Okay, I'm like 33 1/3% combined Cherokee, Tuscarora, and Navajo descent. So because I am a Black Indian, I mark 'black and 'native american' on applications or whatever. Why is it that so many of my black native friends and family would just put native american and not black? WTF is this? I mean, they'll tell you in a heartbeat what tribe they are from, but they won't own up to their black blood?
2007-09-17 12:39:59 · 20 answers · asked by L. Ellington (RIP MJ) 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
If one more person comments on my ethnicity....I swear. Answer the bloody question! Don't worry about me, I'm asking your opinions on them! Don't leave an ignorant response if you're not going to answer the question in a dignified intellectual manner!!!!
2007-09-17 13:15:55 · update #1
I really couldn't answer why so many of your friends would just acknowledge their Native side. Maybe it's a fear that they may be looked upon differently?! Maybe they feel that they are more Native than anything else?! I, personally, mark both on any form I fill out. I think if more would acknowledge their Black side, they would feel better about themselves. They should be proud of who they are, regardless of what others may say.
And my blood degree of Chippewa (or Ojibwe) is 13/16. (I don't know what my mother's mom was. She was raised in an orphanage since she was a baby.) I want someone to tell ME that I can't come up with THAT kind of number! Before anyone starts going off about numbers... they should REALLY keep their mouths shut and actually KNOW what the h*ll they're talking about. Don't pay any attention to what some people say about your degree of Indian blood, they haven't a d*mn clue.
ADD: I also would like to say that some people will never cease to amaze me the way they will ALWAYS deny the other ethnicities of a person if you are half or part Black. They will ALWAYS say, "You're Black! That's it!" Get over it! Why hate on a person and say things like that for? So basically what those few are saying is that you were only conceived by one parent? WRONG! I could go on and on, but I won't. Ignorance is bliss.
2007-09-17 22:19:15 · answer #1 · answered by MARI 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When you mark more than one ethnicity on a form, any form, that form goes to a person who enters the information into a computer. Typically, the computer will only allow one response. The data person then is given the challenge/choice of selecting an ethnicity for you since it is a required data field. This is not my opinion, it is just the rules.
In regards to people of mixed ancestry, yes, they can choose to mark any, all, or none of the boxes. (See the first paragraph to find out what happens next.) There are really no legal guidelines defining what "White," "Black," etc. is. However, there is a legal definition of an American Indian: One must be an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe. When people mark the Native American box, they are really saying, "I am an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe." Your friends, no matter what their mixture, may just be asserting their legal right to claim Native American status.
As far as not claiming their black heritage on paper, it's just paper. Do they claim both as part of their identity that is not on paper?
My niece is an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe through her mother, my sister. Her father is black and is not a part of her life except for a rare phone call or letter. She lives on our reservation among our people. She speaks our language and dances our traditional dances. She goes to ceremony. She knows very little about black people, except what she sees on television. Her experiences with black people, including her fathers family, are extremely limited. When she marks the box, she marks Native American. It is who she is. She's not ashamed of her black heritage, it just does not play into her consciousness. Consciously, as she lives and breathes, she's Native American. Maybe your friends are like her.
2007-09-18 04:19:33 · answer #2 · answered by Brings Light 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess *I* have to wonder why it is that you care? If it makes them feel better to say Native American, then that's what they should say; if it makes you feel better to put both, then that's what you should do. Everybody needs something different, and to judge them for that without knowing their reasons is pretty harsh.
And by the way - there's no such thing as 1/3 Indian (or anything else); the bottom number has to be a power of 2.
2007-09-17 12:46:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Its obtainable because Mexico did have African slaves and that they intermixed with them. So technically you have black ancestry, fb quizzes will do no solid because they do no longer comprehend a thank you to do genetic examine. Lips...will many races have comprehensive lips Koreans, Africans, Italians and sickle cellular would be every person. the significant element is which you will have some African ancestry!
2016-10-04 22:07:12 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, historically, any admitted percentage of "Black" blood made you Black and you had to sit in the back of the bus over the engine and drink from separate water fountains. Good enough reason to skip mentioning it.
Actually, unless you are trying to follow the Traditions of 3 different tribes, what "blood" you have has no relevance to your life except for the diseases you are prone to if they are carried genetically.
2007-09-17 12:46:55 · answer #5 · answered by Mike1942f 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
How on earth did you manage 33 & 1/3 percent....
While it may be a sad truth about some people, this sounds a bit critical coming from someone who counts that percent down to some exact little fractioned percent.
2007-09-17 15:26:12 · answer #6 · answered by Indigo 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
because they have felt ashamed to be black by all the put downs they probably have faced from people of other races telling them that black is not good and it is not something to be proud of. such a shame because its 2007 and we are still dealing with the same dumb shyt!
2007-09-17 12:54:47 · answer #7 · answered by So Confused 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
because blacks are hated the most, people just don't wanna own who they really are for fear of being stereotyped as usual.
If I were light enough to pass for white, I would definately use it to my advantage. Whites do not go through a tenth of what we as Black Americans go through. Period.
2007-09-17 13:43:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Shame? or they feel they will get better treatment by just being native. Have you asked them why they do it?
2007-09-17 12:45:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
maybe because being native american is less common, and more interesting in a conversation, im not trying to be racist
2007-09-17 12:46:39 · answer #10 · answered by Sccerguy94 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋