Thoughts on the term "biracial"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 100 years, there won't be such an emphasis on pigeon-holing people into races, for the very reasons described in this thread. And hopefully my daughter's grandchildren won't have to fill out all of the damn forms with "check the box to categorize yourself" that DH and I have had to do for her - I think she's listed as white some places, black others, "other" others, and "more than one race" on still others.

Yeah, that's not true at all. Human beings will always find away to categorize themselves. Race mixing is not a cure or a fix for racism or race itself. Racial categories will not end.

[Anonymous]

Do what my good friend does and call herself a hybrid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the term race. It's artificial and ultimately it's just false. I go with ethnicity or culture when describing my family or someone else's.

These are two different things. All people have both a race (externally defined by the society in which they live, regardless of how we feel about it or whether we embrace the definition positively) and an ethnicity. White people have a variety of ethnicities: German, Irish, Iranian, Russian, et cetera. Asian people are Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, et cetera. Black people have different ethnicities as well, but for black Americans the history of slavery (in contrast to immigration) has erased knowledge (for many families) of their national origins and African-American has (in some ways) become an ethnicity in itself. Culture is food, language, rituals of celebration, et cetera: culture plus national origin (usually) make up ethnicity.

As a PP stated, biracial is a definition that is externally imposed, at least in the US where the racial system is relatively rigid and we assume a single category as the norm. Many other countries (especially in South America or the Caribbean) have a racial category of "mixed" into which many people fall, and there is less individual focus on the particular mix of origins that a person might have. Whether or not a person embraces "mixed" or "biracial" as a part of their own cultural identity is up to them, just as the degree to which any other person embraces being German or Ghanian or Chinese as part of their identity.

Okay, taking off my sociologist hat now.

It's going to stay rigid as long as people hold onto the concept of race. Saying my husband is Iranian says a whole lot more about him and our household than saying he's white, which technically he is. I have a Chinese friend who would die if she were called Japanese. And most of my African friends don't want to be confused with African Americans. Describing someone by ethnicity is much easier, and more relevant. Otherwise, you are focusing on looks, and that's completely pointless, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do what my good friend does and call herself a hybrid!

That's pretty cool. Most of us are hybrids

[Anonymous]

Technically, I consider biracial to be two races. I think what people think of by "biracial" may depend on the group. For example, if someone was with other people that were Asian, and the child was a mix of white and Asian - it may stand out that the child is biracial. If the group was mostly white - they may just see the child as Asian. For my children, it depends on the situation. For official forms, I check biracial for the kids. I figure the forms are trying to determine things like educational outcomes, employment, poverty etc. or whatever is being officially measured by race. Since I don't know what role race plays in any of it - I figure biracial is the best category. More than anything I would love to know how they throw that into the mix in the measurements.

[Anonymous]

Biracial itself is not a race. It's simply an acknowledgment that the child's parents are of different races. To say someone is biracial without stating the different races is akin to say someone is religious without specifying the religion: it offers some information without giving the whole picture.

Ultimately, self-identification is the most important thing. While young parents generally identify on behalf of the child. As they grow older, they will choose themselves what labels they will apply to themselves. Will others still apply labels from the outside? Yes and it is an unfortunate reality that these will not always jive with the self-selection. Your children will eventually choose for themselves and that is what matters most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do what my good friend does and call herself a hybrid!

That's pretty cool. Most of us are hybrids

Don't forget, hybrid vigor is a good thing!

[Anonymous]

My DIL is Asian (Chinese descent, born in the USA); my son is - White? European? Aryan? Germano-Belgian-Polish-English-American? My grandchildren are . . . who cares?

[Anonymous]

My husband is from South Asia and I discovered early on that they call white people "Americans" - and then I asked around and realized immigrant families from other countries do this as well. Being the one they were calling "American" all of the time, I would giggle to myself and silently, jokingly say the pledge of allegiance in my head. It was so so so weird to me at first.

Not sure if that is why the OP referenced it, just sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do what my good friend does and call herself a hybrid!

That's pretty cool. Most of us are hybrids

Don't forget, hybrid vigor is a good thing!

Um, actually it is not especially good (or bad) and this myth is considered offensive to most people who are biracial. The idea that they are somehow a SUPER race, inheriting the "positive" qualities of each race without any of the "negatives" is not only bad science that implies a fundamental lack of understanding of the social constructs of race, but also implies that an individual is some sort of science experiment or otherwise is defined by the sum of his/her parts and is not a unique individual. I assume you didn't mean it in such a way, but I would caution you to be more thoughtful about how you talk about this, considering the risk of offense.

Interesting article here discusses this more: http://www.racialicious.com/2010/03/02/mixed-kids-are-not-prettier-blowing-up-hybrid-vigour/

[Anonymous]

What race are Brazillian people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What race are Brazillian people?

Most Brazilian people are either of Portuguese, West African or Amerindian descent. But there are significant populations of Japanese, other European, and Middle Eastern descent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Technically, I consider biracial to be two races. I think what people think of by "biracial" may depend on the group. For example, if someone was with other people that were Asian, and the child was a mix of white and Asian - it may stand out that the child is biracial. If the group was mostly white - they may just see the child as Asian. For my children, it depends on the situation. For official forms, I check biracial for the kids. I figure the forms are trying to determine things like educational outcomes, employment, poverty etc. or whatever is being officially measured by race. Since I don't know what role race plays in any of it - I figure biracial is the best category. More than anything I would love to know how they throw that into the mix in the measurements.

interesting. can you elaborate the reason?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What race are Brazillian people?

Brazilians, like the people of most South and Central American countries as well as the Caribbean Islands, have ancestries in Africa, Europe, and Amerindian. Many people are considered "Mestizo" which is a blend of European and Amerindian backgrounds. There are also recent immigrants from Asia, particularly Japan. Different countries have different racial classification systems (again demonstrating the way in which race is a social construct). This is often largely predicated more on phenotype then genotype, so two brothers could be considered different "races" if they have very different skin tones.

People often misunderstand Hispanic or Latin@ to be a race, though it is better described as an ethnicity as people of many different races will consider themselves to be Hispanic/Latin@. While often used interchangeably, Hispanic and Latin@ have nuanced differences, with Hispanic generally referring to people with a Spanish-speaking background (includes Spaniards but not Brazilians) while Latin@ from Latin America (includes Brazilians but not Spaniards). Nowadays, these formal definitions don't hold as much and people often self-identify with the term they feel most appropriate or opt not to use these narrow constructs.

[Anonymous]

I am half Asian and half white (the white is a mix of ethnicities). I consider myself biracial, but I usually just say that I'm half Filipino and half white when it comes up--I don't say "I'm biracial." I've never thought of biracial as being just black/white.

And to agree with a pp, I am NOT half Asian and half American. I am 100% American. I find it offensive (although understandable) when someone refers to my white half as "American." (As in, "Oh, your dad is Filipino and your mom is American?") No, both my parents are Americans, and Americans come in all races.