Bill Maher is really turning into a vile racist

[Scootaloo]

79. No, the individual determines their race

That the cop saw "black" and believed that justification to murder a young man does not change this fact (and why are you using a murderous cop as a pillar for your argument, anyway?)

You touch on another reality of race as a social construct. A real quick example - President Barack Obama. In the United States, he's "black". His mother was a white woman, of course, but that's no matter, to America, he's every bit as black as his father, an immigrant form Kenya. These two men also happen to be 100% as black as Vin Diesel and Lisa Bonet, according to the American perception of race.

of course in Brazil, Vin Diesel, Ann Dunham, and Lisa Bonet are brancos, Barack Obama Sr. would have been preto, and Barack Obama jr would be pardo.

If this is sounding silly, just wait, because in Kenya, not only would everyone except father and sons Obama be regarded as white, but that neither of those men would be regarded as 'black" - they would be regarded as Luo.

Travel south a bit, to South Africa, and Ann Dunham is White, Vin Diesel, Lisa Bonet, and Barack Obama jr. are "Colored" and Barack Obama Sr. is "black."

Go to Japan, and you've got five people who are just "not Japanese."

Now, back to the cop you're using as a shim for your wobbly argument. Do you think he would gun down someone who looked like Lisa Bonet? Probably not, right? Well... why not?

She's as much a black person as the guy officer Fuckwit filled full of hot lead, isn't she? Are you going to tell her she's not? Is she simply "less of a black person" according to you, or is she not even a black person at all? it's how she identifies, at least last I knew, are you going to tell her she's wrong? What about other black people with fair skin, are they going to have to write you for your permission to call themselves black? What if instead they want to call themselves white, will they need your permission for that, too?

Awkward! Not "black enough" to get shot by the pillar of MADem's argument, but also not "white enough" that he'd let them call themselves white!

Which brings us back to what I've been telling you.

It's not up to you to determine what someone is or is not for them.