tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post740967843656984964..comments2023-03-22T08:47:23.658-07:00Comments on Love Hate Black White: Biracial Privilege: the ListAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14240249765505260981noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-59451945497872523862014-12-07T23:43:20.895-08:002014-12-07T23:43:20.895-08:00Thank you, Anonymous, for sharing your experience....Thank you, Anonymous, for sharing your experience. I stated this list came from “BR/White privileges I've either experienced, or witnessed other BRs receive.” My intention wasn't to capture any one person's personal experience with absolute precision. I believe that task is beyond my ability. I'm sorry to hear the limitations of my list left your frustrated. I sought to display a range of possible and known privileges. <br /><br />The description you gave for your own experience is educational, and extremely valuable to this discussion. I'm listening very carefully to you and others re: this topic.<br /><br />Can you state examples of any of the limited privilege you state you have but are bothered by? Do you have an example of the form that privilege has taken for you? I do acknowledge we're talking about limited privilege here - that we BRs as a group do experience prejudice also (as you reported). … You make a good point about different groups in general having different privileges. Very true.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14240249765505260981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-44433877287936234182014-12-06T10:34:47.987-08:002014-12-06T10:34:47.987-08:00It's probably stupid that this ruffled my feat...It's probably stupid that this ruffled my feathers the wrong way, but it did. I'm a 14 year old biracial girl and I've experienced a lot of racism in my life. Whether because where I live (Oklahoma), what I am or something else entirely. ((I didn't know I was biracial until I was 10. Despite my lighter skin tone, I had a "black" nose and an afro and stereotypically black features. Despite the fact that my mama was pale and my daddy is brown. I just thought I was black - black wax all I knew until I had a rude awakening in 5th grade. 5th grade was awful. Kids can be really mean.)) I don't deny that this list may be true for some biracial people, but I feel that a lot of these assumptions were misguided and well, assumptions. White people have certainly not treated me well. Even my family. Biracial people DO have certain privileges, but I'm of the opinion that every race or phenotype has small privileges whether among people of their own race or of another. Some races (whites) have a LOT more privilege. So biracial people do have privileges and sometimes I just want to cling to the ones I do have because I only have a very few (especially where I live). But I know that's wrong and were actively trying to even things out, so I don't. But a lot of this list wasn't true for me or my family at all. And I shouldn't have expected them to, I suppose. This adage rings true "Don't judge a man until you walk two moons in his moccasins."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-24575521929474055882014-10-27T15:25:34.658-07:002014-10-27T15:25:34.658-07:00Anonymous, I've outlined what I view as a rang...Anonymous, I've outlined what I view as a range of possible experiences among BRs. It's likely the more White-appearing BRs will experience solicitations to date a relative. I appreciate your contribution to the discussion. If you wish to get married, I hope that happens for you.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14240249765505260981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-37162290292833466512014-10-25T16:59:14.480-07:002014-10-25T16:59:14.480-07:00This just proves that there is not just one "...This just proves that there is not just one "biracial experience". I am not biracial but I am Creole and both my parents come from long lineages of light skinned mixed raced people. I am very fair and always get mistaken for other races. But most often Black folks can tell that I am black. I was raised in a all black neighborhood and work with mostly black people in the workplace. I have been bullied and ridiculed by black people because I am mixed raced and because of the way that I look. No one ever offered to introduce me to their son! White people are confused by my appearance so they stay away and ostracize me. I have never felt embraced by either group. I am not married. That is my experience. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-46157239339046433362014-08-25T01:24:51.612-07:002014-08-25T01:24:51.612-07:00Just a heads up to everyone: You may need to break...Just a heads up to everyone: You may need to break up really super long posts into a couple SEPARATE posts. Some extremely long comments (4 or 5 of them) have vanished from this page somehow. <br /><br />Thanks, and I do look forward to hearing from you.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14240249765505260981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-71957601930542452152014-08-25T01:06:14.572-07:002014-08-25T01:06:14.572-07:00Thanks for your thoughtful response. You make such...Thanks for your thoughtful response. You make such a great point: people need to walk in someone's shoes, rather than assuming they understand that person's experience. ... When speaking about others' experiences, it's good to at least have gathered their opinions about the matter first.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14240249765505260981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-28846715266991933882014-08-25T01:03:45.456-07:002014-08-25T01:03:45.456-07:00Yes, I have always believed that just knowing the ...Yes, I have always believed that just knowing the fact that you are part another race is enough to make your experiences and outlook on life different than a monoracial person. I can only imagine the hurt that comes with denying a part of yourself for political reasons. I have never seen anyone truly appear to be happy about denying part of their heritage. They will say its a choice but then also try to force other mixed race people to do the same. I don't believe they would try to force other people to do the same if they really felt like it was a personal choice. I think some choose to do it because they feel like they benefit more from claiming just black, they don't benefit from biracial privilege or were rejected by their nonblack side. Phenotype does play a role in the privileges you are able to access. As someone with two older siblings who can pass for Southern/Eastern European White or Hispanic, I know and have seen that their are many doors open for them that aren't open for me. At the same time, as someone who is not ambiguous or white looking but appears Indian/Indonesian to most, I realize that there are also many doors open for me that aren't open for those of is with a more visibly black phenotype. One personal example that goes in line with what you said above was visiting Romania to see Dad's family last year. While my father, sister and brother were warmly relieved and assumed to be natives by strangers, people often mistook me for being a member of the Romani ("gypsy"- which is actually a slur) population because of my tan skin. Some were hostile to me for this very reason alone. It was amazing all the difference phenotype could have on one's life experience. This blows any theory that Biracials all have the same experience or that we are all seen as just Black out of the water. There are so many of us with varied phenotypes that it seems America, maybe the world, doesn't know what to do with us. I feel like some of these experiences can only come with actually being biracial. As much as some people claim to understand or assume they know what our experiences are like, I don't believe they could really know. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-19526127383752458242014-08-22T16:32:58.288-07:002014-08-22T16:32:58.288-07:00Thanks for your response. Every time someone White...Thanks for your response. Every time someone White (like you), multi-racial, Black, or Asian, etc., demonstrates respect and empathy toward all other groups, it matters. Each time any of us speaks up and endures comments like, “traitor, Uncle Tom, etc.” to honor the needs of our broader human family, it matters. <br /><br />Striving for “peaceful relations” as you call it, was never going to be easy, because at times we are all prone to possession by fear, insecurity and resentment. You said, “Because I'm White I have the option to go back and hang with my White friends and enjoy my White privilege and not worry about you [Blacks].” That does look like a privilege on the surface, doesn't it? But that's actually self-imposed confinement, and an inconvenience, especially since Whites are quickly becoming a numerical minority in the US. It is already becoming near-impossible to avoid non-White American spaces, media, and people. So your choice, Anonymous, to not restrict yourself to other Whites, isn't just right-headed, it's practical. … Kumbaya right back atcha.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14240249765505260981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141825110484548587.post-46986137909834559702014-08-22T02:35:49.637-07:002014-08-22T02:35:49.637-07:00Im White person from LSA who'd like to dress t...Im White person from LSA who'd like to dress the issues between blacks and biracials and whites <br /><br />as a white person, doing my best to try to learn more about the culture of African American , or people, and learn about what causes the continued culture divide between blacks and whites I've learned that I'm much more likely to recieve a negative reaction to my being white from a person identifying as full black than I am someone who is biracial. I can understand why full black people have a natural aversion to white people and even anger because of privilege, white people haven't done right in recent history. There are some of us out here who are trying to learn better ways. but when we get spit on by black people for making an effort it's really discouraging. then we get spit on by some our own people too for speaking up for black issues. called an n lover or a traitor to our race. multiracial people though, AND also full blacks even who try to bridge the gap between races get the same thing. they get called an uncle tom, they get called traitors to their race. it makes me sad. when we hate another we hate ourself. those people you're calling names are human just the same as you. . <br /><br />if people keep putting down people for making an effort to get along how the heck are we ever going to have peaceful relations? And seriously...hating people for things they can't controll like black, white, mixed race OR how or where they grew up is sad. White people and Multi racial people also can't change how others percieve us. so to hate us by how we're percieved by white people is incredibly unfair especially when alot of us really are working on those racist people and other white people to get them to see the issues of race and make things better. <br /><br />NO I'm not exactly complaining. I know some will say I'm just a white person whining about my problems, but no. I don't have to be there for black people or do any of this. Because I'm white I have the option to go back and hang with my white friends and enjoy my white priveledge and not worry about you. But I don't stop trying to bridge the gap even when It has me so frustrated some times. I keep trying even though I keep getting hated on, because I want the world to be a better place for everyone. With less hate from all directions. Kumbaya Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com