Ashley Graham and her husband, Justin Ervin

Soulthinker said:
In Europe it is true since Black Americans and Brits have a lot more Euro ancestry and some looked more lighter than the biracial children of Africans.
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Ok, I know for the two African American/German kids I know it is true. Their mums are already light and probably have some white recessive genes, so in their case it's true. However,
1. Very few mixed kids have African American parents over here. I'd say more than 90% of mixed kids have an African parent.
2. It could as well be wrong, because like I said some Afro German kids are also really light, and some African American German kids could be dark. I know a Nigerian German boy with blonde hair. So I find those skin colour categories difficult to sustain.
 
ColiBreh1 said:
Uhhhh.....I've seen enough Instagram/social media pics to know that they're plenty of lightskin & biracial women in Africa.
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I would think South Africa has the highes percentage of mixed people in Africa. Think Trevor Noah. As for light-skinned people, yes there are light skinned people with no European ancestors. Two caveats on social media pics of Africans: They like to take pics with loads of extra lighting and flash to make them look way lighter than in real life. Trust me. I have seen it a lot with people I know what they look like in real life. Secondly, African women are specialists in the use of bleaching creams. They come out looking way lighter than they would usually look. Especially those beauty obsessed Instagram babes.
 
Madeleine said:
I don't know if I'd say they are many....
Maybe in Sierra Leone and Liberia, for historic reasons. All the others along the West African coast tend to be mostly really dark, like Senegalese, Guineans, Ghanaians etc.
One ethnic group famous for light skin without having "white ancestors" are the Igbos of Nigeria. Many have that light brown/yellowish skin tone (without being mixed). When I think of light skin tone on black people I don't think of half black, half white, that's a different issue to me. Maybe half-black, half-white people are "black" in American society, but they are "white" in Africa. My kids are "oyinbo" in Nigeria, but black in America. I never understood why mixed people are even called "black" in America. They could as well be white. Lets call them dark skinned white people. Or let them call themselves whatever they want. My 4 year old son recently asked my husband "Why are you a black man?" So he explained to him that there are different types of people with different skin colour and he comes from a country where everyone is black like him. So they talked about that for a while and in the end I asked my son, what about you are you also black? He.looked at me baffled, broke into laughter and said " no Mama, I'm white".
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Do you live in the UK???

The reason most mixed people with a Black parent in the United States identify as Black is because White society doesn't let someone with Black ancestry and African features the luxury of claiming to be White.

It's the same in most European countries as well.

If you didn't know your son and saw him at a daycare center, would you assume he was a little White or Black boy???

I'm just curious.

BTW I pulled that, 'Why are you Black, mom??' crap when I was about the same age as your son, and she responded succinctly, '..Because you're Black.'lol

At the time we lived in a mostly White community and I was having identity issues. Kids IMO need to be taught a strong sense of self so they can grow up loving and respecting themselves and others.
 
Madeleine said:
I don't know if I'd say they are many....
Maybe in Sierra Leone and Liberia, for historic reasons. All the others along the West African coast tend to be mostly really dark, like Senegalese, Guineans, Ghanaians etc.
One ethnic group famous for light skin without having "white ancestors" are the Igbos of Nigeria. Many have that light brown/yellowish skin tone (without being mixed). When I think of light skin tone on black people I don't think of half black, half white, that's a different issue to me. Maybe half-black, half-white people are "black" in American society, but they are "white" in Africa. My kids are "oyinbo" in Nigeria, but black in America. I never understood why mixed people are even called "black" in America. They could as well be white. Lets call them dark skinned white people. Or let them call themselves whatever they want. My 4 year old son recently asked my husband "Why are you a black man?" So he explained to him that there are different types of people with different skin colour and he comes from a country where everyone is black like him. So they talked about that for a while and in the end I asked my son, what about you are you also black? He.looked at me baffled, broke into laughter and said " no Mama, I'm white".
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Yes, you are right in correcting me. I should have said some are the result of mixing with Europeans who arrived on the coast.
And our perspective on what is white or black depends on where we are living. Who is black or white might mean something completely different in Brazil.
I'm often wondering why people refer to Barack Obama as black, when he is of mixed black and white parents.
We are too quick to define people.
 
andreboba said:
Do you live in the UK???

The reason most mixed people with a Black parent in the United States identify as Black is because White society doesn't let someone with Black ancestry and African features the luxury of claiming to be White.

It's the same in most European countries as well.

If you didn't know your son and saw him at a daycare center, would you assume he was a little White or Black boy???

I'm just curious.

BTW I pulled that, 'Why are you Black, mom??' crap when I was about the same age as your son, and she responded succinctly, '..Because you're Black.'lol

At the time we lived in a mostly White community and I was having identity issues. Kids IMO need to be taught a strong sense of self so they can grow up loving and respecting themselves and others.
Click to expand...
Well, I'm in Germany and the good thing is we don't have that long history of black people living with us so we don't yet have many of the hang ups that exist in other countries. Secondly, no people don't automatically think he's black when he's at the daycare. He could be an Arab or Spanish. So if he wants to call himself white for now I'll just leave him. He can decide that as he grows up. It's important for bicultural children to be in touch with both their parents' background and languages and we want to make sure they know where they come from from both sides. My son has never had any issues with other people about how he looks and so on so I don't want to talk him into issues he doesn't have. If he wants a label from me what he is, I'll tell him he's mixed or Afro German. I won't tell him "My son, you are black!" That's just ridiculous. After all wasn't it me who carried him in my belly for 9 months?

Do you live in the UK? Somehow I thought you were in the US. Lol@ your mum's answer. Well, if I had white kids, I'd just tell them I'm white and you are white period. Wouldn't want to raise another Rachel Dolezal;-))
 
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sarah23 said:
Yes, you are right in correcting me. I should have said some are the result of mixing with Europeans who arrived on the coast.
And our perspective on what is white or black depends on where we are living. Who is black or white might mean something completely different in Brazil.
I'm often wondering why people refer to Barack Obama as black, when he is of mixed black and white parents.
We are too quick to define people.
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Thought the same thing about Barack Obama.
 
Skaddix said:
Paper Bag test...if you are lighter then the standard store paper bag, your light if not your dark.

I suppose it can be defined as moving from brown to black.
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I thought that was if you were lighter than the paper bag you were considered to be not black and if you were darker than the paper bag you were black.
 
There are people in the US who are biracial who are much darker than people who are not. There are people of all different hues that are biracial, and of all different hues who are not. The same could be said in other countries. There are those from Africa who are lighter than those in the US. I think we all know families where there is a huge array of different skin tones within the same family with the same genetics.

This statement, "When you see a lighter biracial person they are either from the US or UK. If darker Africa." has absolutely NO merit.
 
Madeleine said:
Well, I'm in Germany and the good thing is we don't have that long history of black people living with us so we don't yet have many of the hang ups that exist in other countries. Secondly, no people don't automatically think he's black when he's at the daycare. He could be an Arab or Spanish. So if he wants to call himself white for now I'll just leave him. He can decide that as he grows up. It's important for bicultural children to be in touch with both their parents' background and languages and we want to make sure they know where they come from from both sides. My son has never had any issues with other people about how he looks and so on so I don't want to talk him into issues he doesn't have. If he wants a label from me what he is, I'll tell him he's mixed or Afro German. I won't tell him "My son, you are black!" That's just ridiculous. After all wasn't it me who carried him in my belly for 9 months?

Do you live in the UK? Somehow I thought you were in the US. Lol@ your mum's answer. Well, if I had white kids, I'd just tell them I'm white and you are white period. Wouldn't want to raise another Rachel Dolezal;-))
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No, I'm in the U.S. I just wondered where you lived.
 
andreboba said:
No, I'm in the U.S. I just wondered where you lived.
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I see. What's important for my kids is that their German is absolutely spotless. People need to recognize after one word that they aren't foreigners but native speakers in spite of their exotic look. So they won't get that foreigner stamp.
Secondly I didn't want a name for them that is too exotic or not pronouncable for Germans. Those were the important factors. The first part has worked out well, the second so-so. :)
 
K said:
There are people in the US who are biracial who are much darker than people who are not. There are people of all different hues that are biracial, and of all different hues who are not. The same could be said in other countries. There are those from Africa who are lighter than those in the US. I think we all know families where there is a huge array of different skin tones within the same family with the same genetics.

This statement, "When you see a lighter biracial person they are either from the US or UK. If darker Africa." has absolutely NO merit.
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Yeah I prefer talking about different cultures rather than different skin tones. It's more interesting and it's something human beings can actually influence. I also prefer to say I have a bicultural family/marriage because that's where I have seen issues arising, when they were any, not from our different skin colours. Hope that makes sense.
 
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andreboba said:
Actress Micah Leonard from this Avon commercial is light.
So are Rihanna, Steph Curry and Zazie Beetz, Don Glover's GF on Atlanta.
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I define 'light' if you're one of those Black folk who get noticeably paler during the winter time.lol

BUt seriously, there's a range for light skinned Black people. Jada Pinkett Smith used to be much lighter skinned, but it seems like living out in Cali for a couple decades has browned her up a little bit. Her husband is light too.
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I definitely wouldn't expect the first lady to be 80-85 percent black....interesting. They are both obviously black but the first is quite light as well.
 
Madeleine said:
I see. What's important for my kids is that their German is absolutely spotless. People need to recognize after one word that they aren't foreigners but native speakers in spite of their exotic look. So they won't get that foreigner stamp.
Secondly I didn't want a name for them that is too exotic or not pronouncable for Germans. Those were the important factors. The first part has worked out well, the second so-so. :)
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This is where some immigrants make a big mistake. Some like the Asians make a big effort to learn the language and to integrate.
Others believe it is better to remain like their former compatriots.
 
Beasty said:
I definitely wouldn't expect the first lady to be 80-85 percent black....interesting. They are both obviously black but the first is quite light as well.
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I looked up her instagram and found out her father is White.

It's hard to find light skinned Black celebs who have two light skinned Black parents, although IRL I see it all the time.
 
Madeleine said:
Ok, I know for the two African American/German kids I know it is true. Their mums are already light and probably have some white recessive genes, so in their case it's true. However,
1. Very few mixed kids have African American parents over here. I'd say more than 90% of mixed kids have an African parent.
2. It could as well be wrong, because like I said some Afro German kids are also really light, and some African American German kids could be dark. I know a Nigerian German boy with blonde hair. So I find those skin colour categories difficult to sustain.
Click to expand...
Yes,I believe you since the genes of those Germans in the colonies 100 years are still in some of the tribes there.
 
Soulthinker said:
When you see a lighter biracial person they are either from the US or UK. If darker Africa.
Click to expand...

ColiBreh1 said:
Uhhhh.....I've seen enough Instagram/social media pics to know that they're plenty of lightskin & biracial women in Africa.
Click to expand...

Madeleine said:
I would think South Africa has the highes percentage of mixed people in Africa. Think Trevor Noah. As for light-skinned people, yes there are light skinned people with no European ancestors. Two caveats on social media pics of Africans: They like to take pics with loads of extra lighting and flash to make them look way lighter than in real life. Trust me. I have seen it a lot with people I know what they look like in real life. Secondly, African women are specialists in the use of bleaching creams. They come out looking way lighter than they would usually look. Especially those beauty obsessed Instagram babes.
Click to expand...

More than North Africa?
 
ColiBreh1 said:
More than North Africa?
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Sorry, I just mentally left out the northern African countries (the Maghreb) because to me they are Arabs. I was just thinking of Sub-Saharan Africa. But I understand that division is debatable. For instance where do we put the Touareg and other Berber peoples? It's gradually becoming an anthropological research paper.;)
 
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