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I still do think that this is odd

During the custody battle the actress told Ebony magazine: “I feel she (Nahla) is black. I’m black and I’m her mother, and I believe in the one-drop theory.

“I’m not going to put a label on it. I had to decide for myself and that’s what she’s going to have to decide, how she identifies herself in the world.”

This lady who is black is:

Berry is the daughter of a white mother from Liverpool and a black father.

And the father of the child she is talking about is white.

In one sense it’s not odd for back in the days of antebellum slavery the girl, one quarter black, would have been described (or could have been perhaps) as a quadroon. And as such could have been a slave. One quarter was enough for that.

But it is slightly odd that people are still using such slavery based definitions…..

30 thoughts on “I still do think that this is odd”

  1. They’re using it because they believe, rightly or wrongly, that ascribing to oneself minority status, no matter how tenuous, is a path to special treatment. Look at Elizabeth Warren, ffs.

  2. Her birthright is a free Victim Card, to absolve personal responsibility for any future misdeeds she may commit and to allow bureaucrats to feel good about affirmative boxticking.

  3. Odd?

    It’s positively nauseating. Using the language of white supremacists and inverting it.

    I don’t agree that it’s about creating a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card but an assertion of superiority and I like it no less than the ridiculous ramblings of any red-necked, good ‘ol boy from the ‘Confederacy’ or supporter of apartheid South Africa

  4. Imagine if you will announcing to the world I am white because one of my grandparents was white – how fucking absurd that would sound.

    Why can’t people move on? no body gives a major shit about the colour of people’s skin any more. what matters is whether they are decent hardworking individuals or statist bloodsucking parasites. and there’s plenty of each of both “sides ” of the racial divide.

  5. I’d have said that a black person is one on the receiving end of racism, so letting the racists define it is probably right – they’re the ones that care.

  6. Martin Luther King’s teachings about skin colour seem to be ignored at the same time that he is honoured with a day in his name. My son learns about Martin Luther King in black history month which is very ironic.

  7. BiI – “no body gives a major shit about the colour of people’s skin any more.”

    This is Americans we’re talking about here – they’ve always been verrrrrrrryyyyyy touchy about this issue.

    Agree that Berry mentioning the ‘One Drop’ principle is…odd. But again; Americans.

  8. Race is very complicated, especially in America where (apparently) the way to protest about the shooting by a white cop of a black teenager is for gangs of black youths to loot corner shops owned by Koreans and then burn down their own neighbourhood.

    That’ll show ’em.

  9. Richard:

    “I’d have said that a black person is one on the receiving end of racism, so letting the racists define it is probably right – they’re the ones that care.”

    Please don’t tell me that you believe that only minorities can be victims of racism.

  10. It’s all about context: she’s fighting a custody battle, so any supporting argument is needed, no matter how spurious.

  11. bloke (not) in spain

    ‘Tis odd
    Lady in my life qualifies as quadroon. Or octroon. Or something. Definitely parda because there’s indio blood in there.
    WTF? She don’t care. I don’t care. No-one else seems bothered.
    Gave her a lovely ass though. She’s as delightful leaving as arriving. Knock the spots off that Oxford Uni calender girl’s.
    And her 20 year old daughter….
    What was Halle Berry’s problem again?

  12. So Much for Subtlety

    Bloke In Italy – “Why can’t people move on? no body gives a major shit about the colour of people’s skin any more. what matters is whether they are decent hardworking individuals or statist bloodsucking parasites. and there’s plenty of each of both “sides ” of the racial divide.”

    *You* don’t give a sh!t about the colour of anyone’s skin any more. White people have given up on race. No one else has. Everyone else cares. And they are happy to use it as a weapon. Whites are happy to let them do so – and reward them with money when they do so.

    It does not matter to Black voters if you are decent a hardworking individual or a statist bloodsucking parasite. They care that you will take money from White people and give it to them. Nothing else. Not in the US. Not here. They care because it pays.

    Whites are digging their own graves. They are allowing minorities into their countries, and slowing become minorities themselves, when those minorities openly hate them and regularly attack them. It can only end one way. Ask the Jews about being a wealthy, talented minority in a sea of envy and hate.

  13. Richard,

    > I’d have said that a black person is one on the receiving end of racism, so letting the racists define it is probably right – they’re the ones that care.

    Absolutely, yes. A lot of the commenters here like to imagine that society at large is as civilised as they are, but it isn’t. Being black in the UK and US and Europe still means being on the receiving end of abuse for it — the amount and severity of the abuse varying depending on the circles you’re moving in, but still. When I was a teenager, I rather liked Double Trouble and the Rebel MC. Excellent party hip-hop. Their bassist is no more, as he was out walking in London one day and some cunts doused him in petrol and set light to him. That’s not some tale from the bad old days in some God-forsaken barbaric badland; it’s my generation and the capital of my country. The racism evident in Northern Ireland is appalling. The casual racism you see every day in Scotland is disgusting. The fact that black people can now have a perfectly nice time at dinner parties in Highgate doesn’t mean racism is dead, sadly. Black people didn’t come up with the one drop rule, but they do have to live with it. Seems a bit rich to criticise them for that, when it’s something opposed on them.

    Rob,

    > Please don’t tell me that you believe that only minorities can be victims of racism.

    I don’t. And?

  14. The racism evident in Northern Ireland is appalling. The casual racism you see every day in Scotland is disgusting.

    I don’t know about NI and Scotland at all, but I can tell you from having visited around 40 countries in the past 11-12 years that there is nowhere in the world, anywhere, as tolerant towards blacks (and everyone else, for that matter) as London, and no country more tolerant than England.

    Russia is so intolerant towards blacks that even people who aren’t black (e.g. Chechens) get called black and persecuted for it. Asians, out of ignorance more than hatred, point and make monkey noises at black people (certain anti-US progressives might regret longing for the day that the Chinese take over the world). The Middle East? Thrown in alongside the Indians and Bangladeshis, without them even stopping to notice the difference. To be fair Africans don’t hate blacks but I saw more violence, discrimination, and cruelty between blacks in Nigeria than I’ve ever witnessed against blacks.

  15. bloke (not) in spain

    “A lot of the commenters here like to imagine that society at large is as civilised as they are, but it isn’t. Being black in the UK and US and Europe still means being on the receiving end of abuse for it”
    Compared with the rest of the world the UK/US are civilised. Mostly, being of a different race/religion doesn’t get you dead.

    It’s what gets me about the Halle Berrys of the world. It’s not as if she’s ever had to suffer any meaningful discrimination. Benefited from a lot, thanks to drawing a lot of high cards in the looks department.

  16. “Quadroon” put me in mind of a line from the song “Old Man Hank” by Jellybread (ca 1969), ” . . . and you can tell he is an octoroon”.
    I have been looking for this song online for quite a while, and gave it another try.
    Joy of joys, someone put it up on Youtube a couple of weeks ago.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EoqXNlWOD0

  17. S2

    I asked it of someone else, because it is a ridiculous position to hold if he does, and his post implied that he did.

    If you don’t, fine. So what?

  18. The modern liberal’s definition of progress.

    1850. Having one black great-grandparent makes you ‘coloured’. You opinion is worth less than that of a white person.

    2014. Having one black great-grandparent makes you ‘A person of colour’. You opinion is worth more than that of a white person.

    Hurrah! Progress!

  19. Tim N,

    > there is nowhere in the world, anywhere, as tolerant towards blacks (and everyone else, for that matter) as London, and no country more tolerant than England.

    No argument from me. But that’s not the point here, is it? All we’re talking about is why a person might think of themselves as black. I’m just saying that I can see how the categories in which people place themselves get defined by their enemies. That there are more enemies in some places than others doesn’t really change that.

    bnis,

    > It’s what gets me about the Halle Berrys of the world. It’s not as if she’s ever had to suffer any meaningful discrimination.

    Has Halle Berry spent a lot of time going on about being an oppressed victim? I haven’t noticed, but admit I’m not a seasoned sleb-follower like you.

    In the linked article, there’s a quote from her about how she sees herself as black, and

    “I had to decide for myself and that’s what she’s going to have to decide, how she identifies herself in the world.”

    Which hardly seems very extremist. I can’t see a hardline race-baiter being happy for their offspring to decide to self-define as white.

    The whole hair-straightening thing is horribly politicised — thank God white women are allowed to curl their hair without facing the Spanish Inquisition — but this particular case seems a tad suspicious. From what we can see, it’s not a case of Berry’s daughter choosing to straighten or lighten her hair (can’t see the actress who played Storm objecting too strongly to that), but of the child’s father straightening and lightening the hair and then denying it — i.e. claiming that his daughter is spontaneously turning less African. I can see why that might lead to a bit of a fight, although I’m baffled that Berry ever shacked up with such a person in the first place. Hollywood people, eh?

    Rob,

    > I asked it of someone else, because it is a ridiculous position to hold if he does, and his post implied that he did.

    The quote you object to is exactly the same one I replied to with the words “Absolutely, yes.” Was that too cryptic for you? It meant that I agree with it. You do get how these conversation things work, yes?

    Anyway, I have no idea whether Richard believes what you ascribe to him — I’m sure he can speak for himself — but his comment does not even remotely imply what you claim it does.

  20. The biggest irony here is that it is the white in her that has elevated her to stardom, but she’s famous for being “black”. If she was pure African-American she’d probably not be considered the sexiest actress in Hollywood etc. etc. because a large chunk of her fanbase will like her because she’s the quite common case of a mixed-race person looking very good because she’s been born with the best features of each.

    She’s actually a very famous and attractive mixed-race woman who is proud to be black (and not white) but probably owes a lot of her success and popularity to her being part white.

  21. On a similar note: somebody on here once pointed out that western men don’t like Asian women, they like western women with a hint of Oriental mystery. The slab-faced Han in the local chinky doesn’t get a second look.

    I still laugh at that.

  22. > it is the white in her that has elevated her to stardom, but she’s famous for being “black”. … she’s the quite common case of a mixed-race person looking very good because she’s been born with the best features of each.

    In other words, it is actually both the white and the black in her that have elevated her to stardom.

    To our host’s original point, I should say that I agree: it is all very odd. But that’s humanity for you. And I strongly disagree with some people here who think that it is not only odd but also something reprehensible to blame black people for.

  23. Hybrids often look good. Take a Germanic (too boxy), mix in some slab-faced Han, and you get the Disney princess looks of a Slav.

  24. Tim Newman + IanB: Kip Fulbeck’s Hapa Project is an in-depth photographic study of the looks of half-Asians ( http://kipfulbeck.com/the-hapa-project/ ). It does seem that the combination is more intriguing and desirable than either of the contributors. Hapa is hip.

    The “one drop” theory seems to work almost the other way around in China or Japan – if you have even a drop of white/black/Indian (say the sprogs of a hapa Chinese-American with a full Chinese) then you’re not really Chinese, more of a distant relation. The Filipinos and Pacific Islanders seem to be much more relaxed about the whole thing since their bloodlines are a mix of native, other Asian and white colonisers anyway. Hapa white gives you the desirable lighter skin without avoiding the sun 24/7, and you get a more striking face and eye shape without needing to fund the Korean plastic surgery industry.

  25. So Much for Subtlety

    Tim Newman – “If she was pure African-American she’d probably not be considered the sexiest actress in Hollywood etc. etc. because a large chunk of her fanbase will like her because she’s the quite common case of a mixed-race person looking very good because she’s been born with the best features of each.”

    Careful! You don’t want to end up where Satoshi Kanazawa went when he claimed African women were not good looking. I think he still has a job.

    “She’s actually a very famous and attractive mixed-race woman who is proud to be black (and not white) but probably owes a lot of her success and popularity to her being part white.”

    Not to mention a dedicated (and White) mother. After her African-American father did a runner. I wonder what her mother thinks about all this.

  26. My opinion on Chinese girls is that they are either absolutley stunning or butt fucking ugly; there seems to be no middle ground.

  27. bloke (not) in spain

    Thanx for pointing in the direction of the Fulbeck book, Mr Hopper.

    I’d like to quote how the of the subjects has captioned her picture:

    I am a person of color.
    I am not half “white”
    I am not half “Asian”
    I am a whole “other”

  28. > Not to mention a dedicated (and White) mother. After her African-American father did a runner. I wonder what her mother thinks about all this.

    Well, the father of her child is black and left them in the lurch. Her daughter married a white guy and then divorced him shortly afterwards and had to take out a restraining order agaisnt him. Then she married a black guy and divorced him shortly afterwards. Then she had a daughter with a white guy and split up shortly afterwards. Now she has a son with a white guy (who had a reputation as a bit of a bastard before she even met him) and is involved in protracted and acrimonious legal battles that centre around the two fathers of her children acting like chimps and even beating each other up, and now apparently one of them is using her daughter’s hair as a weapon.

    So presumably, she’s thinking something along the lines of, “Oh, shit, I appear to have passed on my crappy bad judgement at picking reliable men,” but I don’t see how she’d conclude from the available evidence that skin colour is the problem, given that it’s no more of a common factor than speaking French.

  29. Lol, imagine Berry insisting in a recent edition of “Whitey” magazine that her daughter is definitely not black because the purebred caucasian father and grandmother have effectively removed all traces of blackness from her gene pool.

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