I'm white but mixed English/Irish/Italian and I get SO tired of people asking about my ethnicity that I usually just say Italian. For some people even that
is hard to believe (some people think I'm Hispanic or Indian or even mixed black/white - I don't see it at all). I otherwise identify as Irish, but I
know that when someone asks about my background, they don't want to hear Irish. They're really asking 'why are you so dark skinned?' so I give
them the answer they're looking for. If I say I'm Irish and British (I have those two passports) they're all like 'but where are you REALLY
from?'' It gets old really fast. That could be the case with your cousin.
I have a cousin who is part black and she is ashamed that
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 EuroMAFan |
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Posts: 1855 (08/19/2008 10:48 AM) |
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forever121young |
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Posts: 8942 (08/19/2008 10:58 AM) |
Dylishis wrote: My parents used to make fun of me when I was younger and they'd sit around with their siblings and speak patois and I would have no idea what they were
saying. As I've gotten older, I definitely understand it more. I can't speak it but atleast I know when they're making fun of me |
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LauritaK |
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Posts: 48057 (08/19/2008 11:02 AM) Best Current Events
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Ugh, do not call that child exotic
When people ask (what I consider the rudest question in the world) what I am, I always say Black. |
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Capricorn1229 |
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Posts: 3124 (08/19/2008 11:03 AM) |
LauritaK wrote: Thank you for saying it.
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RockNRollApartment |
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Posts: 2410 (08/19/2008 11:05 AM) |
I don't get why mixed people just identify themselves as black. Like, you're just as white as you are black. (Well, people that are half and half)
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RockNRollApartment |
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Posts: 2412 (08/19/2008 11:07 AM) |
I guess. I've just always considered Barack mixed though.
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LauritaK |
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Posts: 48058 (08/19/2008 11:11 AM) Best Current Events
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I may be as white as I am Black, but I can't take advantage of the same privileges
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Hp GaL04 |
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Posts: 34705 (08/19/2008 11:23 AM) Most Dramatic '07 |
Dylishis wrote: I am Irish, German, French, Swiss, possibly Spanish (Spain), and we think my great grandma had some Native American in her. |
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debri |
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Posts: 2283 (08/19/2008 11:25 AM) |
I hope she know that "chocolate milk" can't be without the milk and vice versa.
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EuroMAFan |
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Posts: 1856 (08/19/2008 11:28 AM) |
A lot of people look at a darker skinned person and immediately consider them non-white, even if they are mixed. That's definitely the case here in
Ireland. If you're half black or a quarter black, you're black. There's a huge controversy in the press at the moment because people are claiming a
mixed race girl shouldn't enter the Rose of Tralee (Irish beauty type contest), even though her mother is Irish and she was born and brought up in Ireland.
Racism is alive and well!
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kellyilla |
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Posts: 18648 (08/19/2008 11:38 AM) |
WTF? But she's IRISH! She was born there so the dumbasses who's trying to not include her inthe contest need to fucking chill.
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IMissKD |
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Posts: 490 (08/19/2008 11:40 AM) |
I had a 30 some year old black man come up to me at a gas station last week. He started the conversation off about my shirt
 But his next question was
"So, what are you?" My answer is always Cuban. He said I only look part Hispanic, but I also look "white because of your skin and green eyes and
black because of my nose and hair". So I told him my mom was white but my dad's relatives came to Cuba from Africa.
I think sometimes it's just easier to say one thing and not have to explain everything that you are. Because I'm also part French, Slavic, maybe Russian and Haitian...and I don't want to have to explain that everytime someone asks me what I am. |
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orodwen |
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Posts: 18006 (08/19/2008 11:41 AM) |
Euromafan, I watched a documentary on Ireland (put together by an Irish production company) & it showed the history of the textile industry, fashion &
other things that were "Irish" overall. At one point they showed a woman wearing a quilted skirt & it was said that she & the skirt
epitomized Irish beauty. The woman looked very much like Sophia Loren. She had dark hair, olive skin & features a lot like Sophia's. I guess she was
what some have referred to as "Black Irish". Naturally going along with that phrase I assume that she had a bit of that old "Spanish
Invasion" blood in her, if that makes sense. Due to genetic testing of haplotypes, the history of people from Iberian Peninsula in Ireland is proving out.
That said, through the eyes of that documentary I saw that not all Irish people see deeper skin, hair & eyes as non-Irish or not beautiful.
Edited By: orodwen
08/19/2008 11:57 AM.
Edited 2 times.
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dlistedceleb |
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Posts: 16643 (08/19/2008 11:46 AM) |
I have a cousin who is mixed and she hates for people to know that she is part black, like to the point she tried to get me in trouble in high school cause I
told people we were cousins
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Capricorn1229 |
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Posts: 3137 (08/19/2008 11:48 AM) |
dlistedceleb wrote: I hope she looks like a white girl for all that. What I hate more than anything is a chick that clearly has some color that fakes. |
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orodwen |
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Posts: 18008 (08/19/2008 11:50 AM) |
I have a cousin who is mixed and she hates for people to know that she is part black, like to the point she tried to get me in trouble in high school cause I told people we were cousins That is such a curious mindset to read about. Sad.
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dlistedceleb |
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Posts: 16644 (08/19/2008 11:50 AM) |
Yes she told her mom I was turning people against her or some other dramatic shit. Nobody gave a fuck she was half black.
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EuroMAFan |
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Posts: 1858 (08/19/2008 11:52 AM) |
I think that Ireland has been so racially homogenous (or however you spell it
 ) for so long that a lot of people grew up thinking being pasty skinned and freckled was the norm and anyone else was 'coloured'. I'm
shocked at how many people of my age consider me non-white just because I have tanned skin and almond shaped eyes so it came as no shock that some people
weren't happy with a mixed race lady calling herself Irish. A lot of the time, the questions aren't malicious but it's still pretty rude and
eventually you start to feel like you don't belong. Even though there are people of all races and colours living in Ireland now, I think it's still
hard for anyone who isn't 'typically' Irish looking. I have an Irish accent and an Irish last name, FFS, and I still get the 101 questions! And
I've had some really bad experiences as well. It's really hard to be considered foreign in your own country. I don't expect anyone to get out their
violin for me but I wish it were different.
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dlistedceleb |
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Posts: 16645 (08/19/2008 11:58 AM) |
Capricorn1229 wrote: She looked mix to me (kinda like how Mariah Carey looks mixed) but a lot of people just thought she was white for whatever reason. I guess because she would
always tell people she was Germany or whatever her mom was. I think it had to do with her dad to be honest, she's not to fond of him.
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cupcake sundae |
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Posts: 212 (08/19/2008 12:05 PM) |
IMissKD wrote: I wish people weren't so ignorant. Cubans can be any shade from black to white and in between. Many people think that all Cubans are tan "Mexican" looking people. But, it's kind of like Americans, we are all shades and ethnicities but still 100% American. I guess the Irish need to start realizing that too, that your skin color doesn't make you any less Irish, we all came from somewhere. |
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