What does it mean to Be black as opposed to Identify as black?

[nels]

A Reflection

Paula Patton On Why She Doesn't Identify As Biracial

 

- Cane referenced a 2010 quote from the actress, "I find [the term] biracial offensive. It's a way for people to separate themselves from African Americans, a way of saying, 'I'm better than that.'” -

 

https://www.bet.com/article/xcvr36/paula-patton-identify-biracial-bet-series-sacrifice?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_6883298&xrs=bet_affiliate_zergnet_none_inbound_us

 

[Mzuri]

 

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10 minutes ago, nels said:

 

Cane referenced a 2010 quote from the actress, "I find [the term] biracial offensive. It's a way for people to separate themselves from African Americans, a way of saying, 'I'm better than that.'”

 

 

 

@nels

 

Your question is an unanswerable riddle.

 

You are either Black or you are not.

 

I think this Patton woman is as phony as they come.

 

She married a white man and bore him a blonde child that

appears to be totally white, but she wants everybody to 

know that she's really a Soul Sister when she is nothing

but a hypocrite.

 

Another one that I can't stand is Halle Berry. 

 

She also married white men and had their children. 

And now she insists that her quadroons are actually  

Black people.  

 

If she wanted Black children, shouldn't she have 

gotten herself impregnated by Black men.

 

Plus Halle has had all kinds of plastic surgery to 

remove any traces of her ethnic Negroid features

so why is she advocating for Blackness. 

 

And on top of that, she can't act her way out of

a paper bag but that's besides the point.

 

I'm so tired of these fake 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ProfD]

IMO, being black is a pre-existing condition with which one is born. There's no escaping it.

 

Identifying with being black is just another mental exercise non-white folks use to navigate the prison of white supremacy.

 

Rest assured, white folks are never confused when it comes to identifying non-white folks. 

[nels]

13 hours ago, Mzuri said:

You are either Black or you are not.

Interesting perspectives, indeed. Unfortunately, being 'black' in America (and elsewhere) has been defined by the 1/32nd (one-drop) rule (and by other methods, definitions and metrics) for many generations (https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/one-drop-rule-5365/). IMO and from life's experiences, being black or anything else in the most simplistic of terms, may be nothing more than a state of mind. What really matters is how you play the hand you are dealt with when you're lucky enough to have been born.

13 hours ago, Mzuri said:

Another one that I can't stand is Halle Berry. 

Even though Halle Berry is literally half black and half white, her apparent effort to un-black herself may actually have done her more harm, than good.

13 hours ago, Mzuri said:

 

I think this Patton woman is as phony as they come.

From my point of view and from what she literally said, Paula Patton seems to have gone out of her way to distance herself from half of her racial, ethnic and heritage identity (i.e., her white mother), in order to appease the race hustlers and make herself feel good. This is utter nonsense. You are what you are.

[Troy]

To identify as Black is to identify with the culture. this is the same as “being” Black.

 

The racial terms black and white are nonsense as there is no genetic basis for them.

 

This is obvious as so called white people pass for black and so called black people pass for white all the the time.

[Guest Dr Francis Cress Welsing]

You are black or you are not. The correct term people should use when they say they "identify as black" should be "identify as African American stereotypes" as thats what they are precisely talking about. There are all kinds of black people, Nigerian, Jamaican, Ghanian, etc yet when people say they "identify as Black" they are not speaking pidgin or patois or cooking their meals. So its more of an insult to AAs then anything.

[Delano]

8 hours ago, Troy said:

To identify as Black is to identify with the culture. this is the same as “being” Black.

 

[richardmurray]

@Mzuri I read your comment and I have a few questions, you didn't state what phenotypical or lineage racial category paula patton need to apply to, can you state which one? I know you said you are tired of her or halle berry and you described the way in which patton is not black in your view, so is paula patton: not black, white, biracial in your view? 

[Mzuri]

 

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3 hours ago, richardmurray said:

@Mzuri I read your comment and I have a few questions, you didn't state what phenotypical or lineage racial category paula patton need to apply to, can you state which one? I know you said you are tired of her or halle berry and you described the way in which patton is not black in your view, so is paula patton: not black, white, biracial in your view? 

 

 

 

@richardmurray

 

You must have done some serious reading between

the lines since I didn't say any of that.

 

Patton can identify herself however she wants but 

if she is biracial with a white mother and a Black 

father, she is mulatto.

 

And that is not my opinion, that is a fact.

 

Since you seem to have missed my point, I find it

insincere for a half Black woman to bear a child for

whitey, then profess her Blackness and that of her

offspring.  

 

If she's such a Soul Sister and down for the cause, 

she should have gestated a baby by a Black man

and contributed a majority Black person to the

population.

 

But that's just what I think about it.  In a free world,

people can get down with whoever they want.  

 

 

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[nels]

16 hours ago, Guest Dr Francis Cress Welsing said:

You are black or you are not. The correct term people should use when they say they "identify as black" should be "identify as African American stereotypes" as thats what they are precisely talking about. There are all kinds of black people, Nigerian, Jamaican, Ghanian, etc yet when people say they "identify as Black" they are not speaking pidgin or patois or cooking their meals. So its more of an insult to AAs then anything.

As a side note, having personally lived with (real) pure sub-Saharan black Africans before, they view the somewhat absconded term "African American" as pure nonsense. IMO, that's one of the problems of identity-driven societies.

7 hours ago, richardmurray said:

@Mzuri I read your comment and I have a few questions, you didn't state what phenotypical or lineage racial category paula patton need to apply to, can you state which one? I know you said you are tired of her or halle berry and you described the way in which patton is not black in your view, so is paula patton: not black, white, biracial in your view? 

Paula Patton is biracial, any way you cut it; she's neither black or white - she's a combination thereof.

18 hours ago, Troy said:

To identify as Black is to identify with the culture.

Very good point. Being black, white, etc. goes well beyond and much deeper than the physical characteristics that anyone possesses.

[nels]

On 1/10/2022 at 7:30 AM, ProfD said:

Rest assured, white folks are never confused when it comes to identifying non-white folks.

Remember, white folks don't occupy themselves with being white, but they do spend a lot of time staying white. I do not fault them for not having any control over who they are; instead, the issue is how they behave, which may be directly applicable to how the rest of us behave, as well.

[ProfD]

7 hours ago, nels said:

Remember, white folks don't occupy themselves with being white, but they do spend a lot of time staying white. 

Facts.

 

Being white is their pre-existing condition and the privileges that come with it. Whites do not have to navigate the obstacles of race as it relates to their progress and success in life.

 

Whites do not have to meet the same qualifications and standards they impose on non-whites when it comes to opportunities. 

 

White supremacy provides a power that allows whites to focus on everything else because their skin color is never a liability.  Being white is an asset. 

[richardmurray]

@Mzuri

I quote you

Quote

Another one that I can't stand is Halle Berry. 

I'm so tired of these fake 

Quote

She married a white man and bore him a blonde child that

appears to be totally white, but she wants everybody to 

know that she's really a Soul Sister when she is nothing

but a hypocrite.

I asked what label will you give paula patton, you in your reply to me you said biracial or mulatto. That was what my first question asked.  I didn't ask which is the right or wrong lable, I merely asked what you would label her, since you didn't in your original post.

 

THe two quote above is from your post. 

Now I Quote myself 

Quote

I know you said you are tired of her or halle berry and you described the way in which patton is not black in your view, so is paula patton: not black, white, biracial in your view? 

 

I think from your quotes, me using the word tired is appropriate. Me saying you described PAtton as not black is appropriate, nothing you didn't say, no mysitcal inferences between lines. 

 

I just asked two questions. I didn't read anything in between lines. Thank you for answering the two questions. 

 

 

@nels only one problem exists with your position. while you and others of a similar mindset are certain in your label to someone like paula patton, she is not in agreement to you.  THe way paula patton cuts it, your wrong. I am not suggesting who is right or wrong, but agreement has not been made and agreement is the key to positive discourse.

[nels]

1 hour ago, richardmurray said:

THe way paula patton cuts it, your wrong.

And yes, that's why people are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to make up their own set of facts. In my view, Paula will always be biracial.

6 hours ago, ProfD said:

pre-existing condition

I see a lot of whining in this fragment. A smart person would stop complaining about what they perceive as racial inequities and instead, do something to improve their potential success. As I've said and implied many times before, black America needs to stop blaming the rest of the world because they themselves were born black.

[richardmurray]

@nels history proves that human beings are entitled to make up their own set of facts. The usa is test case number 1, you may call them opinions nels but I have learned that when people see what they think is facts , it is very hard to get them to not see what they think is facts are not facts,. Maybe you have found it easy but I have not. 

[ProfD]

3 hours ago, nels said:

I see a lot of whining in this fragment. A smart person would stop complaining about what they perceive as racial inequities and instead, do something to improve their potential success. As I've said and implied many times before, black America needs to stop blaming the rest of the world because they themselves were born black.

@nels, no whining from this AfroAmerican man who has done very well for himself. However,  that will never preclude me from giving my opinions. I'm entitled to do so under the Victim Guaranteeed Qualification (VGQ) as codified by the honorable Neely Fuller Jr. 

[Mzuri]

 

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6 hours ago, nels said:

 

And yes, that's why people are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to make up their own set of facts. In my view, Paula will always be biracial.

 

 

 

@nels

 

Unfortunately, there are people who will try to make up

their own 'facts' to suit their narrative. 

 

They distort facts in the same way that they distort their

own racial identities.  

 

And because most Black people are very accepting, it is

easy for these types of manipulators to shape-shift into

Blackness.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, richardmurray said:

 

I have learned that when people see what they think is facts , it is very hard to get them to not see what they think is facts are not facts,. Maybe you have found it easy but I have not. 

 

 

 

@richardmurray

 

 

Facts are facts. 

 

It does not matter what anybody thinks about it.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, richardmurray said:

 

I didn't read anything in between lines.  

 

 

 

@richardmurray

 

You read between the lines because it seems you did 

not understand what I was attempting to convey.

 

 

 

 

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[nels]

6 hours ago, richardmurray said:

history proves that human beings are entitled to make up their own set of facts.

Let's qualify that - facts are indeed what happens at any given point in time. The distinction lies in whether or not those facts are 'made up' or 'real'.

[Mzuri]

 

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@nels

 

I have had some time to reflect on your original question, 

 

What does it mean to Be Black as opposed to Identify as Black?

 

And to keep my answer as simple as possible, I believe that 

 

Being Black is a condition

 

And Identifying as Black is a choice.

 

 

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[nels]

9 hours ago, Mzuri said:

Being Black is a condition

Yes and IMO, it could also be paired with the social designation of being 'black'. Perhaps being 'black' is simply a construct of the mind, as well.

[Cynique]

Because i was tired of it pissing me off, i divorced the black race last year after a life time of identifying as black My motivation was why should I continue to identify with the stupid things that black folks do. Now i simply am, what i am; which is first and foremost, old.  So far, nobody has challenged this.