My Black Cousin Passing As White

Some thirty years ago, after high school, my late father and I took a road trip from Colorado up to Washington state and then to California to see the countryside and some of his relatives. The folks in the Great North looked like him, light-skinned, but definitely Black. I was probably the most dark relative they had ever seen, making me a bit of a novelty on a generally fun visit. When we arrived in California things were a bit different.

After visiting the relatives I recalled, my Dad said we were going to see a side of the family, in Oakland, I had curiously never met. The woman was actually my father’s first cousin and he had not seen her in twenty years, which placed their last visit in the late fifties. Before arriving at her house, he explained that I had never met her because she had been passing for white in her adult life, and he vowed not to see her again. It seems that the last time they met, she told him to keep his distance so as not to ‘mess-up’ her good thing. It was a rare occasion to consider that my Dad’s feelings could be hurt.

Fast-forward to the day we met her and her husband, and true to his word if I did not know better I would have believed they were white. The husband, in particular, had greenish-blueish eyes that definitely had me thinking 'what the hell'. At first I kept looking at her and my Dad, wondering how he got a white ‘lady’ in his family. As the visit wore on things changed, the more she spoke about our family the blacker and blacker she sounded, until I started to see other relatives in her mannerisms and tones. At this point I no longer perceived her to be white, despite her appearance. Both she an her husband seem to 'act more black' as the visit went on. At the end they promised to stay in touch, but my Dad later said that would not happen. In his eyes, they could not ignore family for the sake of a good living denied to their real kin, and then come back so easily. Curiosity did not change his mind.

Later, when I moved to California I never looked them up and Dad never asked about them. I have not seen nor heard of them them since that meeting. I have no doubt that there are white folks (second cousins in this case) today in the Bay Area to whom I was once related, and if they knew their family background (or cared to reveal it) they could claim their substantial black heritage.

Up Next: White-Looking Black New Englanders

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: My Black Cousin Passing As White, Race, Skin-Color, Toure, Ethnic Identity, Acting White

When Black People Pass As White, and Vice-Versa

A few weeks ago, a good friend sent me a NYTimes Magazine article by Toure (here), Preconceptions, which was really about race and identity, although the sub-text debated the pros and cons of corporal punishment. In that article, the black culturalist Toure confronted a white-looking woman on Martha’s Vineyard, who turned out, to his amazement, to be black. The woman’s sister, blonde with blue eyes, became indignant as well that Mr. Toure thought she was also white. White people who are black? Black people who look 100% white? Huh?

When I was a kid growing up in Denver, there was a family, call them the George’s, who began my education on how white people could be black. The parents had twin daughters my age who looked every bit as white as mom and dad, while also being black. Now my own father was very light, but I still had difficulty accepting what my brown-skinned mother said, that the ever-so-white-looking George’s were in fact black. There is a big difference between light-skinned blacks and white-skinned blacks. In the end, my child’s-mind concluded that the George’s were black as it suited them, and/or others. On one hand, black people seemed a lot more social (read fun to a kid) than whites, but this did not change the preference.

Later on, when I was in college, one of the George daughters was in a spectacular downhill skiing accident and nearly died. The news coverage of the day never mentioned that she was black, although stories back then invariably spoke of race if the incident was extraordinary involving a black. In those days, before political correctness, race always mattered and media coverage reflected this. (What was a black person doing trying to ski in the first place!) The bottom line is that people often let others believe what they want, as long as it is to their advantage to do so.

The white-looking black woman Toure wrote about on Martha’s Vineyard certainly benefited from her fair features, whether she would admit it or not. Blacks that ‘pass for white’, by letting others believe their eyes, benefit the most. Studies (one here) show whites, and blacks, continue to favor light-skinned blacks. Toure’s MV subject certainly benefited socially from black acceptance, merited or not. What she or her sister did not count on was Toure’s negative implication that they might be having it both ways.

UP NEXT: My Black Cousin Passing As White

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: When Black People Pass As White, and Vice-Versa, Race, Skin-Color, Toure, Ethnic Identity, Acting White

Random Asian-ness: Sepak Takraw or Pele-ball

Holy cow! I had no idea what I would see here, but no way could I have envisioned such a game. The hand-eye coordination, speed, and acrobatics are amazing. Should definitely be an Olympic event (IMHO and LMAO). As for toughest sport? - hardly, but maybe the toughest coordination.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Random Asian-ness: Sepak Takraw Or Pele-ball, Kung Fu Volleyball, Hacky Sack, Bicycle Kick, Football, Acting White

Race Meets Intelligence To Tragic End On The Streets Of Chicago

When I saw this headline, "Man Murdered Because of Dripping Air Conditioner" (here), I instinctively considered that those involved, the dead man, his alleged killer, and the six witnesses, were black. Why is that? Is it because black people do, indeed, kill each other in high numbers for the most slight of offenses? Yes, but STOP, that's as far as we can go. The subject of black violence and what might be driving it is taboo, particularly because the measurable intelligence of the perpetrator Charles Sims, and his complaining sister, are drawn directly into question by their actions. We are not allowed to speak of race and intelligence in the same sentence, or risk banishment. But, I'll say it - just did.

African-Americans reflect a one standard deviation difference below the mean intelligence of the non-black population of the US. This is huge, and is/should be, logically, a 'factor-of-interest' for that which has the black population in check-mate, and everybody else blocking. To not consider it is irresponsible. I happen to believe, like U of Mich. Richard Nisbett (here), that intelligence is not as rigid as some people think, and we are ignoring the responsibility to challenge the black community to be 'smarter', in many ways. If black folks can get dumber, the trend that these stories support, then they can also get smarter. Not being able to talk about it for fear of a backlash is keeping everyone ignorant to solutions.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Race Meets Intelligence To Tragic End On The Streets Of Chicago, Charles Sims, Black-on-Black, Murder, IQ, Acting White

Yohann Gene: First Black In The Tour de France

"Yohann Gene of Guadeloupe has just become the first black cyclist in the Tour de France. The 30-year-old French professional road bicycle racer competes for the UCI Professional Continental team named Europcar.

Considered a role model for many bicycling athletes, Gene has been racing professionally since 2005. He became interested in bicycling at age 17 after moving to Europe. Upon his arrival, Gene entered a special high school course for athletically-gifted pupils..." Time Magazine

So, what's the big deal? Well, the big deal is simply that until whites, or blacks for that matter, see that the other is capable of competing in a particular activity, they have a nasty habit of subscribing all sorts of idiocy to the reason(s) why the activity is exclusive to a group. Too tall, too short, too big, too small, too much fast twitch, to much slow twitch, etc. It really comes down to who cares to devote themselves from an early age.

Notwithstanding all of this year's crashes, I love watching the TDF and cheering for whomever I like, regardless of nationality, or ethnicity. I cheered for that knucklehead Lance Armstrong, all those years, so you best believe I will be searching out Gene tonight on replay, as I catch today's race.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Yohann Gene: First Black In The Tour de France, Black Cycling, Racism, Lance Armstrong, Europcar France, Acting White

Some Parents Turn In Their Children After Riverwest Incidents

I am not sure what set these Milwaukee young people off on July 3, whereby they looted a BP gas station. I suspect they were simply acting up in a way they felt could not be challenged, but hopefully they are wrong. While police are using the video to investigate, some parents are ahead of the game in turning in their own children, similar to what happened in Vancouver a few weeks ago, when Boston defeated the Canucks in the Stanley Cup. No matter where disorder happens, policing (when it works) can only enforce a minimum standard of behavior, while good parenting leads. (video here).

James C. Collier

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White Oakland Driver Flirts With Getting Nigga’d

First of all, I never knew that the N-word (which I detest) could be a verb, but I have been told that somewhere in the Oakland slang dictionary you will find a definition that goes something like:
“NIGGA’D, verb (used with object) 1. to deprive of life in any manner, by an individual who is often black and self-described as a “nigga”; cause the death for reasons deemed senseless and grossly out of proportion to any alledged offense or threat”.

Anyhow, as I was exiting the freeway this morning, a black guy in a busted-ass vehicle cut-off an older white man in a late model Infiniti FX SUV. The old white dude took offense and tried to go around N-man on the exit ramp, who was not having any of the displeasure. Meanwhile, I’m getting ready to speed-dial the paramedics, because I’m thinking that this could go very wrong for them and me, as a bystanding driver in the firing line.

Then the mess got hotter. Old white guy pulls along side, rolls down the window, and starts jawing with challenged N-man. Neither moves against the green light. I wait, ready to hit the floor mats. Nothing. I slide past white man quickly and with a very low profile. N-man then proceeds through light, while old white man turns left behind me.

At the next light I wanted to ask the old white man what was wrong with him challenging a brother with such obvious “unresolved economic and social issues”. He could have gotten himself killed over some stupid nothing. Was it worth the risk? Hell no. Long ago, in Boston, I learned that regardless of race, unless someone actually hits your car, keep the F-moving.

I’m no fan of the N-word or its derivations and wish the word would go away, but this does not change the accuracy of the urban defintion, or the warning it represents. Remember, everyone does not place the same value on human life, yours or their own. Word to the wise. Keep moving.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: White Oakland Driver Flirts With Getting Nigga’d, Road-Rage, Killing, Violence, Acting Black, Acting White