think that is? I'll give you a few examples of what I've noticed:

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who is black and samoan, has a samoan tribal tattoo across half of his chest and back! Why not an african tattoo as well? Ummm...I don't think he would do that!

Russell Wong, Brandon Lee, etc...Eurasians. They are/were in the movies pretty much portrayed as asians.

Some never want to admit that they're black, which is how they are truly perceived. They usually say that they're biracial without mentioning what they're mixed with...or they say something like: I'm french, russian, native american, hispanic and oh yeah black ( even though they're half black; lol!)

Hmmm....Ray Dawn Chong, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Beals, Tracey Bingham, etc.

Or even if they don't mention it all the time, the media makes sure to point it out: Tyson Beckford get those beautiful eyes because his grandmother is japenese. I've seen sudanese and other africans with eyes like this also. He could've gotten it from them.

Also, my brother is dark as midnight and he has 2 young children with a mexican women. His son is dark brown and his daughter is a golden complexion and looks native american. Her mother's family puts them on t-shirts saying " I'm proud to be a mexican!" Yet, if we braid my neice's hair or had a shirt saying " I'm proud to be african american or black", they would have a fit!! I just don't get it?

Has anyone else noticed this? Or am I the only one? If you have, could you give some examples.

Answer 1

I am mixed white and black, and I've spent years and years of torturing myself over self-identification. Am I "selling out" my black heritage if I identify as white, even though I was primarily raised in a white area by my white mother and I identify with "white culture" much more? Am I ignoring my mother's proud Swedish heritage if I identify as black? Am I being cowardly or inaccurate if I identify myself as mixed? It's hard, always checking the extremely unromantic "other" box on forms that ask for a race. It makes you feel alien.

In response to your question about Dwayne Johnson, maybe he's like me and identifies much more with one side of his heritage than the other. I "grew up white" because we spent all our family vacations with my mother's white extended family; my father lost his family at a young age. I went to a 90% white high school. My white stay at home mom taught me about life, rather than my black working-class father, so I learned about many things from her white perspective.

The truth is, as a race, "black" is still looked down on and seen as stupid, lazy, ignorant, incompetant, ugly, ungrateful, violent, loud, and promiscuous. I don't blame people who want to distance themselves from such a negative perception, but I adore those who proudly champion their black heritage.  

Answer 2

there is not such thing as just white. all white people are mixed with something( irish, russian etc)..of course they are gonna look at the other stuff...theyre not gonna be like oh im white.....they just say white cuz of the skin

Answer 3

first of all there is no such thing as an african tribal tattoo trust me I looke, most african nations do what is called scarification, because black skin  puffs up when scared,

tysons grand mother was chinese so thats the most obvious place his eyes came from

Answer 4

Some people are just to cowardly to take pride in both sides of their ancestry.

Another reason may be because it's hard to raise a child into two cultures at once. It's hard to "act black" and "act white" at the same time because the personality traits for each race are so different ( maybe even contrasting in some areas ).

Answer 5

Not all biracial people do but some do especially if they have an exotic mix in them. I'm mixed with some obscure tribe from Borneo and most of the time people can't guess what race I am. It's really quite funny to see people reacting when I tell them eventually. They'll be like ohhhhh.... and just stare at me like in a brand new light. Lol it never gets old, so I guess you can say we're more interested in telling people our more exotic side because it gets more reaction :D

Answer 6

Interesting...I'm biracial and have a lot of biracial friends.  In terms of actors, a lot of the time they don't have any choice but to be portrayed as more Asian or whatever because they're typecast.  There is a really heated debated about this in the Asian/hapa community (about how racist the entertainment industry is).

I'm not sure if having pride in one side or the other is true among the biracial people I know.  Usually we're raised a little more to one side.  Not on purpose, but just as a result of where you grow up, what schools you go to, etc.  

What I mean is that most biracial people I know speak one language more fluently (German, Swahili, English, whatever it may be) and are more familiar with one culture (depending on where they grew up).

I think the pride is more fear of losing one side and, consequently, a desire to get in touch with the 'lost' side.  This is often coupled with a rejection of the side that is more mainstream (black or white, or whatever else as the case may be).  It's kind of a different version of suburban white kids who dress/act/try to be black because they want to reject the mainstream/their parents/whatever.  It's just that with biracial people, we don't need to adopt a totally new race to run away from who we are, we can just choose one over the other.  So if it's 'cooler' to be Mexican...well, then...

Also, in my case, and for a lot of the biracial people I know, there is a fear that the less 'mainstream' half will get pushed aside and lost.  It's like this weird cultural/racial imperialism that is taking place within one person's mind and body.

In the case of your neice's family, it's probably a bit of fear that makes them throw fits when you have the t-shirts saying, I'm proud to be black or African American.  In many cases (and I'm sure people will argue this, I would argue it myself, it's not always true, just a general trend I've noticed among my biracial friends), the father's culture is passed on more to the children than the mother's culture.  Also the culture of the country where you're living.  So, since your neice's father (your brother) is African-American and if you're also in the US, they're probably worried your neice won't learn Spanish or won't be exposed to Mexican culture.

All that said, most people I know, myself include, grow out of it and learn to be proud of both sides.  Actors are different; they're flashier than the most of us and probably feel some media attention wanting-fueled need to flaunt their less mainstream side.  I guess it makes them seem more exotic or something.  Whatever.

But don't worry, I'm sure you're neice will grow up to be proud of both sides...but you'll probably have to wait 'til college =)  Just try to encourage both cultures as she's growing up, make sure she's reading books in both Spanish and English as well as speaking both languages!  Usually biracial people know one language better than the other depending on what language their school was taught in.  And try to see movies, listen to music, keep up with pop culture of both cultures and just approach it all with an open mind and heart!

Great topic.  Really interesting observation.

Answer 7

I've actually noticed the opposite.  Most people that I've met who are half black and half white call themselves black, as if they have no white in them at all. In the past, with slavery, segregation, etc. if someone was 10% black, they were considered 100% black.  It annoys me sometimes when people ignore the other half of their race b/c it seems like they are almost going along with this stupid rule/law that was created by bigots.  I also think it's  a personal preference sometimes. For example, I'm 25% Portuguese and 75% European, but I happen to look very similar to my Portuguese grandmother.  I grew up in a town with a large Portuguese population.  When people ask me about my ethnicity, the first thing I usually say is Portuguese. I think I'm most proud of the Portuguese in me than the other 3 (Irish, English and Dutch).  I guess it depends on the individual, but it sounds like you niece and nephew's mother and her family are most proud of their Mexican heritage (probably b/c they are Mexican). If they really have a problem with you braiding the kids' hair or allowing the child to be proud to be African, also, maybe you should tell them it bothers you....or ask them nicely why they don't want you to do it? If you ask nicely you'll get the best results. Good luck!