Why dont mixed blacks identify with their other culture?

Question

I've seen this time and again. People who are half black & half white ALWAYS identifying more with their black side to the point where they practically deny their white side. Why do these people say they are black when they are mixed?

Also i notice that when people talk about someone like tiger woods, they always say he is a "black" golfer. Why dont they say he is an asian golfer instead since he is half Thai?

Same thing with Obama...Obama will not be the first black president if he wins. He will be the first half-black president.

Maybe this is why we have so many problems in our society is because we still segregate ourselves to identify with one group or another and there is no middle ground in peoples eyes.

Answer 1

Well I can speak on this, because I have men and women in my family who're half white and half black. And you (or many of the people in here may not agree with me) but the reason why a lot of bi-racial people indentify more with their African American roots is because of the fact that blacks are the group of people who accept them more. Believe it or not, based on what I've seen with the people I've grown up with and the people in my family who're mixed, they took refuge in playing and communicating with us because they knew that some of the white kids up the street would call them n*@@er, half-bread, mud people, mutt, along with a number of other names.

Now, I've watched Obama, and I've seen all the speeches he's given on race. And he's ALWAYS acknowledged his white heritage. But the media is the entity that labels him as being black or African American. As well as with Tiger Woods. He even gave himself a self-proclaimed title (Afro-Asian or something like that) and they (meaning the news, Sports Center, who ever) always refer to him as being African American. When ever you see someone who's high-profile and they (meaning most of America) can't guess his/her nationality, and he/she claims African American, America say's he/she is black. We all know Obama's family history, but that portion of his back ground is ignored when you mention the cultures that brought him forward. He doesn't do it, the media does. He's always claimed to be half white.

But most half-white and half-black people are accepted more by the African American community than the White community. I know this sounds racist (and some people may be mad at me for saying this) But from what I’ve seen, this has always been the case. My cousin was beat up by a group of white kids when he tried to play football with them one day because they could “Tell by his hair” that he wasn’t like them. He and his family moved back to our side of town and he never had a problem with playing and getting along again. Same thing for some of my close friends who’re bi-racial. When some white people don’t know who you are or what your nationality is (and they can tell you’re not one of them) you’re not accepted. It may not be the case for you personally; you may accept people for who they are. But not everyone in the White, Anglo-sexton, Caucasian gene pool does. Same thing with some black people. They question the “blackness” of those who’re not completely black. But for the most part, they’ll still accepted.  Most white women who give birth to bi-racial children end up living in the African American Community (or with the family of the father) due to the fact that she’s out casted by her family for having a child with a black man. I have a friend who was abandoned by her father, because he was white and her mother is black. But his family was against him owning up to father hood over a child that he’d fathered with a black woman (and they live in the same dam city!) He’s rich and they where poor. Its the same story for many people who're mixed.

Answer 2

A large part of that is what people see. Anyone who looks black is automatically considered black. For example, singer Mariah Carey herself has said that she is partially black. Yet people will argue that she is white because of her light skin. She is of mixed race and you can clearly see it but people still say she's white. Another person who has problems with this is golfer Tiger Woods. His ancestry is mostly Asian and he only has a little bit of black in him. He says he is not black but people continue to insist that he is because he has dark skin. It's all about people's appearance.

Answer 3

When there is a census, the government faulters and still categorizes half-white/half-blacks under the African American sector.  Even if they are 1/3 black, they are still under the AA sector.  So its the governments way of identifying a person which conditions a group to go that route.

Answer 4

You would have to dig into history to answer why mixed blacks identify as black.

The singular black identity is far more prevalent than the singular white identity because of the historical legacy of the "One Drop Rule" instituted by white Americans in government.  It states that if you have one drop of black blood in your heritage, than you are considered black.  The rule was so entrenched in American society, it has become part of African American heritage.  If you were bi-racial, the government and everyone else considered you black: you still were forced to be a slave or had to sit in the colored people section of a restaurant.

Blacks and bi-racial blacks still embrace this rule today for a couple of reasons:

1. It helps to strengthen and unite the black community by being inclusive to ALL our members, including bi-racial individuals.  We find no benefit in separating "black" from "bi-racial" - it sounds divisive. To quote Obama on the one drop rule subject "What to racist whites was a stain of impurity became a badge of pride. More significantly, what for whites was a means of exclusion was transformed by blacks into a glorious principle of inclusion."  In other words, we took a negative and made it into a positive.

2.  If you look black, the world will consider you black.  Since black genes are generally dominant, most bi-racial kids look black.  Because of their appearance, they will generally gravitate to the black community. As in the case of Halle Berry, she has been quoted as saying, "When I Iook in the mirror, I don't see a white woman. I see a black woman, even though my mother is white. Knowing that has made my life easier, I think."

A lot bi-racial kids identify as black or African American, but still acknowledge their white parent.  Lenny Kravitz addressed the subject:

"Luckily I was not one of those children with insecurities about my racial identity.  My mother had taught me: 'Your father's white, I'm black.  You are just as much one as the other, but you are black. In society, in life, you are black ...you don't have to deny the white side of you if you're mixed, but understand that you are black. In this world, if you have a spot of black, you are black. So get over it.'"

3. Being that 90+% of black Americans have mixed (European or Native American) heritage in their lineage regardless of how they look, the idea of being bi-racial is not particularly special or unique.  In a manner of speaking, you could say that the vast majority of black America is "bi-racial."  Personally, I find the term redundant. Saying African American itself implies it and suffices for me.

4. Overall, you'll find black families are more accepting of bi-racial kids than white families.  Speaking in general terms, you'll find a heck of a lot more white families rejecting their bi-racial relatives than you will blacks.  Most times (not all) bi-racial kids feel more welcome and accepted by the black community. As multiracialism is becoming more mainstream in white America, we might find that this trend changes.

Answer 5

Society does not allow them to.  This is institutionalized on so many levels it is hard to fight against it.  Identity has a lot to do with how a person feels which is greatly affected by how other people treat them. Many people who are half black look black, maybe of light complexion, but black, and are treated that way.  When they suffer the discrimination of being treated like a black person they can related to other blacks on that level.  If they try to identify actively with their white (or other culture) there can be social consequences for those actions, they risk being rejected by both races, where does that leave them?