Eritreladiee
New Member
Very little of what we're talking about has to do w/ genetics, per se, but social contructs which assign certain traits (phenotypes) to certain groups based on "the eyeball test". Nothing is really more inaccurate than this in terms of science, but here we're talking social mores. IOW, someone who has "Andre type 1 hair" can't be Black because society says they MUST BE mixed. Frankly that's illogical given the genetic diversity of humans, but people ain't logical! Much of this is tied up in the venal "one drop rule" which seeks a simple answer to a complex question.
At the end of the day, we simply don't know what soemone's racial make up is by looking at external traits. This is why if someone says they're "Black" I accept it (same for other categories) because these things are more about culture, experiences, and ethnicity than genetic make up.
I just find it funny that some folks say "I'm mixed" and people get mad and say "You're Black and you just don't wanna be" then other people will say "I'm NOT mixed...I'm Black" and they get argued down citing "atypical" phentotypical traits (see Type 1-2 hair). Based on what...where's the dispute? People can't win for losing sometimes and it's sad.
This is an awesome post! Race as a social construct, which doesn't rely on genetics, but visual markers as being the primary tool of classification (phenotype vs. genotype)
Your post just reminded me of how many blacks (black because of the one-drop rule, but looked white) back in the day would live their lives "passing" as white because it was much easier to navigate through society that way. And hell, it worked for some people, even though their brother or sister would have to live "black", because of how they looked.
Race is such a crazy concept.