Do people intentionally ignore Meghans biracial heritage?

[JamSandle]

I'm not disputing that many media swipes at Meghan had a racist tone but im really confused as to how many people keep talking about Meghan as being black. I'm assuming many people saying this are American? I dont know many biracial people, myself included, who refer to themselves as only one race. It seems a very American thing to me.

When people talk about Meghan, especially when negatively, why is it considered racist, completely disregarding that she is half white? And especially when she was first introduced, many people didn't know what ethnicity Meghan was. I think she actually has a look that could be quite global in terms of being from anywhere, but she has quite a Southern European/South American look to me.

Again...im not saying there is no racism towards Meghan. But I find it off that people ignore that Meghan is not black, she is biracial.

Our children are raised as black for some of these reasons

Can I ask what this means in practice?
Where I'm from that would generally mean raised speaking an African language and having certain cultural practices and traditional clothes worm on certain occasions. How does it work in the UK?
Not being disingenuous i just genuinely am not sure how it goes for English speaking UK born Brits in this context.

Because I don't live my life online, I don't buy newspapers, haven't done for years 🤔 I knew she was in suit's but I've never watched it. I know a few people who said the same.

I'm mixed race too and I think there's often a lot of nuance lost in discussions not only about race but specifically about Meghan's heritage. When you grow up biracial the fact is you aren't white but have a lot of privilege depending on how you present. Being mixed is in many black and white communities the so called acceptable face of blackness. Because you will truly never be white unless you pass to the point of someone like Mariah Carey it matters not a jot that you're 50% white - the world will treat you as a non-white person with all the aggro that brings. What Meghan said about not really being treated black until she got to the UK is very true in the way I see things too. America is light years ahead of race discussions than the UK.

I read something online which I thought so poignantly fitted: in the UK you can go to HR as a black woman and tell them a colleague called you a monkey and the HR person without so much as raising an eyebrow will tell you that she/he gets called a giraffe all the time owing to their height. Rashford and his black team mates can get bananas thrown at them on football pitches and someone will helpfully explain the reason why is because football is physically exhausting and bananas are a good source of protein.

@Bbq1

What about when her mum was on prison?

Evidence please? You say it so confidently I'm sure you can easily find it with a quick google.

Not a Twitter rumour / gossip forum but a factual report from a news outlet confirming she has served time.

I'll wait.

Great post @VladmirsPoutine.

All the posters saying they had no idea that Megan was not white and the assumption is that that is a good thing.....

Why are mixed people forced to choose whatever race is acceptable to white people?
comfort zone and all that.*

Well quite. That's the point. A mixed race person "choosing" black started because white people chose what they should be as they weren't good enough or white enough to be white.

So I see this as continuing to uphold racism imposed on mixed race people by white people.

People are now free to choose what they really are instead of what was chosen for them or what "others see them as" but comfort zone and all that.

Some are more than happy to acknowledge and break out of that repressive role.

This is interesting and I agree American culture is influencing the language and attitudes in the Uk.

as a 100% white person I would never ever have looked at a person of Meghans colouring and immediately thought they were black. So it is interesting that mixed race people think that we think that. Obviously that comes from experiences they have had but maybe not from anyone directly saying it to them. I would hope not anyway.

I would have known they had mixed heritage of some kind but not assumed in any way that it was black heritage and just wouldn’t have commented for fear of completely getting it wrong.

I think it’s a huge shame they feel they have to “side” with one or another in modern culture and should simply be allowed to be as they are.

and the assumption is that that is a good thing...

I doubt that. It's neither good nor bad but I get the impression it's supposed to be a bad thing to look white, to some people. Hence, the pushback that Meghan doesn't.

This is such an interesting debate, and one that fascinates me.

My father is I guess what you might called mixed race, white British mother and mixed father (I never knew my paternal grandfather but he was an extremely light skinned man with blue eyes but wavy black hair). So he's a sort of mix of a mix!

As I vaguely understand it the lineage is Guyanese and has always been partly mixed/white for several generations.

My own mother was white although Gallic descent with dark hair, brown eyes and light olive skin. I have that combination myself. I've never ever thought of myself as being anything other than white really, which begs the question - how diluted does 'mixed' get before its not a thing anymore?

I have a white husband and my children both have pale white skin, dark straight hair and blue eyes. It would never occur to me to identify them or myself as anything other than White British on forms etc, but this thread has made me think twice about that!

Why are mixed people forced to choose whatever race is acceptable to white people?comfort zone and all that.

Weird how part of my post was written there. Typing on mn has been terrible recently.

My understanding is that this is very specific to America and it's history of slavery, segregation and racism - the 'one drop' rule that other posters have mentioned. Historically there was no middle (mixed) ground - any heritage of colour meant you were legally not white and so would not receive the benefits of being white in that society. This classification system was integral to a society based first on slavery and then on the segregation of the 'races'. For example, the children of slaves resulting from rape by their white masters would be classed by this system as black and so could be enslaved.

I think in modern America self-describing as black when you are mixed or can 'pass' can be both a personal and political statement, based on the experience racism and 'othering'. That is society sees and treats you in accordance with the black part of your heritage, no matter what % of your heritage is white.

My understanding is that this is very specific to America

It's another thing that really interests me as Brit of mixed heritage that the UK has an almost obsession with suggesting the US is behind a lot of race rhetoric which doesn't apply in the UK hence any talk of similar issues is irrelevant (as a side note this was very evident during BLM when everyone was falling over themselves to question why the UK should be involved given it's a US issue).

PSA: This is not and never will be an American only issue. The UK wasn't sitting back and audibly tutting disproval at slavery during the transatlantic slave trade, on the contrary they jumped in like toddlers let loose in a sweet factory.

I'm really sorry, my intention wasn't to suggest what you're saying here. I certainly didn't mean that Britain is not a racist country or had no role in slavery, as clearly it did. I meant that there is a very specific reason in American history and culture that underpins why an American might take this view of their heritage. It wasn't intended as anything other than that.

@littleburn I see what you mean and I don't think there was any malice intended in your post - it's a wider phenomenon I've noticed as written in my post.

@VladmirsPoutine

Truly excellent posts.

I am shocked at the discourse on this thread. Not just the ignorance and blithe assumptions about America - that's normal and expected here - but the crass assumption that anyone can wade in and decide 'what' a black identifying person is.

Hate the term mixed race or biracial.
There is only one race
The human race
There are different ethnicities, heritage.....

I would love to be shocked. Its like identity policing bingo with a dose of fragility thrown in for good measure - I almost have a full house.

@mathanxiety Thank you but as evidenced in the post below yours by MrsRR this is really not ever going to be a winning battle. I swear I do try my hardest to try and stay on the Style&Beauty threads and AIBU when there's a thread about an unreasonable MiL but sometimes I just get sucked in and want to start writing dissertations!!!

My late husband was mixed race, always referred to himself as mixed race. (Jamaican/White European)

We have a son. Who technically is I suppose now 75% white European 25% Jamaican.

Thing is no way can DS say he is "black" 🤣🤣 kid looks Germanic!!

Were talking bright blue eyes, blonde hair, fair skin that goes olive in the sun.

We joked it was always a good job he was the spitting image of his father, or questions could have been asked 😳 for a while we didn't have a name for DS, late DH used to refer to him as "white (DH name)" for the first day or two of his life 🤦🏻‍♀️

I've always had the feeling that Meghan would want to foreground her racial heritage when it suits (no pun intended) her and not when it doesn't.

It was pointed out to me no matter how white a biracial person looked they're black

I say this now as I'm I suppose personally invested, for want of a better phrase.

I just can't see my blonde haired, white skinned, blue eyed child being able to say he is black without ridicule 😳

People are often "shocked" to learn DS's heritage.

The school once didn't believe his biracial uncle was actually his uncle when he went to pick him before. I gave the name said he was picking him up.

The school phoned me and basically fumbled about trying not to say "but the guy stood here is black" 🤦🏻‍♀️ at which point I had to explain DS's heritage to the school, and they were absolutely dumbfounded.

DS spends a lot of time with his Carribbean side of the family, they adore and live him, but I don't think any of them would ever call him "black".

Sorry I forgot to add, DS will grow up with "white privilege" he will, he will never be assumed to be "black" and it broke my heart a bit when late DH said "I'm glad he looks so white, he will have an easier life" 😔

I just can't see him ever announcing he is black. I mean if he did I wouldn't care, I love and adore him, and genetically he is biracial. But I just can't see it happening.

I feel a bit sad reading this thread, I read a meme that said “Mixed Race: take a seat someone will be with you shortly to assign you an identity “ that is such a true statement . I’m personally only of mixed countries and I get this a lot people telling me what I am and I don’t like it and that’s just countries in the same continent, I can’t imagine how frustrating it must feel for some people when it’s based on race.

my kids are mixed European /West African, quite dark skinned and Muslim and my eldest is going through a huge identity crisis not knowing where she belongs. It hurts her when people tell her you’re not black, even though she is quite dark, been called a zebra, question why she is a Muslim , presume she is something she isn’t because she wears a hijab. If you are of black and white heritage then you are both black AND white ie they are what they claim to be , it’s for the individual to identify the self not others.

My daughter has suffered racism because of her black heritage and then been told by black AND Asian people “but you’re not black” as if that means she didnt experience that racism.
I don’t agree with the person who said Brown now means Asian, brown is more then just Asian I’m not sure how that works for everyone else with brown toned skin. Especially if some are then told you’re not black?

Mixed races all seem to be put into one category no matter what the background, as if there is a mixed race continent- and of course there isn’t, everyone has to have a sense of belonging so to say “you’re mixed race you’re not black..you’re mixed race you’re not white” is very unjust in my opinion. Especially if you take into consideration people’s experiences you could be mixed but raised in a fully African household and have no other culture, or you could be fully black raised in a white household.

I agree with what someone said about the term heritage being a better way to describe people it makes so much more sense. I’ve read a lot of people saying things like “Meghan is whiter then me, she’s white” her skin colour doesn’t make her white it’s her dna that makes her who she is. She calls herself Bi-racial so that’s what she is. Just as someone with albinism doesn’t automatically make them from the white race, it’s their DNA and heritage that makes them who they are.
That probably doesn’t make too much sense, but I’ve been really struck lately how people of more then one race struggle.