On the Perception of Race

[Thesauron]

I found this interview opening up for a discussion regarding how we perceive ‘race’, skin colour, heritage, etc.

 

An Irish director and actor was brown to two very Irish parents, but at times he was mistaken for mixed race, and sometimes completely African. The black community claimed that he was denying his black lineage, and white neighbours turned their heads at him and his two siblings thinking his mother must have had an extramarital affair. Instead of fighting people’s preconceptions about him, he began to accept them. Which eventually led to a public debacle when some journalist claimed he denied that he was actually born the son of two white parents. Which leads me to Noah’s sons, who apparently had different complexions. Was it rare when they grew up? How did people consider it?

 

Anthony Ekundayo Lennon on being accused of 'passing' as a black man: 'It felt like an assassination' (The Guardian)

[Dustparticle]

 

 This is all mess up. He could have some black in him, but not all. In 1863, in Detroit, Michigan and Indian-Spanish man who voted was accused of raping a girl. The Detroit Free Press accuse him as being a negro, so people perceive him to be black. Here is what freaks me out. One day he was not black and the next day he became black. The reason why I say that he voted is because in USA the blacks allow to vote until 1870 and he voted before then. So what color was he when people saw him voting? He cannot be view as being black while voting.

[Hope]

Very interesting 🤔

[rbrown1205]

I understand that ancient and perhaps modern Egyptians don't have the degree of social discrimination based on skin color that Europeans and North Americans have had in history ( and today, to an extent). It may be because Ham produced light and dark skinned offspring.  He had 4 sons, and two of them, Mizraim and Cush, were dark skinned.

[rbrown1205]

Looking at the literature, Mizraim apparently produced Egyptians, but Put was considered to be a progenitor of dark skinned people, along with Cush.

Apparently Islam has alternate thinking about some history, so ...ok

[Sequoia]

This reminds me of a story I heard about a white woman in Europe with a white husband who had a black baby.  Her husband thought she had an affair and left her but they did a paternity test and he was the father.  Some people including Witnesses I know don't believe it can happen.

[Dustparticle]

5 hours ago, JW2017 said:

This reminds me of a story I heard about a white woman in Europe with a white husband who had a black baby.  Her husband thought she had an affair and left her but they did a paternity test and he was the father.  Some people including Witnesses I know don't believe it can happen.

 I heard the same thing. Jehovah can throw curve balls with his creation. DNA played a role with this situation.

[Old]

It works both ways:

 

https://nypost.com/2010/07/21/blond-bombshell/

[Tortuga]

So much emphasis on skin color..

What about hair color, eye color?

Can you imagine someone being criticized by the Blonde community for dying their hair and denying their blonde roots? Can you imagine someone with hazel eyes being rejected by their blue eye family just because of the color of their eyes? Can you imagine red headed people claiming discrimination because of the color of their hair?

 

I don't know if Jehovah is laughing or crying when people discuss skin color...

[normadenardo]

29 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

So much emphasis on skin color..

What about hair color, eye color?

Can you imagine someone being criticized by the Blonde community for dying their hair and denying their blonde roots? Can you imagine someone with hazel eyes being rejected by their blue eye family just because of the color of their eyes? Can you imagine red headed people claiming discrimination because of the color of their hair?

 

I don't know if Jehovah is laughing or crying when people discuss skin color...

my blond roots turned into gray roots. :(

[tekmantwo]

7 minutes ago, normaclutter said:

my blond roots turned into gray roots.

Proverbs 16:31

 

'Gray hair is a crown of beauty

When it is found in the way of righteousness'

 

[Hope]

7 hours ago, Tortuga said:

So much emphasis on skin color..

What about hair color, eye color?

Can you imagine someone being criticized by the Blonde community for dying their hair and denying their blonde roots? Can you imagine someone with hazel eyes being rejected by their blue eye family just because of the color of their eyes? Can you imagine red headed people claiming discrimination because of the color of their hair?

 

I don't know if Jehovah is laughing or crying when people discuss skin color...

Redheads claim discrimination rather often, tbh..

[tekmantwo]

1 hour ago, Hope said:

Redheads claim discrimination rather often, tbh..

Well, they are a bit different, ya know......

[EccentricM]

On 9/10/2019 at 1:10 PM, JW2017 said:

This reminds me of a story I heard about a white woman in Europe with a white husband who had a black baby.  Her husband thought she had an affair and left her but they did a paternity test and he was the father.  Some people including Witnesses I know don't believe it can happen.

 

On 9/10/2019 at 6:56 PM, Dustparticle said:

 I heard the same thing. Jehovah can throw curve balls with his creation. DNA played a role with this situation.

Yes, I've heard of this. An explanation I've heard is a generational gap, that waaay back somewhere in the family line there could have been a black person, and so that DNA is carried through the generations and the right mix or genetic circumstances can cause these very old genes to come out in a baby, though it's very rare.

 

For example I have 1% Filipino DNA according to tests, this could either be a mutation causing a "similarity" in my genes to those in the Phillpines, or... I may have a very, very, very distant ancestor who was from there, and should the rare circumstances of genetic chance happen, my own child could end up having Filipino features, though these are generally considered "freak occurances".

 

But it's interesting regardless when it comes to apperance and the variety of mankind.

 

My Father's side all look like they have a blend of South Asian and Mediterranean features, though all my family tree shows British (English and Welsh) decent on that side of the family going way back even to the 1400s, and there are no DNA statistics saying otherwise either. But people all the time say I look either slightly Italian or Jewish. I certainly do not have the average physical apperance of a British man (Germanic/Celtic), and other men who look alike to me usually have genetics or family to explain such, but not me/my dad's side of the family.

Edited September 13, 2019 by EccentricM

[Luezette]

Sometimes, if we're not careful, we can absorb the thinking and views of the world concerning race. 

 

For instance, on my Facebook page there was a brother and sister getting married. No big deal right? Right except that the groom was Caucasian and the bride was Black. Yet that still was not the issue that I had.

 

Amongst the congratulations, and etc, there were two sisters (Black) that felt that that's what they "need" in a husband "a white brother." I told them that what they "need" Jehovah had already told them as in to marry "in the Lord" that that's "the most important thing." 

 

Well! One sister responded with it's because black men don't know how to love women. Yes, I'm familiar with that mentality because of having heard it from worldly women's mouths, yet somehow I didn't know that some sisters felt the same way. 

 

Well y'all do know right that I said that we have to be careful to avoid worldly thinking. 

 

I'm triracial in that my mother is Cherokee (her father) and Sioux (her mother), and my father is African American (his mother) and Caucasian (his father). My mother remarried twice to Caucasian men, so my siblings after my sister next to me are all half Caucasian. Quite a blend eh? Yet they've taught us that it doesn't matter as long as the blood is red. 

 

So with the above background I cant, even if I tried, be prejudicial. So nope I don't even understand it. Yes, the black part of me understands in view of slavery, yet the red and white part of me refuses to understand prejudice. 

 

You should see us when we're all together. 

 

 

 

[Witness1970]

I had a coworker once who just happened to be a sister.  Although we worked together our congregations were several miles apart. I really only knew her from work. I was told that her family reunions looked like a meeting of the United Nations. 

[JennyM]

1 hour ago, Luezette said:

Amongst the congratulations, and etc, there were two sisters (Black) that felt that that's what they "need" in a husband "a white brother." I told them that what they "need" Jehovah had already told them as in to marry "in the Lord" that that's "the most important thing." 

There's nothing wrong of racial preference. ..

Some biracial children look better, perform better academically. 

My family is biracial, spanish -filipino... My great grandfather was from Spain.  In my family, we all received high academic awards(valedictorian, salutatorian, presidential medal)  in high school,  well just in high school because we didn't pursue higher education. 

 

On my daughter's side  is Spanish -Chinese. Shes top 1 in middle school now.. (This is just my theory.)  I just noticed it. 

 

Jehovah made us different and it makes life more interesting. ..And He gave us freedom to choose whom to marry... 

 

In my country, whiter skin is  more beautiful... But in other country, brown is more attractive... Fascinating isn't it. 

[Thesauron]

Both you and your spouse might have the same skin colour and give birth to babies with completely different skin and hair colour. That babies skin colour might force them into certain roles (aka., “you are black/white hence you are like this”). They might even give in to that preconception. And when people find out that both parents are of a different skin colour, they might view them as liars. If they do not give in, they might be viewed as being in denial. One can imagine Jehovah looking at this circus from his point of view, thinking “humans make it a big deal, but this whole skin colour thing matters nothing to me.”

[EccentricM]

5 minutes ago, JennyM said:

There's nothing wrong of racial preference. ..

True, I think many people in every land may be more drawn to a certain race, ethicity tone, etc more than another (often their own), but not out of racism, but simply out of physical preference, just like some men prefer blondes over brunettes and so on, it's the same.

 

Where racism comes in is when someone doesn't take interest in a certain person or ethnicty because they view them as "inferior" or inhuman because of their colour or features, at which point it's not just about preference anymore. A racist person may find a person of another colour attractive even, but doesn't date them because of it. 

Edited September 14, 2019 by EccentricM

[JennyM]

1 hour ago, EccentricM said:

True, I think many people in every land may be more drawn to a certain race, ethicity tone, etc more than another (often their own), but not out of racism, but simply out of physical preference, just like some men prefer blondes over brunettes and so on, it's the same.

Whatever the race, I like taller guys, who has sense of humor and can converse well.  

And I will wait  for a guy who prefer brown, short woman like  me. 😀

Edited September 14, 2019 by JennyM
additional info

[EccentricM]

32 minutes ago, JennyM said:

Whatever the race, I like taller guys, who has sense of humor and can converse well.  

And I will wait  for a guy who prefer brown, short woman like  me. 😀

Well, that would put me out the picture, I'm 5'5ft (166cm) 😄

[Tortuga]

2 minutes ago, EccentricM said:

Well, that would put me out the picture, I'm 5'5ft (166cm) 😄

You might still be taller than her... 

[JennyM]

17 minutes ago, EccentricM said:

Well, that would put me out the picture, I'm 5'5ft (166cm) 😄

I'm 5'1.. haha.. My ex was 5'9.... 

[Luezette]

4 hours ago, JennyM said:

There's nothing wrong of racial preference. ..

I still say that preferring to marry one race over another is worldly thinking. Yes, I'm saying that, as is said "there's good in every race." 

That being said, our concern in marrying someone should be to marry "only in the Lord."

Edited September 14, 2019 by Luezette

[Luezette]

11 minutes ago, Luezette said:

I still say that preferring to marry one race over another is worldly thinking. Yes, I'm saying that, as is said "there's good in every race." 

That being said, our concern in marrying someone should be to marry "only in the Lord."

So, would I marry a Caucasian brother? Yes.

Would I marry an Asian brother? Yes. 

Would I marry any other race? Yes.

 

Why? Because he's "...in the Lord." 

 

Now. For those of you who have a comical side (Richard, etc), nooo, not all of the above at the same time, lol, lol, lol. (I just felt like adding that just in case). 😀

Edited September 14, 2019 by Luezette