Why do people who are of mixed ethnicity only claim to be black?

Question

not once in my life have i seen someone who is mixed (black and white) ever claim to be white, especially on yahoo answers.

Answer 1

I'm half Asian and Half Black and I claim both. i don't think half black half white people only claim to be black. but society and their "one drop rule" makes them black no matter what. if they try and claim to be only white, no one would accept them. it's sad but that's just the way it is. I think it's best to always claim both or all your cultures.

Answer 2

Look at who America has considered black from the start. Do you think Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Diane Carol, Etta James, are 100% *****? No they are not, yet they are black people. "Blacks" would "pass" into white society as whites and if they were ever discovered they learned quick that they are not white. Black does not necessarily mean ***** it means that you are a member of a group that is comprised of many different types of people that have roots in slavery, who has and still to this day face a universal struggle that others outside of that group may not understand.

Answer 3

Because if you are mixed, and look black you live the BLACK experience, and you're described as "black." IE: A police officer sees a mixed person running from the scene of a crime, they will describe him/her as "Black male/female, 6'1, 225" not as a white male or female. That's just reality.
People I know who are mixed ethnicity claim both when asked, however.

Answer 4

how can they claim to be white, unless they are all white??


i guess they choose black, because it is apparent that they have some black blood(heritage) in them by their appearance.

Me, personally, I am all mixed-up, so as to say. I tell people LITERALLY what I am mixed with; because ,if they knew what I was, they would NOT ASK!

Answer 5

I'm Black , Native American and Irish. I never claim to be all Black or all White.Mixed or Biracial only.

Some people claim to be all black because they are generally more accepted by blacks then other races.

Answer 6

Tiger Woods? He said he's not black. Not all mixed people claim 2 b black.

Answer 7

I think that north American Anglo society doesn't accept the concept of mixed black and white.For Anglo-American there is a Binary rule, either you black or white but you cannot be both.

They later add all Spanish speaking to a third race because they couldn't fit them either black or white.

Now if your dad is white and your mom is black, whites will consider you black or foreigner but blacks will mostly accept you.

Some blacks man don't like light skin mulatto guy because they see them as a treat but they usually date light skin mulatta which they prefer to black girl.

In latin society like French, Spanish,Portugal, italian they usualy accept the mulatto as white if he speak same language.

Portugal tried to assimilate African in Brazil by having Portuguese man marrying Black women.The French did the same thing in Martinique and started doing the same in Haiti before the revolution.Of course Spanish did the same in Cuba, puerto rico.

A light skin African American with non woolly hair is a white man in Brazil while a mulatto Brazilians in united-states is not a black man.

Your race is determine by the society you are placed just like rainbow color is determine by the reflection of Sun light to your eyes iris.

Its a psycho logic thing in place.Ancient Roman didn't have calcification for race. You were eather slave or citizen independently of your race or color.

Answer 8

Maybe the ones that do that look more black than white. Does it really matter though?

Answer 9

It is rare to find a black person in America who doesn't have another race in them. Blame the world for forcing people into catagories in race. I have black white and indian ancestry but I am considered black by standards. Why does it matter to you anyway? It is no one's business but that person who chooses it.

Answer 10

My biracial children mark the boxes for white, black, or other. They identify themselves as biracial to others and appreciate their mixed heritage.