Do you think Andrew Yang running for President will make white woman more interested in Asians?

[Contrarian Expatriate]

I think the one drop rule was applied broadly in 20th century. In 1800’s multi racial people were often classified as mulatto in many states, and from year 2000 the US census now allows people to define themselves as multi racial.

Mulatto is a grossly outdated term that is barely used these days in the USA. That is because biracial people classify themselves as ethnically black. What people like you fail to understand is that there can a huge difference in one's racial background and one's ethnic identity. Most biracial people in America who have mixed black and white parentage, consider themselves ethnically and are considered black regardless of how much European background they have. Your Meghan Markle is a rare exception that further proves the general rule.

As to your point about the multi-racial category, that actually proves my point further because the vast majority of people of half-black parentage identify themselves as black on the US Census. The multi-racial category is mostly used by Asian-White or Latino Asian and other people who do not fit neatly into the other categories. Just because the Census permits use of multi-racial, does not mean most people of partial African background choose to use it. This is what you do not get.

The majority of Americans did not view Obama as black (see pew center data cited in previous post), though Obama defined himself as black on census form.

If you ask most Americans if there will ever be a black US President, 99% of them will say that we already had one, Barack Obama. Those Pew Center results can be thrown in the trash because the way the questions are phrased gives skewed and often deception results. Historians will also view Obama as the first black President of the USA.

Meghan Markle defines herself as biracial and when she was in school, she refused to check the black or white ethnicity box when multi racial option was not avail. Her teachers told her to check the white box because they thought she looked white. Later, she was able to leverage her “racially ambiguous” identify and appearance for a wide variety of roles in Hollywood.

Meghan Markle does not identify herself as black (or white), nor is she legally classified as black. Since 2000 the US census has allowed for multi racial identity.

Meghan Markle does not determine how other biracial people define themselves. She is at most, an anomaly. Further, before you start talking about how she is legally defined racially, you should probably know more about what you are talking about. Despite how she defines herself, she could LEGALLY bring a successful action of racial discrimination in court based solely on her partially African racial background. So in that way, the law WOULD recognize her as black under certain circumstances.

Having one black parent does not automatically make you “ethnically black” on the census or in perception by others, though you’re free to identify yourself as such.

Because of the history and social custom of the US, having one black parent makes you ethnically black in the United States whether or not you indicate such on the Census or personally identify as such. In fact, more and more racially white people consider themselves ethnically black now. It is not so common yet, but whites who relate more with black culture than mainstream or white culture are identifying as black. Rachel Dolezal is one wacky example, but I have known many people (mostly women) like this over the years.

I think your problem is you, like most people, think that racial background determines your ethnic identity. It is more complex than that because again, 80% of blacks would have to indicate multi-racial instead of black on the US Census. I myself have many hundreds of thousands of Swiss, Scots-Irish, and English ancestors. When American people see me, they consider me black American which I have no problem with. However, since I no longer consider myself very American at all, I actually tell people overseas that I am Swiss when they ask and they accept it immediately with no further questions oddly enough. Why Swiss? Because when I say I am Swiss, people have a much better ideal of my personality and inclinations than if I say I am American which tends to bring out the worst in other people.

[momopi]

Meghan Markle does not determine how other biracial people define themselves. She is at most, an anomaly. Further, before you start talking about how she is legally defined racially, you should probably know more about what you are talking about. Despite how she defines herself, she could LEGALLY bring a successful action of racial discrimination in court based solely on her partially African racial background. So in that way, the law WOULD recognize her as black under certain circumstances.

Meghan Markle “could” bring a successful suit on racial discrimination because Federal law defines black Americans as “persons having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa” without specific % DNA requirement. But to qualify for minority or ethnic status when applying for government benefits you must be “visibly identifiable” as a member of a minority or ethnic group. When someone took a DNA test and tried to use it to qualify for minority benefits, he was rejected because the court decided that he was not “visibly identifiable” as a member of that minority group.

In Orion Insurance Group vs Washington State case the court ruled that Mr Taylor’s submitted evidence (including DNA evidence) does not establish him, who is visually identifiable as Caucasian, is a member of a minority group, or regarded as a member of a minority group despite being 0.7% Sub-Saharan African. Thus the “one drop rule” did not entitle him to black minority status. But others have been successful in court in cases like college admissions, where students use their DNA test to apply as an ethnic minority.

With Native Americans they use “persons who are enrolled members of a federally or State recognized tribe” as qualifier. Except each tribal nation can make their own rules on who qualifies. So overall the legal status can be kinda arbitrary.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

Meghan Markle does not determine how other biracial people define themselves. She is at most, an anomaly. Further, before you start talking about how she is legally defined racially, you should probably know more about what you are talking about. Despite how she defines herself, she could LEGALLY bring a successful action of racial discrimination in court based solely on her partially African racial background. So in that way, the law WOULD recognize her as black under certain circumstances.

So overall the legal status can be kinda arbitrary.

On that we can agree. BTW, Markle has had cosmetic surgeries and routinely treats her hair to appear more European. Her look in her pre-Hollywood days is more indicative of her African racial lineage. She was then unmistakably what is commonly referred to as a light-skinned black woman in black America.

[momopi]

On that we can agree. BTW, Markle has had cosmetic surgeries and routinely treats her hair to appear more European. Her look in her pre-Hollywood days is more indicative of her African racial lineage. She was then unmistakably what is commonly referred to as a light-skinned black woman in black America.

Agreed. I hesitated to say that Markle would be a role model for biracial children because of cinderella complex (marrying a prince). But her being light skinned and "racially ambiguous" apperance is like an elephant in the room.

[momopi]

Here's some background info on the sad story of the girls of "Chocolat" that I mentioned earlier.

In the late 2000's, Paramount Music Entertainment decided to put together a girl group in S. Korea with biracial members. The girls started training when they were 14-16 and debuted in 2011. They were not very successful and on the top 100 chart rankings, their songs came in the 80's range. The audience was not receptive of the "biracial girls" gimmick and the company kept telling the girls that they needed to look/act more Korean and less American. Other performers also mostly ignored them with "you're not one of us" mentality. This unfortunately had a very negative impact on the young girl's self image, and one of the girls ended up doing self harm (lock herself in room and cut herself). The group went inactive in 2013-2014 and eventually disbanded.

I actually liked their songs:



There is also discrimination against dark skinned girls in the industry. So when YG debuted a new group "Blackpink", they made Lisa Manoban who is 100% Thai and darker skinned, look like this:



Before and after:




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Fast forward to present day, the industry and fanbase has gotten a little more accepting. Jeon Somi, who is obviously biracial, was in "Produce 101" reality show for Kpop trainee's, received the most votes from Korean audience and was ranked #1 (out of 101 contestants). She also made many friends in the industry, including top tier stars who congratulated her when she debuted as a solo artist this year.




Also, when Sorn from Thailand debuted with CLC, they were fine with her being darker skinned. She still use a lot of BB cream on stage however:






More recently, Priyanka (India) in Z-Girls:






It's kinda sad that the girls of Chocolat didn't arrive on the scene 10 years later, when they'd have been better accepted. Because they came at the wrong time they disbanded early and end up broke and in therapy.