My little sister just came up to me and said "am I not black?"

@AmmieBell That's so horrible! 😢

@AmmieBell That's really strange. Why is there such an obsession with dividing people into separate named types in the US? I know it happens elsewhere too, but the US seems to be vastly more obsessed with it than most places.

@ninalanyon I guess because discrimination and stereotypes are so common here, it just sort of normalises it? I'm sure it's a lot of things though. It's almost like it's part of the culture tbh

@bijouxbroussard tbh I grew up in such a predominantly white area that it took me a long long time to realize that there was oppression against POC within their own community as well. I grew up having kids throw rocks at me and stuff because I was black (that's actually how I learned what black was- race had never even crossed my mind before that) so when I got to a fairly diverse community, I overlooked most of the abuse other POC were suffering because it seemed so tame in comparison I thought it was just normal. But it's a huge issue too for sure.

@Lucyy I integrated one of my elementary schools in the 60s and saw a lot of prejudice from the kids, some of the nuns and lay teachers (non-clergy teachers).

@bijouxbroussard I never formally integrated (obviously I guess given my age lol) but growing up I was in what was literally an ALL white school. There was one kid who was maybe like a quarter Mexican ( but you couldn't tell) and then there was me. So when I moved schools it was my very first experience with other people of color. My cousin in that area was like "God I've never seen so little black people In a school" while I was like "wow I've never seen so MANY black people in one school" haha. My grandma remembers integrating schools though. Their area was ordered to mix schools (idk all the details of how it works- I had assumed it was optional but I guess not In her area?) And nobody did it. And the next summer is what her and my great uncle called "the summer of the bulldozers" because they came in and just tore down all the black schools, so they'd have to attend a white school.

@Invocations In one word, mixed. But that doesn't equate to me not being either. But white is not an ethnicity either 🤷 so it would be black and whatever my other parent was- be that Russian, English, etc. It would be easiest answered by saying "my mom is black and my dad is *whatever*". I have connections to both ends and was raised with both. I understand it can vary based on culture. But that doesn't mean your ethnicity is any less part of you. People are not simply "mixed" without also being Included in that culture because that would then mean that they themselves have NO culture if having parents of different cultures excludes you from either. It's nobody's place to comment on it and argue what someone's culture is. People need to mind their business 🤷 is all I'm saying. She wasn't wrong In what she answered and should have not been corrected. Because being black is part of who she is. Having a parent with a different ethnicity does not change that.

@Lucyy thank you for explaining how you feel. I understand what you’re saying. In the end race is a social construct? So why even define it?

@Invocations because it connects you to culture and some races face different opposition and obstacles that others. Maybe one day it won't matter as much, but as long as we live in a world of prejudice and discrimination, it does. And people don't want to lose their culture, either. For some born into a different culture than their ancestors, race is all that connects them to their roots. Like, I was adopted, so race is a big deal to me because it's all that connects me to my past. And a lot of people of color were forced from their homeland generations ago, and race is their only connection to that culture.

@User41 it's less of a joke since we were both adopted for real tho 😂

😂😂@Lucyy