How do you define what some one's race is when they're re of mixed heritage?

Question

If I had a dog and 7 of his 8 great-grandparents were poodles and he looked pretty much like a poodle, then why would I call him a collie if only 1/8 of his ancestors were collies?

But if a person is 7/8 white in America he is still termed 'black'. the same in Australia a person that is 7/8 Euopean origin and 1/8 Aboriginal is still Aboriginal.

Why is it so?

Can you explain this mystery to me?

Yeah, thanks Daisy, I don't disagree with that, but why?

DAR76: It would be nice if that was the case, but I dont think it is.

Sadie: Can you please make your user name a little less offensive especially if you expect anyone to answer your questions seriously. (And don't call me 'Mum ' again until you have *love* :-)

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Thanks for the answers guys, I thought that might have been the case in the USA where you have had slavery but it is the same in Australia too.

Is this the same with the Native Americans?

In Australia if you fill in a government form (for example to enroll your child at school) you have an option of ticking a box asking if you are Aboriginal or Torres Staright Islander does the USA or other countries ask a similar question regarding aboriginality or race?

Answer 1

This stems from an old ante bellum tradition designed to make sure the slave holders maintained ownership of slaves they or other white men fathered. My family kept records of slaves dating from the 1700s & 100% African was Negro, 1/2 was mulatto, 1/4 was quadroon, 1/8 was octaroon, 1/16 was fancy & 1/32 or less was called a mustee.
The mustee was often blonde & blue eyed, the fancy could easily pass for white & the octaroon could be mistaken for Spanish or Italian. The term "high toned woman" came from light skinned slave women that considered themselves better than their darker counterparts.
I use these old records to help African Americans trace their roots & pre emancipation origons. This of course is not something my family is proud of, it is simply history.
Edit:
Of course many slaves that could pass themselves off as white escaped or did so after they were freed... so no one knows how many KKK members or white supremists have black ancestors.
Yes to the school question, but since my son is multiracial... mother is native American, I check that recently added block.

Answer 2

In the United States it was due to the "one drop rule":" This definition reflects the long experience with slavery and later with Jim Crow segregation."
hytp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/mixed/onedrop.html

I'd refer you to Mark Twain and "Pudd'enhead Wilson."In it Twain explores the "Nature or Nurture" question and shows how, in the Ante-bellum South it was possible to have Black slaves that could be mistaken for whites. Roxy, a major character looked white but: "Because "the one-sixteenth of her which was black outvoted the other fifteen parts and made her a negro[,] she was a slave and salable as such". Her life as a slave condemns her son to a life of slavery as well since he is "thirty-one parts white," "

" In the South it became known as the "one-drop rule,'' meaning that a single drop of "black blood" makes a person a black. It is also known as the "one black ancestor rule," some courts have called it the "traceable amount rule," and anthropologists call it the "hypo-descent rule," meaning that racially mixed persons are assigned the status of the subordinate group. This definition emerged from the American South to become the nation's definition, generally accepted by whites and blacks. Blacks had no other choice
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/mixed/onedrop.html

Answer 3

Designating a person by race is a purely sociological function. Modern societies have yet to mature to the point where we can look at any person and just see just a human being who's skin color just happens to be lighter or darker than my own. Deeply entrenched bigotries are hard to get rid of.

Answer 4

In Hawaii they call it "hapa" which means half. Like I am half Irish and half Japanese. Or chopsuey which is like all mixed up (in a good way). There are people that are part-Filipino, part-Japanese, part-Portuguese, and maybe part-Hawaiian. It's so common here for people to be of mixed race. So what race would that person be from?
The human race.

Answer 5

We are just beginning to cross the threshold from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" to a society where race is as meaningless as hair color. For the time being, check the boxes you feel apply.

Answer 6

You don't. My friend is London born, of a Scots father, a Chinese mother who herself was born in Singapore, so what does that make my friend ? Dont know? it makes him a British Human being. People cannot be pigeonholed just because you want to tidy your files.

Answer 7

Yes, Good question.... Pertaining to dogs they would be considered (MUTTS)....

Not as with people.... The correct word is ( Multiracial)... Or what that person would like too be known as...

Have a good day !!!! Neita.

Answer 8

YOU don't. The individual defines oneself wihout base reference to heritage for an identity.

Answer 9

I don't have a clue what you're talking about but,
Wooo go you mum!
lol!
You is to genius for me, I hardly no what your talking about and i don't think do either sometimes. But you do today!
Thumbs Up(Y)

Answer 10

They celebrate and honor each nationality/heritage.