[QUOTE=DMark]
Questions like this are sometimes valid - for instance, if Obama runs for President (which I hope he will) it would be interesting to get some input on what black Dopers think, or have heard, regarding the issue or non-issue of him being black.
[/QUOTE]
I actually asked a similar question in a GD Thread a few days ago based on an article I saw suggesting that Obama’s Presidential run might be a difficult to sell to blacks (or at least to some of the old-line civil rights establishment).
“Light, bright, damn near white.” Black mom & white dad.
I was raised by the maternal side of my family (never known father, and no real desire too meet him) and have never felt mixed unless somebody was making some reference to my skin color. Did you grow up with both cultures?
[QUOTE=pretend my name is witty]
I’m white, but nothing compared to the pastiness you can see in some parts of Glasgow. During the summer, when some locals show off their bodies in the park, I swear some actually give off light.
I live on White Street…does that make me any whiter? There are two black people living on this road, too (possibly ~2% of Glasgow’s black population, judging by my observations), and they think it’s brilliant.
[/QUOTE]
Hey, in that case, you will not be enormously far from Blackie Street, should you ever need a change of place, (not that I can recall anything of interest there except a very good violin repair shop).
btw if you you add in a lot of postgrad students from various African countries, plus quite a number of unfortunate asylum seekers, there are more than your approximated 100 black people around, in my bit of the city anyway, but I’m of the white though not enough to give out light colour. Wouldn’t that be a nifty trick, though, to give out light? Plus very handy for possible power cuts.
[QUOTE=Solitary Ascidian]
Apologies for utterly hijacking this thread but this question has been bugging me for a while.
I live in an area with a large Somali immigrant population, and since we’ve an excellent refugee network we’re now starting ot receive Sudanese. I’ve never personally seen or heard any conflicts but I’ve read elsewhere that these new African immigrants are kind of cranking off native born African Americans - something along the lines of our war trumps their war and the Somalis and Sudanese haven’t Struggled enough. Any of y’all want to give a little insight? Or shall I just go away quietly?
[/QUOTE]
Dunno about your place, but I had a Nigerian friend who went to visit London, went out in Brixton etc and met something of the same sort of attitude from the London (often ex-Caribbean) black people he met. He was pretty much flummoxed by that, I think. I don’t know if that is widespread of it was just his bad luck.
[QUOTE=Nava]
Only because this is an US-based board and your foreign guests are being polite to their hosts. Almost 6 billion people think it’s silly to refer to oneself by two nationalities unless one really has both passports.
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[hijack]
I know you’ve lived in the US, so I find it strange that you can’t understand that in an immigrant culture, it’s generally accepted that one’s ancestry can have an effect on one’s personality. If I say that I’m an Irish-American (which I am, half, anway), I’m not saying that I’m Irish, I’m using a shorthand description of my family’s background.
IME, Americans have a different conception of what “nationality” means from most Europeans, at least. Here in BG, there are Bulgarians, Turks, and Roma. It is very strange to me that my Turkish students - who were born in Bulgaria and are Bulgarian citizens - call themselves Turkish (in Bulgarian!). To my mind, they would be better described at Turkish-Bulgarians, because it takes into account that they have a different cultural background than the majority population, but makes it clear that they are Bulgarian citizens. That’s just an example. IMO, it’s possible that we’ll start to see more of these hyphenations in Europe with increased immigration. Or maybe it’s so foreign to European ideas of nationality that it won’t happen. But either way, is it not so hard to see that in a country where virtually everyone is an immigrant or the descendent of immigrants, that it’s sometimes useful to define where your ancestors are from?
[/hijack]
Sorry about that.
Um…not black. These “why does it matter!!!” comments kind of make me roll my eyes. Yes, we all know it’s wrong to judge on the color of someone’s skin, but when we’re talking about racial issues, it can important to know where someone’s coming from. If I start a “Who’s a Jew?” thread, will you come in and tell me that it doesn’t matter, you love us freaky Jews just the way we are? Geez.
[QUOTE=Celyn]
Hey, in that case, you will not be enormously far from Blackie Street, should you ever need a change of place, (not that I can recall anything of interest there except a very good violin repair shop).
btw if you you add in a lot of postgrad students from various African countries, plus quite a number of unfortunate asylum seekers, there are more than your approximated 100 black people around, in my bit of the city anyway, but I’m of the white though not enough to give out light colour. Wouldn’t that be a nifty trick, though, to give out light? Plus very handy for possible power cuts.
[/QUOTE]
Maybe my estimate is a little on the low side, I can’t claim I’ve done the necessary research, really!
It’s just really noticable for me when I go to other big cities to visit friends. I’m originally from a town near Bristol, and when I go back or to Birmingham or London, I realise the level of ethnic diversity that there isn’t in my part of Glasgow.
I know Blackie Street, or know roughly where it is. Is it around the back of the Goat? I went to a party there recently, and I used to live at the bottom of Kelvinhaugh Street.
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
Not me. If I was any whiter I’d be a Canadian.
[/QUOTE]
Hah! I’m a nerd, work indoors and I’m Norwegian! I hardly believe it possible to be whiter.
(Though, actually, I went out, once. In 1960 . . . for twen–*choking noises’)
[QUOTE=Asimovian]
Were you Worf or La Forge?
[/QUOTE]
I was Worf before Worf was cool. I had a friend make me a Classic Klingon outfit back in the early '80s and wore it to conventions in Atlanta. I still wear the goatee I grew for the role.
I don’t think it’s possible to be any whiter than I am, except that my last name is Gonzales.
No, I’m not Spanish. Nor am I Hispanic in any way, shape, or form. It’s a very, very long story. But the point is, I there is not a trace of anything from the Ethinic Foods section of the grocery store in me. I am white white WHITE. I can’t even tan. It’s awsome. If it weren’t from my straight-outta-Compton ghetto booty (which the Hispanics out here LOVE), I’d be the whitest bitch on the planet. I can’t jump, I can’t dance, and I can’t belt out soul. I am not jive with the funk.
Basically, Africa is the ONE continent my ancestry does not represent (except, perhaps, Antarctica - but I cannot confirm that because some of my ancestors had some weird predelictions. I may be part Penguin).
White guy checking in. Slight hijack: My fiancee is Native American…a mix of Cherokee, Seminole and Sac & Fox…other than her beautiful “Native” eyes and high cheekbones she’s whiter than me.
[QUOTE=tashabot]
I am white white WHITE. I can’t even tan. It’s awsome. If it weren’t from my straight-outta-Compton ghetto booty (which the Hispanics out here LOVE), I’d be the whitest bitch on the planet. ~Tasha
[/QUOTE]
We’re gonna need to see some evidence for that claim.
(not that I can recall anything of interest there except a very good violin repair shop).