"You must have some indian in you"...

[Allandra]

I hear this comment all the time.

 

[Healthb4Length]

I've been getting it most of my life, it's so annoying! It used to p!ss me off when I was younger , but now I just ignore it...I feel sorry for their ignorance

 

[curlygirl493]

Anytime I here some ignorant black person brag "I’m 1/8, 1/16 Indian" I’m so tempted to ask "oh really, what tribe, where are they from? Have you ever really even been to a real Indian reservation before????"

 

[SherryLove]

Anytime I here some ignorant black person brag "I’m 1/8, 1/16 Indian" I’m so tempted to ask "oh really, what tribe, where are they from? Have you ever really even been to a real Indian reservation before????"

yeah and most african americans are of african descent (in addition to being of native american descent), but a lot of us cannot tell which country, tribe, or clan in africa from which our ancestors came... now does this make it untrue....???????

 

[SherryLove]

and not to mention, most people of african descent have never even seen the continent before........

 

[curlygirl493]

your talking about african culture, not african american culture- two toally different things. most native american know what tribe/part of the country they are from. i'm just tring to make a point that people claim to be this and that, yet know nothing about that race/culture what so ever.

 

[SherryLove]

your talking about african culture, not african american culture- two toally different things. most native american know what tribe/part of the country they are from. i'm just tring to make a point that people claim to be this and that, yet know nothing about that race/culture what so ever.

i am not distinguishing between african and african american cultures... and i am not sure where you are getting that from....i stated previously that most african american folks are of african ancestry... and do not know much or enough about their african ancestry..... and again, for african americans a lot of us may know we are mixed with native american and cannot tell you from which tribe because that part of american history was intentionally never documented or inadequately documented.....just as where a lot of come from in africa was inadequately documented...some of us have to go on what our grand and great grand parents tell us...

 

[CarLiTa]

OMG, I get that a lot! Especially since I go to a predominantly Hispanic school. Anyone who is light skinned but is not white, must be Dominican. It's crazy! I'm like oh no, I'm from next door, I"m Haitian. And that leaves them even more baffled. They seriously think Haitian girls are the ugliest thing alive! It PISSES ME OFF! I get the Indian thing too, and it's so annoying. I've been to a couple of small grocery stores run by Indian ppl and they're asking me if I am Indian or part Indian. Not so much for the hair but for features etc, and that happened on Saturday actually. The dude was like "oh you MUST have some in you, are you sure?" I'm not gonna tell him my WHOLE life story, so I said "no i'm pretty sure" cuz we have had some whites and Indians in our family, but that's a LONG time ago, few generations back, so it doesnt even matter anymore! I"m just BLACK, damnit! I swear these Indian men want to marry me, asking me my name and stuff and i'm just like "ew buddy, i'm 16!" LoL

There's this website: blackplanet.com where every single black person on there, when you go on their page and it asks their ethnic background, EVERYONE is half-Indian, Native American, Hispanic, you name it, no matter how black they are, kinkiest hair and all. If they were light-skinned then they said they were mixed with white. I got SO annoyed I deleted my page on there, I was tired of the fakeness!

 

[SherryLove]

OMG, I get that a lot! Especially since I go to a predominantly Hispanic school. Anyone who is light skinned but is not white, must be Dominican. It's crazy! I'm like oh no, I'm from next door, I"m Haitian. And that leaves them even more baffled. They seriously think Haitian girls are the ugliest thing alive! It PISSES ME OFF! I get the Indian thing too, and it's so annoying. I've been to a couple of small grocery stores run by Indian ppl and they're asking me if I am Indian or part Indian. Not so much for the hair but for features etc, and that happened on Saturday actually. The dude was like "oh you MUST have some in you, are you sure?" I'm not gonna tell him my WHOLE life story, so I said "no i'm pretty sure" cuz we have had some whites and Indians in our family, but that's a LONG time ago, few generations back, so it doesnt even matter anymore! I"m just BLACK, damnit! I swear these Indian men want to marry me, asking me my name and stuff and i'm just like "ew buddy, i'm 16!" LoL

There's this website: blackplanet.com where every single black person on there, when you go on their page and it asks their ethnic background, EVERYONE is half-Indian, Native American, Hispanic, you name it, no matter how black they are, kinkiest hair and all. If they were light-skinned then they said they were mixed with white. I got SO annoyed I deleted my page on there, I was tired of the fakeness!

i am just cracking over here at the way in which you are telling your story... for ethnicity on blackplanet.com, i put black as well... but i too no longer go up on blackplanet.com... one hispanic male wrote to me and told me how he wanted to run his fingers through my silky hair...and how silky hair turns him on... well, i wrote back to him, telling him that i will soon be going natural and my natural texture of hair is definitely not silky.... and i guess that was the end of that because he did not respond after that......LOL.....

 

[curlygirl493]

i totally understand what your saying- its just some people pull this line out of there a** who don't have any native american blood at all. its ok if you do- but on the other hand, i don't need to know that your great great great great grandmother was 1/8 native american. its like someone else was saying- like being black is not good enough/pretty, you have to "mixed" with something eles in order to be attractive. why can't a black person just have nice looking hair or looser texture hair why is it that person has to e mixed with something?

 

[Jewell]

A woman (Caucasian) asked me today, "What are you?" I said, "I'm African-American." She gave me this {deer in headlights look... }, and I said that I do have Native American in my family. She says, "Oh, I thought there was something mixed in there." All I could do is laugh. My homeboy that goes to my church asked me if I was mixed, because, "Usually black peoples' hair doesn't do that." I said, "Do what?!" He said, "It just doesn't lay down like that...or do you have chemicals in your hair?" I said, "Yeah, I have a relaxer. Trust me, there ain't no way my natural hair would be like this!" People really trip me out! I see so many women (African-American) that could have beautiful, long, healthy hair, but they love them quickweaves, curling irons every morning, and a touch-up every 4 weeks...I don't think genetics has anything to do with whether or not your hair will grow long...it has to do with care and upkeep.

 

[caligirl]

I really don't see what the bid deal is. If you have unusual features, people are going to ask you what you are. It's just human curiosity. People ask me all the time if I'm Ethiopian. I'm brown skin with thick 4a hair so I don't see it but I guess they do. I see it as a complement because the Ethiopian women I have seen are very pretty.

 

[sugaplum]

i am just cracking over here at the way in which you are telling your story... for ethnicity on blackplanet.com, i put black as well... but i too no longer go up on blackplanet.com... one hispanic male wrote to me and told me how he wanted to run his fingers through my silky hair...and how silky hair turns him on... well, i wrote back to him, telling him that i will soon be going natural and my natural texture of hair is definitely not silky.... and i guess that was the end of that because he did not respond after that......LOL.....

WOW SherryLove. That is a trip. I also canceled my profile off that BlackPlanet site too. Toooo many crazies.

But I've been told that too, "You got Indian in your family? What side of the family? I bet you got Cherokee or Navajo Indian in your family, huh?" Some people are sooooo ignorant. I believe that every black person in America has some type of Indian in their family, regardless of how their hair looks.

 

[SherryLove]

i totally understand what your saying- its just some people pull this line out of there a** who don't have any native american blood at all. its ok if you do- but on the other hand, i don't need to know that your great great great great grandmother was 1/8 native american. its like someone else was saying- like being black is not good enough/pretty, you have to "mixed" with something eles in order to be attractive. why can't a black person just have nice looking hair or looser texture hair why is it that person has to e mixed with something?

okay on this tip, i see what you are saying.... if you do not ask them, then why our these folks volunteering all of this info.....if someone asks me my ethnicity or nationality, i always answer black or african american... i never go on to say or tell every group that is in my ancestry... unless they ask me...it's unnecessary in my opinion... and you are right a lot of folks feel that just being black ain't good enough unfortunately.......but i guess in the midst of your making that point, i was just making the point (well at least trying to....LOL) that some of african americans do have native american ancestry.

 

[curlygirl493]

btw sherrylove you have beautiful hair!

 

[SherryLove]

btw sherrylove you have beautiful hair!

thanks, and so do you, curlyg......!!!!!!!your hair looks very healthy and well cared for....

 

[Healthb4Length]

okay on this tip, i see what you are saying.... if you do not ask them, then why our these folks volunteering all of this info.....if someone asks me my ethnicity or nationality, i always answer black or african american... i never go on to say or tell every group that is in my ancestry... unless they ask me...it's unnecessary in my opinion... and you are right a lot of folks feel that just being black ain't good enough unfortunately.......but i guess in the midst of your making that point, i was just making the point (well at least trying to....LOL) that some of african americans do have native american ancestry.

Sherry love your hair! You are right alot of african americans do have native ancestry but it makes me laugh when I see people with straight up jherri curls trying to say that their hair is that way because they got 1/4 cherokee in them ! Stop the madness !

 

[SherryLove]

Sherry love your hair! You are right alot of african americans do have native ancestry but it makes me laugh when I see people with straight up jherri curls trying to say that their hair is that way because they got 1/4 cherokee in them ! Stop the madness !

thanks, alli77......LOL>>>>>>>at "Stop the madness."

 

[Avaya]

My great grandmother was half Choctaw Indian but I'll only claim Indian if I can get some retributions because of it. Lord knows that's the only way I'll ever see my 50 acres and a mule!

I think it is definitely an issue of people thinking black is not good enough or pretty enough but at the same type your ancestral ethnicity does effect the way you look.

I know a man from Ghana and he says he knows people from Ghana when he sees them. We were walking down the street and there was a woman pushing a baby stroller and he said she's from Ghana. He greeted her in Twi and she responded. O.K. I forgot why I wanted to relate this story ! I think my point was different features are associated with different racial/ethnic groups.

Another story just for a good laugh: I overheard a woman at the Iman cosmetics counter tell the sales woman that she needed a foundation that was red based because she has Indian in her blood. The sales woman was like me too. So these two BLACK women proceeded to divide themselves into fractions as to how much Indian they were. It was too funny!

 

[Belle Du Jour]

I've gotten anything from Ethiopian to Latina. And it usually varies depensing on how my hair is styled. . .I'm Jamaican, so we all mixed up a little, but all I see is black.

People are weird. They have to fit you into a box. If you don't fit into the black box (by what they perceive black to be) you have to be categorized. They can't just leave you alone!

 

[Trinity1]

Most people assume I'm indian with "some black" in me. My features do look indian and my hair being jet black and the length really makes my features stand out. I claim both my Jamaican and Indian side. My mom has very strong Jamaican features,her mother is full blown indian with hair you could sit on and her father is Jamaican. I get the "where are you from?" almost all the time....sometimes I get the confused stares. I have no problem answering their questions and simply saying I am both Jamaican and Indian.


TeeTee2

 

[NapturalGlory]

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[Vintagecoilylocks]

I remember a not so distant past when if you had blonde hair, blue eyes was raised white you still had to reveal that your great, great, great great grandmother or father was black. And that one drop made you black in the eyes of all society. If you did not reveal this then you were considered a a deceitful person and traitor to your race and denying who you really were. Funny how now when some one states they have other race or blood heritage in them then just black they are still considered a traitor to their race or denying who they are. What is pure african american any way. What is the black race. I knew Spaniards, morrocans, indians, phillipinoes and other peoples who have literally as dark a skin as any " african american and darker". Are we going strickly by color or blood line. Or is it the neigh bor hood you were raised in. Who here can give what determines a pure african american. With new animal breeds it must be 8 generations to be considered a pure new breed. I for one can not give one pure generation in my heritage of only african american marriage. I am not very dark nor do I have south african native features. I was not raised in the "black culture" of today. Yet I have been and always will be classified as black african american. Unless of course the bill going before congress is passed declaring a separate race for mixed race individuals. One more thing I would like to say, my hair does have characteristics for my heritage. It has not been easy because early information was for whites. Then the information or methods for hair care were for basically a stereotipic type hair of blacks. I did not fit either catagory. I have spent a long time coming to an understanding with my skin and hair. Yet I get from other black woman the comment "well its easy for you, you got that good hair cause you are mixed.'' That is just as demeaning to imply I have it easy or was not denied the proper information cause I am mixed. Our blood does have effect. Negrido's in the far east have dark aborigine distinct features but due to previous generations mix with early caucasion explores and merchants they have silky honey colored and blondish hair. There is no mixing now but the traits still comes through. Their original ancesteres did not look like that. As I say what is pure african american. It almost sounds like someone doesn't want to except the fact that they are a combination of heritages and that is all. I don't care if people celebrate who they are. I for one want to be known as who I am and not lumped into one pile.
I have replied at times with " I am american and as you know its the melting pot of the world". Documents held in washington archives will show that at the time of the end of slavery each of the five great Indian nations had in their missed thousands of slaves of african heritage and their thousands of offspring by native american men. A treaty was drawn up for them to free some forty thousand slaves and their descedants. It was just as common for indians to have slaves and for the men to father many children with them. So you would have had several generations of african descent females giving birth to children by a native american. And of course these would also marry amonst the mixed heritage. It would not have to be one's great, great, great, great, grandmother.

Oh yes Hair. I think the variety is what make woman of color in america the most beautiful and uniquely individual females on earth.

 

[Mahalialee4]

I have to agree 100% with VintageCoilyLocks and these are my reasons.

1. Other people comment on my hair, I do not go to them and present my hair. They ask about it and ask the invariable questions? Do you relax? nO. Then how did you get it to look like that? That is the way it looks, but some of the things I do not do are......So, why does it wave...etc. etc. Can I feel it?...girl...that ain't your hair....trying to feel all up in the scalp etc. Then proceeding to ask the other people around me....is that my hair...do I relax it...do I whatever....I have had one lady standing with her husband in a parking lot at a church, peering in my open window at me and ask...Do you have a relaxer?.....So Like I have to lie or have to justify or explain to satisfy their curiosity. They have decided that I do not have typical black hair according to their statements.....and for the record, neither did my mom, my great grandmother or my great grandfather, etc. but I find that Black People are often NOT VERY ACCEPTING OF THEIR OWN BLACK PEOPLE... and that just like the white people had a litmus paper back hair wave test or lack there of to determine who could be truly white...self proclaimed Black People often have their own rules. They will jump up and holler "weave" quicker than anyone else!!!!! They will throw the "mix thing" at a black person quicker than anyone else!!! In spite of the fact that many whites are wearing extensions or some kind of weave....the only ones they get in the face to are Black People...not nice!!!
2. Where I come from...to be considered Native Indian is often demeaning by Whites and Blacks, but I am not ashamed ashamed to be part Native American on one hand, ( Cherokee-ggfather and Blackfoot ggrandmother both half Indian...part Spanish (my Grandfather) and everything else is black...but for me...I definitely am Black, with medium brown complexion and almond shaped eyes....but I will not deny who my family is to please anyone. So when people ask who I am...I tell them...obviously...I am a black woman. If they dig and I feel like sharing I will. Sometimes the person asking me is East Indian and is twice as black skinned as me. They refer to me as a Dugla meaning I could be mixed with East Indian....but I tell them No. The only Indian in my ancestry is Native American.
3. I do not choose to be defined my the government in my personal life. On a piece of paper for the census etc. they have already designated me a color. Black. An ancestry...Black....a heritage and culture....Black...a MINORITY. But when I am talking one on one or am part of a club or whatever, I get to tell who I am.
4. Few people here could trace their heritage back over four generations. Few know if they are North, South, East Or West Africa. African people identify me with East Africans...Jamaicans think I am a mixed Jamaican and Trinidadians think I am a Trinidadian...all based on their personal perception of what I probably am...and inquiring minds are curious or just nosey. I do not have to expand who I am in every case, but I do not have to NARROW who I am , In Any Case...I accept who I am. I have nothing to prove. Let's just accept who we are and embrace who and what we are. If you are black for 10 generations back...be proud of that rich heritage...if you are mixed...embrace all of it, especially the wholesome parts....James Brown sang..."I'm Black and I am proud..." I sing, ..."I am Black, Indian and Spanish...and I am proud....and one part does NOT cancel out the other!
5. I find it personally insulting to me if people ridicule the fact that I mention the other heritages in my lineage. That says to me that they either...are 1. prejudiced against the others...and therefore resentful of me 2. They are judging me as being a liar...arrogant...in denial, or implying that I am ashamed of being Black...( which is SO INSULTING!!!! ...and I am thinking...who do you think you are to talk to me that way? The Race Police?... Being black is bigger than that!!!!!it is obviously bigger that your mind can conceive honey!"Being Black is not a Territory. It is just part of what defines you as a human as a person.
Sorry for the long speech.Bonjour

 

[lthomas1]

I get this all the time whether I wear my hair up or down. Are you half white or indian. I never deny my true heritage and make sure they know that I am black. There were some indians in the family, but that was so many generations ago that I do not even count it.

 

[Koffie]

"Ah got INDIAN in mah family!"

Just wanted to be messy......

disclaimer: DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY

 

[Mestiza]

Well said, Vintagecoilylocks and Mahalialee4!

Everybody should be able to acknowledge who they are w/o anyone else having a problem with it.

 

[TigerLily]

I agree with what you're saying, ladies. (it's like what I was saying, just in a different way) I know for a fact (I've researched) that I don't have any Indian/carribean/spanish or whatever in me, so I still wouldn't like someone assuming that I"m mixed based on my hair. Like I said before, if you are, then fine, be proud of who you are. By the same token, if you don't have Indian or whatever in you, you should be proud of who you are.

I just think it's silly for someone to assume that you're mixed because your hair is healthy and long and THEN be disappointed/upset or say you're lying when you tell them that they you are not mixed. Like being black, it's sooo impossible/unbelievable for your hair to be healhty and long. Why don't people ask, 'Gee, what do you use on your hair? What do you do to it?' (I mean, those are the questions that would pop into my mind) Why do a lot of people automatically assume that you've GOT to be mixed or something other than black? That's all I'm saying.

 

[brownhaired_bonanza]

I agree with what you're saying, ladies. (it's like what I was saying, just in a different way) I know for a fact (I've researched) that I don't have any Indian/carribean/spanish or whatever in me, so I still wouldn't like someone assuming that I"m mixed based on my hair. Like I said before, if you are, then fine, be proud of who you are. By the same token, if you don't have Indian or whatever in you, you should be proud of who you are.

I just think it's silly for someone to assume that you're mixed because your hair is healthy and long and THEN be disappointed/upset or say you're lying when you tell them that they you are not mixed. Like being black, it's sooo impossible/unbelievable for your hair to be healhty and long. Why don't people ask, 'Gee, what do you use on your hair? What do you do to it?' (I mean, those are the questions that would pop into my mind) Why do a lot of people automatically assume that you've GOT to be mixed or something other than black? That's all I'm saying.

I totally agree with everything you just said. I hope I wasn't giving the wrong impression when I started this thread that people should deny their heritage. That wasn't my intention at all.

 

[senimoni]

I totally agree with everything you just said. I hope I wasn't giving the wrong impression when I started this thread that people should deny their heritage. That wasn't my intention at all.

I've been avoiding posting in this thread but ....I was just going to say...I think this thread veered off course b/c I didn't believe that was your intention either. Rather, why the assumption of healthy/long hair means you MUST be Indian was the way I took it. Added to that my personal feeling is that if you are less than 1/4 maybe 1/8th of something its not really worth "checking" the box....b/c everyone would be checking everything IMHO.