What dictates race?
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LUClEN
Members Posts: 20,559 ✭✭✭✭✭
As of late I have no clue where I am racially. Pops is French, moms is from DR. I look like some kind of Spanish, but i'm an off-white colour. How exactly does someone like myself get classified?
I don't consider myself black, for the obvious fact that I know the police don't treat me the way they would treat someone darker. But am I white? Whites often consider me to be 'other'.
Some theorists say race is a combination of what you identify as and what society labels you. Others lean in directions of either the former or the latter being the key determinant.
What's your take on this? What determines someone's race?
I don't consider myself black, for the obvious fact that I know the police don't treat me the way they would treat someone darker. But am I white? Whites often consider me to be 'other'.
Some theorists say race is a combination of what you identify as and what society labels you. Others lean in directions of either the former or the latter being the key determinant.
What's your take on this? What determines someone's race?
Comments
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My take......cultural identification and the race of the parents.....
I thought you were African American though, you said that in another thread -
kingblaze84 wrote: »My take......cultural identification and the race of the parents.....
I thought you were African American though, you said that in another thread
Kendrick Quote
done for irony
I'm half dominican half french -
I knew this lying son of a ? was not black. Now if all the other imposters would just admit it things would be clearly around here.
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I knew this lying son of a ? was not black. Now if all the other imposters would just admit it things would be clearly around here.
I've posted pictures before
it should have been known im mixed -
You just answered your own question.
You consider yourself mixed and you look mixed. -
OP, virtually every possible answer you (or anyone else) can think of it is fundamentally subjective.
Obviously you know this since you've implied this fact, in the very same post you used to ask your question.
Moreover, the word 'race' in the context you've used isn't the objective biological definition, but the subjective social concept. Biologically speaking, human morphological variation and our phenotypic expressions have no taxonomic significance.
So, what dictates 'race' to you, may differ from what dictates 'race' to me.
Speaking of human morphological variation...
some people subscribe to the school of thought that the external morphology differences among humans (and other phenotypical traits) are what 'race' encompasses and some subscribe to the school of thought that upholds an ethno-linguistic perspective when categorizing the human population. Both are fundamentally arbitrary and complex, as well contain an irrepressible amount of gray area.
For example classifying genetically mixed people or people with parents from two completely different ethnicities/cultures. Or better yet, due to human genetic variation essentially every human on earth has an admixture that can be presented by genetic clustering data, so what % of admixture must one have to garner the "mixed" label you've used on yourself? Any, answer you can think of is arbitrary. Obviously, there are many other examples that point to the incoherent and counter-intuitive nature of racial classification (and the self-identification it begets) but I digress.
This is a fascinating topic though, because contrary to the opinion of many, classifying humans via our obvious differences, is useful (e.g., for medical research and the field of forensic anthropology) despite its sinister origin and the fact that it's still a vehicle for sinister agendas. -
Depends on the situation for the most part:
1. Society - you may not even have a say and depending on where you are or who you are around you can be labelled differently
2. Yourself - what you identify with is very important and even this is subjective (within yourself). At times you may feel closer to one race than another and there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with being closely related to all of which you are made up of. Unfortunately though, as I am sure you are aware, this doesn't really alter how society will view you at times.
This is from a sociological point of view...somebody else can handle the biological concepts. -
kingblaze84 wrote: »My take......cultural identification and the race of the parents.....
I thought you were African American though, you said that in another thread
Kendrick Quote
done for irony
I'm half dominican half french
Dominicans are often mixed, does your mom look like a standard Hispanic? I wouldn't even know what race you are lol. Both my parents are Black so I know where I am, but you, you're definitely in the other category. -
If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is black and I'm considered black...see how easy that was? -
The Iconoclast wrote: »OP, virtually every possible answer you (or anyone else) can think of it is fundamentally subjective.
Obviously you know this since you've implied this fact, in the very same post you used to ask your question.
Moreover, the word 'race' in the context you've used isn't the objective biological definition, but the subjective social concept. Biologically speaking, human morphological variation and our phenotypic expressions have no taxonomic significance.
So, what dictates 'race' to you, may differ from what dictates 'race' to me.
Speaking of human morphological variation...
some people subscribe to the school of thought that the external morphology differences among humans (and other phenotypical traits) are what 'race' encompasses and some subscribe to the school of thought that upholds an ethno-linguistic perspective when categorizing the human population. Both are fundamentally arbitrary and complex, as well contain an irrepressible amount of gray area.
For example classifying genetically mixed people or people with parents from two completely different ethnicities/cultures. Or better yet, due to human genetic variation essentially every human on earth has an admixture that can be presented by genetic clustering data, so what % of admixture must one have to garner the "mixed" label you've used on yourself? Any, answer you can think of is arbitrary. Obviously, there are many other examples that point to the incoherent and counter-intuitive nature of racial classification (and the self-identification it begets) but I digress.
This is a fascinating topic though, because contrary to the opinion of many, classifying humans via our obvious differences, is useful (e.g., for medical research and the field of forensic anthropology) despite its sinister origin and the fact that it's still a vehicle for sinister agendas.
Stop using them big words ? . -
soulbrother wrote: »If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is back and I'm considered black...see how easy that was?
Doesn't the mom get a vote though? -
Society
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france and dominican republic are countries not races
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france and dominican republic are countries not races
With white and black populations. Not to mention the amerindian heritage of dr -
cannonspike1994 wrote: »Society
Depends on the society though and where they are. For example, a really light skin Black guy in America wouldn't be considered Black in many parts of Africa. He or she might even get called White there.
But in America, someone who has just 25% of Black blood might be considered Black by Whites, and even some Blacks.
Funny statistic: only 55% of African Americans consider Obama a Black man lol. Multiple surveys have shown this too.
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kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is back and I'm considered black...see how easy that was?
Doesn't the mom get a vote though?
NO! -
why do we confused nationality with "race"?
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soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is back and I'm considered black...see how easy that was?
Doesn't the mom get a vote though?
NO!
???
Kids get 50% of each parents' genes don't they -
kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is back and I'm considered black...see how easy that was?
Doesn't the mom get a vote though?
NO!
???
Kids get 50% of each parents' genes don't they
Not sure...I cheated through science classes...that was my worst subject -
soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is back and I'm considered black...see how easy that was?
Doesn't the mom get a vote though?
NO!
???
Kids get 50% of each parents' genes don't they
Not sure...I cheated through science classes...that was my worst subject
Lol well at least you're being honest about it....I'm like 93% certain kids get 50% of each parents' genes, I'm too lazy to look it up now -
You can be genetically closer to one parent than the other even though you get 50/50 dna from each.kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is back and I'm considered black...see how easy that was?
Doesn't the mom get a vote though?
NO!
???
Kids get 50% of each parents' genes don't they
Not sure...I cheated through science classes...that was my worst subject
Lol well at least you're being honest about it....I'm like 93% certain kids get 50% of each parents' genes, I'm too lazy to look it up now
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BiblicalAtheist wrote: »
You can be genetically closer to one parent than the other even though you get 50/50 dna from each.kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »kingblaze84 wrote: »soulbrother wrote: »If your daddy is French then you're French...not hard to figure out.
My daddy is back and I'm considered black...see how easy that was?
Doesn't the mom get a vote though?
NO!
???
Kids get 50% of each parents' genes don't they
Not sure...I cheated through science classes...that was my worst subject
Lol well at least you're being honest about it....I'm like 93% certain kids get 50% of each parents' genes, I'm too lazy to look it up now
Due to the role of dominant / recessive genes
I can't recall what the specific term for it is, but I know some traits are often expressed as a median between parents. If one parent has light hair and the other has dark hair it is common for kids to have a hair color in between the two. -
Society dictates race. Some societies don't have a race problem but an ethnic, cultural or religious problem. In societies where there is much diversity you will see categorization by race.
Looking at your description I'd say you are racially mixed, I say this because of your Dominican lineage. They are a society that doesn't see itself as Black even though most, if not all of them would be considered Black by others. -
TS is a ? !
U r welcome. -
Society dictates race. Some societies don't have a race problem but an ethnic, cultural or religious problem. In societies where there is much diversity you will see categorization by race.
Looking at your description I'd say you are racially mixed, I say this because of your Dominican lineage. They are a society that doesn't see itself as Black even though most, if not all of them would be considered Black by others.
Most Dominicans don't look Black though.....most look tan like J-Lo or A-Rod
