A subject that I have not heard/seen discussed which I find of interest-how many "white" people

[cornball 24]

have fairly recent ancestors of color? I do. My paternal great-grandmother was African American and I am so very proud to be the great granddaughter of this magnificent woman who raised my Grandfather and Great Aunt. They were people of tremendous integrity and wisdom who spent their entire lives helping others. Sadly, there are people who would deny. Racism is beyond evil!

[City67]

1. Not sure if this is what you mean

But one of my grand daughters is half black.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. There are a lot of Mexican-Americans in Texas and other states that

consider themselves to be “white,” regardless of their darker skin and thick, black hair. Many have joined their state’ Republican Party.

Now whether their dear friends and supportive, trustworthy Causcasian allies (OK, folks, you can stop laughing now) consider them to be white folks is another matter altogether.

[mopinko]

3. i'm sure a few hours of digging through 'finding your roots'

would turn up a lootttt of examples. i've only watched it a few times. caught one of rosanne cash and another country star, ron wood? i think.

both had recent african ancestors. in cash's case, it had been a scandal that he mom was mixed, which turned out to be true.
in the guys case, his great grandfather had owned his great grandmother. they had a bunch of kids, and the old man freed them, but not mom. he had no idea.

gates asked them how they felt about it. i got the feeling he's asked that question many times.

[Caliman73]

4. I think we would need to have a consistent definition of what "White" is first.

In Census and other governmental forms, I am considered "White". I am not White, have never felt or been treated as White in my life. I am a relatively light skinned Latino. I tan, relatively easily so I can go "Brown" fairly quickly, but people have said accurately, that I look Mexican and inaccurately, that I look Italian. Honestly, through family history, my dad's side of the family had some roots in Italy, then Spain, then mixed with indigenous people in Mexico. My mom's side of the family has some roots in France and then again to Mexico where the generations of my extended families on both sides were from the Conquista to present day.

I am not White but the government form doesn't give me any other option on my "race".

Also, remember that President Obama is at least half "White". His mother and both grandparents were White. Is president Obama a White man?


The problem with "White" is that it does not really define anything at all in a positive way. It (in my opinion) is exclusively an exclusionary label created for the purpose of establishing a hierarchy of the value of people, with "White" being at the top.

[cornball 24]

5. Your last paragraph nailed it! Thank you.

[Hortensis]

8. :) The most powerful group is always at the top, and it's

usually the most numerous. The ethnic/religious/racial group changes from country to country. In it's white and Christian, and whites are still 3/4 of all Americans. Although it should be noted that we've managed a great acceleration of assimilation and social mobility in the last century that will continue.

Certainly agree there's no consistent definition of who's "white" and who is not, a "problem" for answering this question perhaps but a good in every other way?

Our grandchildren's other grandmother is similar in physical characteristics to President Obama, but where he's always been identified as ("is" ) black, she's been identified as ("is" ) white; she's a member of the DAR and lives in the Deep South as a member of her community's white upper class.

Noting that the question is not how many Americans have recent ancestors who are a different race, but maybe it should be. Seems to me it would apply to her as asked because she identifies white but not to you, as asked, because you don't. And that doesn't make good sense to me.

[MyMission]

6. Some of my best friends are (fill in the blank)

Or "we have (fill in the blank) family members."

Living in the south I see mixed families, mostly old white couples with mixed race grandkids.

Their grandkids are "half white" while mixed offspring of others are "half black"

They believe their white blood has a good influence when it's theirs.
When it's someone else's white blood they still see and judge black, or Hispanic, etc.
If they've got mixed blood they don't acknowledge or admit it unless they see it as helpful to explain why they "can't be" racist.

[maxsolomon]

7. This used to be a much bigger thing 40, 50 years ago.

All sorts of offensive terminology no one uses much now: "Multatto", "Quadroon", "Octoroon", "Half-breed".

Remember when Sen. Warren's claim to have Native American ancestry was mocked by Trump relentlessly, called her "Pocahontas" (a racialized slur), bet her a million dollars over it, then welched on the bet when her DNA test came back showing Cherokee ancestry? Then everyone just forgot about it?

That was probably when America stopped caring about miscegenation and "mixed" blood.

[inthewind21]

9. It's out there

You just have to look. like this

https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/434900/white-supremacists-not-happy-when-dna-tests-reveal-non-white-ancestry

[cornball 24]

11. Thank you for sharing. I read the article. The video of Cobb is priceless!

[kentuck]

10. I think every person and every race adds value to America...

If not for African-Americans, America would not have the soul that we have.

If not for Caucasian-Americans, America would not have the brains that we have.

If not for Hispanic-Americans, America would not have the love that we have.

Every race has something that is indispensable, in my opinion.

The only problem is that we do not appreciate what we have together.

This is just my opinion.