Comments on: I Am Not A Mutt

By: ella

ella — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:28:15 +0000

BTW, in the UK the ‘mixed race’ category on the census has been availible for almost 10 years, so I don’t understand why America doesn’t have it. It’s divided up further for white and Jamaican black, white and Asian etc.

By: ella

ella — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:25:57 +0000

There is obviously much self-loathing here. I’m mixed race but he seems to be implying that black women are not as beautiful as more European-looking mixed race women, which saddens me. I also find the term ‘mutt’ very derogatory and he’s implying we’re all only good for one thing. It’s pathetic. I used to have a grudging respect for Mr West but I’m not sure now.

By: racism against light skin biracial and black people

racism against light skin biracial and black people — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:59:01 +0000

Kanye West should not use the word mutt.I’m black and light(yellow)skin.I had lived in Philadelpia(7th poorest US city,blacks are the majority)for many years.In Philly many brown and dark skin black young adults prefer,date and marry only brown and dark skin blacks.I lived in cities that weren’t like this.My light(yellow)skin and brown skin cousins lived in some zipcodes in Philly that have many sex offenders and none of the black men would date my light skin cousin and many black men wanted to date my brown skin cousin.There are few light(yellow)skin and brown or darker skinned black young adult couples in Philly.

By: monisola

monisola — Thu, 03 May 2007 18:06:00 +0000

After reading your explanation of the Caribbean race/color classifications, I was reminded of something that I have wondered for years. Living in NYC I am surrounded by people from the Caribbean. At times I have found myself, a dark-skinned woman, being addressed as “Darkie”. I wonder do Caribbean people who use the term mean it in a derogative way. Ironically, while in Trinidad perhaps this term bears no negative connotation, in America “Darkie” is an insult used by white people to belittle black people. Kanye’s statement offends all black and multiracial women equally, but I think the bigger picture is that Black people, for some reason, feel compelled to group themselves into skin color categories as well as address people by these same categorical labels. This type of thinking is exactly what started the paper bag test. As far as I am concerned if your hair is that of a black person’s then you are black. For those “white” people who strangely have kinky hair, that’s just their roots showing.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:12:57 +0000

I don’t want to be called mulatto, I don’t want to be called a mutt. I don’t belong to the African American people, because, like so many people said above- Kanye doesn’t put the darker skinned girls in his video. If part of my own people cannot except me- then how could I ever see myself fitting in to the status quo group. This is why young multi-racial kids are wanting to create a space for themselves. At every turn people are insinuating that you are unclean, impure, and the product of sin because of your heritage. And FRANKLY, if any of you have listened to the Video Girls song you would not want your “racial group” to be the one called out. He is saying that video women are nothing more than people he can sleep and throw a bathing suit at and film.

Come on people we need to get it together. What the heck.

By: Mkabayi

Mkabayi — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 06:03:23 +0000

It never ceases to amaze me how some people of African decent will claim every other race on the planet bar the one they most obviously belong to. Case in point, 99% of the replies above.

By: vendetta920

vendetta920 — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 07:00:56 +0000

Kanye & Richards are two pieces of work. Nothing to get upset about because this is the state of America! As for what I consider myself…human! I’m of a diverse background all of which I look nothing like therefore leaving me with the obvious choice BLACK. At times if available I check black hispanic or other.I see it like this I’m aware how I’m viewed but I won’t lie about my hertiage for anyone!!!

By: Mya

Mya — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 03:16:39 +0000

I’m a mixed trinidadian girl myself and many a time I’ve described myself as a mutt though not to use that word specifically..more often pothound. The connotations never seemed negative to me – just a description and i daresay a humourous one at that. Hell as far as i’m concerned mixed breed dogs (i don’t consider it equating myself to a dog either- just a point of comparison) are just as lovable as any other so i never considered it describing myself as being less than – just different. KW on the other hand – he’s an idiot; i’ve never been able to appreciate his special brand of idiocy and in his context the usage definitely comes across as pejorative. Sadly in his case because of his ignorance of the notion of artistic responsibility his large following of spongebrained fools will also perpetuate the usage and the bam – 5 steps back for us all as women and as non-whites.
Also, i read several people above talking about how sad it makes them feel when people seem to claim every other part of their racial makeup except for the black. As proud people who consider themselves racially and ethnically black i can appreciate your point of view, but i think it’s important to appreciate as well the power of ethnicity, by which i mean the influence of the particular culture in which you were raised that in many cases informs the identity.By this i mean – it’s not necessarily out of some misguided shame that they do it; they simply don’t identify with black culture and black history in such a way as to consider it part of themselves.
I for instance am so mixed that everyone calls me something different. I can walk through Port-of-Spain on any one morning and be called “Reds”, “Douglah”, “Haquai” and “Spanish”. At UWI, quite often Indian folks quicker claim me as Indian and Afro-Trinidadians are always quicker to disclaim me. And it’s definitely not because i hang out with or chat with Indian folks any more than anyone else.
My mother is mixed Indian and French, She just looks like a fair indian and her hair is slightly wavy. My dad is also mixed, but far more so than my mother. He just looks like a typical fair skinned red man with curly hair. He has quite a bit of European heritage, white from England on his dad’s side as well as Spaniards on his mum’s. He also has Indian on both sides as well as black on his dad’s, though it’s apparantly so far up that no one can seem to identify who was the particular black individual.
My parents divorced when i was 3 or so and i grew up with my mother’s family and my stepfather’s shortly thereafter.My stepdad is haquai and his family has retained some Chinese culture. My mother’s family still has many Indian values. Mixed as i am racially, i still identify ethnically with the Indian and the Chinese (and I’m not even Chinese!).
It’s not so much a matter of me trying to avoid my blackness, or separate myself from it – it’s simply not a culture that i’ve known intimately and so i don’t identify with it very much. I will not check black simply because i am not white, nor will i do it simply because of the whole one drop issue.On forms that don’t have a checkbox or other, or mixed, i make one. I don’t have a problem with the fact that some one of, or some of my ancestors were from Africa and were slaves, nor do i hide it – it’s just not something that has played a particularly significant role in making me who i am today.
My long convoluted point is basically that you don’t always need to feel sorry for mixed people who don’t consider themselves black..or consider them uninformed and conforming to societal racial pressure. Sometimes, their self concept is just different to your perception of them.

I talk too much. Sorry.

By: blackviolet

blackviolet — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 17:21:16 +0000

My father is a Black St. Lucian and my mother is a Black American. And our fmaily tree reflects England, St. Lucia, Native Americans and China. Growing up my sister and I always thought of ourselves as Black. We only questioned it when we were told by other kids that we were mixed and therefore, weren’t Black. Now, we recognize our beautiful dark skin and the cultures that intertwined to create us and we call ourselves Black. My husband is a White man and our son is a lovely mixed baby who will be raised to love and respect everything about himself and the cultures that intertwined to create him. Kanye West is a disappointment.

By: Coffy

Coffy — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:28:42 +0000

@ NeglectedTarBaby,you are so right about throwing in the the dark brown girl to tone down the brightness, i thought i was the only one who noticed that. i guess once we get secure with ourselves these images in the media don’t hurt just disappoint.