Do Not Challenge People on Their Racial Background

In case you missed it - do NOT ever, under any circumstances, challenge anyone here on their racial background and/or upbringing in a minority-based community.

I don't know what part of that a few of you don't get, but whether you use names or not, don't do it.
Because you see, this has been done to me and I know how it feels.  It's outrageous, rude and wrong.

Many of us are part POC.  Meaning, not bi-racial, but certainly not white especially if we were raised in a majority minority environment.

Another facet to this - family issues are complex and complicated and you know what? You are under NO obligation to explain to non-friends or outsiders how your family chose to be viewed OR how you choose to view yourself. If people choose to judge you, again, they are outrageous, rude and wrong.

This blog, unlike some Facebook pages, is not going to be a place where people are dissected by their race or ethnic background.

If you know for a fact that someone is claiming to be something they are not, you'd have to show me the proof before it would be printed here. 


Comments

information said…
Not challenging. Just facts.
Anonymous said…
Information, what do you consider “facts?” Identity can be a rather amorphous thing and ancestry and DNA are fickle, outright rejected by some communities. I think Melissa’s advice is sound!

Something Else
Anonymous said…
I think it was entirely appropriate to question Elizabeth Warren's ethnic claims.

I also think that if you are identifying as white and enjoying all of those benefits, it's okay to be called out if you suddenly profess to be POC.

Some people who have children with temporary disabilities, like correctable articulation or short term OT, have also claimed to understand what a parent of a child with lifetime disability experiences.

If the shoe fits...

Wear It
Anonymous said…
Facts??? Race is not based on facts, it's based on tradition, culture and a social point of view. From a biological point of view, race does not exist.

Humans are tribal and we have evolved to protect our "tribe" and hate the "other" and because we are basically lazy, we have used skin, hair, and eye color to help us determine our "tribe".

The fact that race does not exist is one of the reasons why many Native tribes do not accept DNA testing as proof of tribal membership. So anyone looking for facts when it comes to race, is just fooling themselves or just trying to be mean.
Anonymous said…
"I think it was entirely appropriate to question Elizabeth Warren's ethnic claims."

You and Trump it seems...
Anonymous said…
Wear It,

Race and ethnicity are different concepts, you’re muddling the conversation here...

Something Else
Anonymous said…
Actually, I am "muddling" nothing.

It's about people who use a marginalized and oppressed identity to seek some sort of street cred or esteem, when the can turn it on and off like a lightbulb.

Wear it
Anonymous said…
Wear It,

Elizabeth Warren checked a box on a form because her family told her she was Native American. Her bumbled approach to clear that up was a learning experience. Not everyone is born woke. More importantly is how she treats POCs and how her policies help or hurt them.

Sometimes the shoe
Don’t Fit
Anonymous said…
Let's not get distracted by your fandom. I might vote for Warren myself.

Here's the point (again): Don't pretend to be something other than white after spending years of benefiting from your whiteness.

Ibid
Wear It, I don't know if you are trying to point a finger at me. Being obtuse or coy when having a discussion isn't so helpful.

Anonymous said…
@Wear it, so are my mixed race children who are half white and half Japanese white or POC? If they have been not been raised with Japanese traditions and do not speak Japanese, does that make them lean white?

What if they look more white and feel like they are seen by others such as you as white? Then again, what if they have a Japanese name that will “give them away,” especially when they are older and other kids or adults recognize the name as Japanese?

What if they have siblings of the same racial mixture but who are visibly either less, or more, Japanese looking, who thus and may or may not enjoy some of the same superficial privileges of whiteness that society and outsiders such as yourself confer?

A person can be both white AND a person of color at the same time, and a mixed race person who identifies more closely as a white person can ALSO face tremendous discrimination for being a person of color. How one identifies can also change from day to day, from setting to setting. That’s not “turning it on and off like a lightbulb”—it’s reacting to the reality of your situation and the frequent racism around you.

Mix tape
Anonymous said…
@Ibid,

Here's the point (again): There’s often no pretending needed. Someone can easily be both white and something(s) other than white, and they may spending years of benefiting from their whiteness in some ways and being discriminated against for their non-whiteness in others.

They may even find their POC creds called into question by random blog posters who decide they likely benefit from their whiteness in some way, all while having no clue as to their lived realities.

Mix tape
Thank you Mix Tape. Good insights and this:

"all while having no clue as to their lived realities."

is spot on.

I'm now turning off comments because it appears that one person is using three different monikers and I don't have time for that kind of nonsense.

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