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Mixed-race identity

 
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ajgeddes



Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 3:41 pm    Post subject: Mixed-race identity Reply with quote

Interesting article about mixed-race people in Canada. I think it's relevant to a lot of people here.

Full article. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/mixedblessings/

Quote:
Think Tiger Woods, Vin Deisel, Keanu Reeves, Mariah Carey, Sean Lennon — more and more mixed-race people are turning up in the media and in Canadian society.

In the past decade Canada's demographics have changed radically, as more immigrants from visible minorities settle here, and the number of mixed-race marriages has gone up, leading to more mixed-race children.
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RACETRAITOR



Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Mixed-race identity Reply with quote

Almost all of us are mixed-race. You just can't tell usually.
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ajgeddes



Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Mixed-race identity Reply with quote

RACETRAITOR wrote:
Almost all of us are mixed-race. You just can't tell usually.


Actually, I would say most of us are probably not mixed-race, but rather have more of a mixed-ethnicity.
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browneyedgirl



Joined: 17 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was funny to read this part,
Quote:
STRANGER: "Do you mind me asking where you're from?" [This is code for "What is your race?"]

ME: "Canada." [This is code for "screw off."]

STRANGER: "Yes, but you know, where are you really from?" [This is code for "You know what I mean, so why are you trying to make me come out and say it?"]

ME: "I come from the foreign and distance metropolis of Newmarket. That's Newmarket, Ont., my place of birth." [Code for "I'm not letting you off the hook, buster."]

STRANGER: "But your place of origin? Your parents? What are your parents?" [Code for, "I want to know your race but this is making me feel very uncomfortable because somehow I'm not supposed to ask that question."]

because that happens to me all the time--except replace Canada with America. I don't like when people ask me about my ethnicity right off the bat. And they never seem to like the answer when I do tell them. I guess they had another ethnicity in mind.
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Alyallen



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

browneyedgirl wrote:
It was funny to read this part,
Quote:
STRANGER: "Do you mind me asking where you're from?" [This is code for "What is your race?"]

ME: "Canada." [This is code for "screw off."]

STRANGER: "Yes, but you know, where are you really from?" [This is code for "You know what I mean, so why are you trying to make me come out and say it?"]

ME: "I come from the foreign and distance metropolis of Newmarket. That's Newmarket, Ont., my place of birth." [Code for "I'm not letting you off the hook, buster."]

STRANGER: "But your place of origin? Your parents? What are your parents?" [Code for, "I want to know your race but this is making me feel very uncomfortable because somehow I'm not supposed to ask that question."]

because that happens to me all the time--except replace Canada with America. I don't like when people ask me about my ethnicity right off the bat. And they never seem to like the answer when I do tell them. I guess they had another ethnicity in mind.


LOL...I hear ya. I just explain the whole thing in one shot so to get it out of the way. I mean...people are going to stereotype to some degree or another, I guess I help them start on the right path right away Confused
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nautilus



Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

People need a point of reference to put you in a box they can relate to in some way. Everyone does it...boring but there you go. I think the race thing is more important in the US because its such a racially "segregated" ( for want of a better word) society.
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Tiger Beer



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

browneyedgirl wrote:
It was funny to read this part,
Quote:
STRANGER: "Do you mind me asking where you're from?" [This is code for "What is your race?"]

ME: "Canada." [This is code for "screw off."]

STRANGER: "Yes, but you know, where are you really from?" [This is code for "You know what I mean, so why are you trying to make me come out and say it?"]

ME: "I come from the foreign and distance metropolis of Newmarket. That's Newmarket, Ont., my place of birth." [Code for "I'm not letting you off the hook, buster."]

STRANGER: "But your place of origin? Your parents? What are your parents?" [Code for, "I want to know your race but this is making me feel very uncomfortable because somehow I'm not supposed to ask that question."]

because that happens to me all the time--except replace Canada with America. I don't like when people ask me about my ethnicity right off the bat. And they never seem to like the answer when I do tell them. I guess they had another ethnicity in mind.


I was thinking the same thing. Everything replaced with the U.S. though.

Just as an aside, it was also interesting reading a Canadian newspaper using U.S. celebrities and using University of Santa Barbara and other American sources for almost everything, but then applying it towards the new mixed race Canadians.
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ajgeddes



Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tiger Beer wrote:
browneyedgirl wrote:
It was funny to read this part,
Quote:
STRANGER: "Do you mind me asking where you're from?" [This is code for "What is your race?"]

ME: "Canada." [This is code for "screw off."]

STRANGER: "Yes, but you know, where are you really from?" [This is code for "You know what I mean, so why are you trying to make me come out and say it?"]

ME: "I come from the foreign and distance metropolis of Newmarket. That's Newmarket, Ont., my place of birth." [Code for "I'm not letting you off the hook, buster."]

STRANGER: "But your place of origin? Your parents? What are your parents?" [Code for, "I want to know your race but this is making me feel very uncomfortable because somehow I'm not supposed to ask that question."]

because that happens to me all the time--except replace Canada with America. I don't like when people ask me about my ethnicity right off the bat. And they never seem to like the answer when I do tell them. I guess they had another ethnicity in mind.


I was thinking the same thing. Everything replaced with the U.S. though.

Just as an aside, it was also interesting reading a Canadian newspaper using U.S. celebrities and using University of Santa Barbara and other American sources for almost everything, but then applying it towards the new mixed race Canadians.


Well, at least they used 1 Canadian Wink . It's pretty common in Canada when reading an article of this sort to see sources from other countries. Why use just your own?
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browneyedgirl



Joined: 17 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alyallen wrote:

LOL...I hear ya. I just explain the whole thing in one shot so to get it out of the way. I mean...people are going to stereotype to some degree or another, I guess I help them start on the right path right away Confused


After you tell them, do they do the same, or just look at you very satisfied that you�ve answered all the questions they were planning on asking?


If someone never tells me their race then I�ll never ask.
It isn�t that I�m color-blind; it�s just that the answer doesn�t seem to fill any void. I�ll still want to know the same things about them, which basically means hanging out with them to see if we both have the same sense of humor.
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Alyallen



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

browneyedgirl wrote:
Alyallen wrote:

LOL...I hear ya. I just explain the whole thing in one shot so to get it out of the way. I mean...people are going to stereotype to some degree or another, I guess I help them start on the right path right away Confused


After you tell them, do they do the same, or just look at you very satisfied that you�ve answered all the questions they were planning on asking?


If someone never tells me their race then I�ll never ask.
It isn�t that I�m color-blind; it�s just that the answer doesn�t seem to fill any void. I�ll still want to know the same things about them, which basically means hanging out with them to see if we both have the same sense of humor.


They kind of go "OH!" and move on. I think I just answered what they wanted and were happy to move on from there.

I remember once I was asked where I was from while working at the MET. This was before my current policy, so I was sort of confused. All of a sudden, he says "Your parents are Jamaican." I kind of gawked at him and nodded and he walked away. Strangest thing ever....
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jinju



Joined: 22 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its a non-issue for me. Only stupid people make an issue of race.
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