Mixed: beaten for looking "too white" - The Race Card Project

Mixed: beaten for looking "too white" - The Race Card Project

Tonight makes three years since my assault. There was blood on the sidewalk when I walked to work this morning. Three people were just shot a mile away. I can’t make sense of this violence, why we turn inwards and hurt each other.

- See more at: http://theracecardproject.com/mixed-beaten-for-looking-too-white/#sthash.pVnnat36.dpuf

Faces of Loving: Life as an Interracial Couple in Contemporary America

Zebulon Miletsky
@BlackBiracial

A good friend of mine, Patrick Jones, who is a noted historian of race and teaches African-American history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was asked by a reporter to lend his thoughts about what it felt like to live as an inter-racial couple in contemporary America for the Lincoln Journal Star. Patrick lives in Omaha with his wife, Andrea, who is African-American, and their daughter, Zora. Patrick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He researches, writes and teaches about the civil rights/Black Power era, America in the 1960s, race relations, urban inequality, social movements, electoral politics, African American experience in the "Jazz Age," and post-WWII American popular culture and is the author of an award-winning book, The Selma of the North: Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee. His wife, Andrea, is a physician, and a native of Omaha. She comes from a interracial family herself and is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she attended for her undergraduate degree as well as an M.D. Although the newspaper only published a portion of his comments, here is the full version of what Patrick wrote to JoAnne Young, the reporter, when she asked him to give some thoughts:


Our experience as an inter-racial couple in contemporary Omaha is no doubt dramatically different than most inter-racial couples prior to 1963. My wife and I do not confront the same overt challenges in housing, banking, medical care, etc., that those of a previous generation did. Nor do we face a popular culture that is as demeaning or disapproving of inter-racial relationships as they faced, though stereotypes and opposition do continue to exist. We live in the midst of a demographic transformation taking place in the United States that signals the rise of a truly multi-racial, multi-ethnic and global America. So, we operate in a very different context, a very different world, and a radically different historical moment, than those who came before us.

It is also important to acknowledge and factor in from the get-go that we are not a "typical" inter-racial couple, whatever that is. I am white and my wife is "bi-racial" (her mom is white and her dad is African American), though she would self-identify as African-American much of the time. The preponderance of inter-racial marriages in the United States are between white women and black men. That calculus matters and no doubt distinguishes our experience from many other black-white inter-racial relationships. In addition, my wife and I are both professional people, adding whatever meaning that class dynamic might have in all of this. I am an Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and my wife is a second year family medicine resident at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Because of what I do, I am much more explicit, overt and public about issues of race than my wife is. She prefers a quieter, more private, less-confrontational, negotiated route. I am a historian. She is a scientist. We are both proud of and try to honor the whole savory ethnic and cultural stew that makes up who we are, as individuals and as a family, a stew that includes, African, German, Irish, Polish, Welsh, Lebanese, French and who knows what else. We have our own, peculiar journey through these issues. Race and ethnicity is an important dynamic of who we are, how we understand the world and how that world does or does not reach back to us... but it is not the only dynamic, nor is it often a determinative factor in our life together, as it might have been in the past. Is our experience comparable to anyone else's? I dunno. All I can say is that it is our experience.


My wife and I rarely feel that our inter-racial-ness is at the forefront of our social experience, let alone an obstacle to us as a couple, or family. Sure, we have specific moments: The shifty looks or peculiar behavior that are hard to interpret, but which raise that extra-sensory caution in your mind; the white friend that confides in us that his working-class father would not approve of our marriage; the African American friend who tells me over lunch that he is only now [in his 40s] becoming more accepting of inter-racial relationships, in large measure because his teenage children, who are much more multi-racial in their outlook than he is, are beginning to date; the well-meaning, but strange, comments white people make about how "naturally beautiful" multi-racial children are; the (patronizing) unearned props, or cool points, we are sometimes given as an inter-racial couple, just because we are an inter-racial couple; or, the uncomfortable stories that have come up from time to time at family gatherings about relatives who were racist. And, who knows what goes on behind the curtain, or beyond our gaze, what people say or do when we are not there? That is beyond our control, so we do not dwell too much on it. Certainly, as a "white guy who does race" as a scholar, teacher and citizen, I sometimes contend with dismissive or attacking remarks by colleagues and community-members challenging my perspective, authority or intent because I "married black," or because my wife did not. There are a lot of political, cultural and historical issues at work in each of these reactions that require deeper exploration than is possible here. In general, we accept the occasional moments where our inter-racial-ness becomes salient in our social interactions as a part of the reality of our life in the United States in this particular historical moment and try to work through them as they arise. We are fortunate to have a wonderful multi-racial circle of friends and family who are strong and loyal in their support of our relationship. On balance, the diversity of our combined history is far and away a great asset, a source of joy, pride and wisdom.



We do feel strongly that there are important parallels between our history as an inter-racial couple and the struggle it took to get full marriage equality across the color line, and the contemporary, on-going struggle for full marriage equality for gays and lesbians. In fact, we wrote and printed in our wedding program the following statement that expresses our core sentiments on the issue and how we see it relating to inter-racial relationships:




A special note from the bride & groom: It is with so much joy that we have gathered here today to celebrate our union together in love and happiness. We are deeply grateful to all of you for being a part of this ceremony and for the unconditional support each of you has extended to us as our (unorthodox) relationship has grown from a vulnerable, green shoot poking through fertile soil into a strong and mighty tree, rooted firmly in the ground, reaching its various branches toward the limitless sky. We understand that our individual relationship is strengthened and nurtured by this community of support. As an interracial couple, we are well aware of the (recent) troubled, discriminatory history of marriage in the United States, both in civil law and within various religious traditions. We are mindful that many thousands before us were not afforded the freedom to pursue their love as their hearts dictated. We are conscious that many paid a cost, sometimes with their lives, for the love they shared across the color line. Today, as we consecrate our own love before you, we pay special, living tribute to Mildred and Richard Loving, whose courageous actions led to the historic 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia, which declared state laws barring inter-racial relationships unconstitutional. We are also acutely aware on this day, as we celebrate our love together, that many of our fellow-citizens are still unable to enjoy the same rights and privileges. With this in mind, we want to make clear that we stand in solidarity with the idea that the basis of marriage is the love, fidelity and commitment shared between two people, regardless of race, gender or sexuality. We stand in solidarity with all of those struggling for full civil and spiritual equality for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. God’s love is limitless and includes everyone. We believe that all of the diversity in the world is a part of God’s grand mosaic of life, and invested with the same basic dignity. We are proud and humbled to be a part of a spiritual community at First United Methodist Church that is open and affirming, a prophetic voice for justice, equality and the transformative power of love. And, at the root of our celebration today is LOVE, the most profound, creative and just force in the universe. Yet, we live in a world torn by inequality, poverty, violence and war. On our special day of love and union, we would like to raise up a prayer for peace and justice in our personal relationships, in our national policies and priorities and in the interactions of people and societies across the globe. May the joy we feel today flow outward into the world as a healing force of truth and wisdom. May the energy created through our union and the loving circle of family and friends gathered here, inspire each of us to celebrate our human diversity and work toward alleviating inequality, poverty and injustice, and finally ending the human tragedy of war. This is our prayer for this day.

The Family Jones

[Editor's Note:] Shortly after having written this the Jones family recently posted this message and picture in solidarity with an interracial family which was being terrorized in nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa. "Extremely distressing development just across the river from Omaha in Council Bluffs where it appears that a bi-racial couple had their home burned down in a hate crime. 'Authorities say it's clear it was a hate crime because a racial slur was spray-painted in the living room of the house...'" Council Bluffs arson victims shocked to be target of possible hate crime - Omaha.com

Walter Francis White, 1893-1955

Walter Francis White (July 1, 1893 – March 21, 1955) was an American civil rights activist who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for almost a quarter of a century and directed a broad program of legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement. Light skinned enough to pass for white, he used his ability to pass to investigate lynchings of blacks in the South.

He was also a journalist, novelist, and essayist. He graduated in 1916 from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University), a historically black college.

In 1918 he joined the small national staff of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in New York at the invitation of James Weldon Johnson. He acted as Johnson's assistant national secretary and traveled to the South to investigate. White later succeeded Johnson as the head of the NAACP, leading the organization from 1931 to 1955.

White oversaw the plans and organizational structure of the fight against publicsegregation. He worked with President Truman on desegregating the armed forces after the Second World War and gave him a draft for the Executive Order to implement this. Under White's leadership, the NAACP set up the Legal Defense Fund, which raised numerous legal challenges to segregation anddisfranchisement, and achieved many successes. Among these was the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education(1954), which determined that segregated education was inherently unequal. White also quintupled NAACP membership to nearly 500,000.^[1]

The Cheerios Debate: Was it Hate for Race Mixing or Just Plain Old Racism?

First, on the racism that was spewed on the internet in response to a cheerios advertisement which featured a black and white couple and their biracial daughter as casually and normally as commercials have always depicted all white perfect suburban families and more recently all-black and latino ones, I think it's a reminder both that post-racial America is a myth -- there is still racism and the internet and social media, because of their anonymity, has sadly more than demonstrated that - but it's also a reminder to mixed race folks that the racism is anti-black first and foremost, not necessary anti- mixed. And to push this as a potential "mixed race" galvanizing issue -- targeting interracial families is short sighted. In other words, this is not mixed race racism .. It is at end of day, as Jared Sexton calls Antiblackness.

It is not and has never been enough to simply tell the truth about Mixed Race in America and be effective in convincing folks about our struggle as multiracials... This was evidenced not only in the reflective "truth" of the cheerios ad, which came out just on the heels of the news that more Americans now consider themselves multiracial than ever before, but also around the celebration of so-called "Loving Day" which celebrates the interracial marriage of Mildred and Richard Loving.

Loving Day is an annual celebration held on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen U.S. states.  In the United States, anti-miscegenation laws were U.S. state laws banning interracial marriage, mainly forbidding marriage between non-whites and whites. The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, who had been sentenced to a year in prison.  The decision was followed by an increase in interracial marriages in the U.S., although not necessarily all "black/white" ones, and is remembered annually on Loving Day, June 12th.

The Lovings were arrested in Virginia for supposedly having violated the state's anti-miscegenation statute, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as "colored." The Supreme Court's unanimous decision held this prohibition was unconstitutional, overturning Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States.  The story is quite complicated and mixed race activists have been trying to find ways to teach this history to everyday Americans.

But is simply telling the truth of this monumental achievement enough to pierce the consciousness of most Americans?   Mixing has been going on so long and it's like-- nothing, not a dent. How can we fit the struggle into a tweet, or a soundbite as they used to say? It is an important question because the message about what this struggle has been about is finally starting to get through... Thanks largely I might add to what Steven F. Riley has done with Mixed Race Studies.org. What I would like to know is what can we do to get more black folk supportive of things like Loving Day because if all of this were about the "truth", then approximately 85% of the African-American population should be supportive of Loving Day, multiracialism, checking both boxes on the census, and half the other things we talk about in this group -- since that is roughly the population of African Anericans mixed with some other race-- hence multiracial. Yet, as we know, many (though not all) African-Anericans largely ignore these kinds of efforts or are unsupportive at best, unless they themselves are first-gen mixed or are in interracial relationships. How do we fit that into a tweet? Because until this movement finds a way to tie itself to blackness in a way that resonates and excites in the larger black community, it will always be at odds with some very long standing and important forces in our society. Yes, better believe it. We need to continue to find creative ways to push this work and sadly, the slippery "truth" as Fanshen Cox called it may not always be completely at the heart of it. And, actually, as Andrew Jolivette has pointed out, epistemologically speaking, it is not incorrect to say that Loving made interracial marriage in the US legal. I think to NOT say it that way also undermines the struggle of the Lovings.

Marcia Alesan Dawkins: Giving Loving Day Its Due

Original Article:Marcia Alesan Dawkins: Giving Loving Day Its Due - Truthdig

Giving Loving Day Its Due

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Posted on Jun 11, 2011

Associated Press

Namesakes: Mildred Loving and her husband Richard in 1965.

By Marcia Alesan Dawkins

If you’re reading this, then you’ve probably been invited to commemorate or at least think about Loving Day this year. And with good reason. In 1958, newlyweds Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving were indicted on charges of violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages and were banished from their home state. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the law in 1967.

Many multiracial individuals and interracial couples celebrate the anniversary of the Loving v. Virginiadecision, June 12, as Loving Day. While celebrating this important civil rights milestone, we should remember that increased visibility of interracial couples and offspring does not promise increased racial harmony. Let’s face facts. It’s very sexy to congratulate ourselves based on reports that today’s interracial families can live harmoniously in the former Confederacy. We’re entertained as we watch Khloe and Lamar’s relationship work out. It makes us feel good to think that we have overcome, that we have reached a state of racial harmony and that we are all finally equal—and becoming equally beige and beautiful.

But a desire to congratulate ourselves doesn’t erase the fact that racial mixing has been occurring in our nation and hemisphere for more than 500 years. Colonists and indigenous people married and engaged in extramarital sexual relations. White indentured servants mixed with African indentured servants and then with African slaves. And there’s a long history of black freedmen and freedwomen intermarrying with Native Americans, as well as white males (often forcibly) having sex with black females. There are the interracial children fathered by U.S. soldiers and born to foreign lovers and “comfort women” in war-torn Asian and Middle Eastern nations. Add this to centuries’ worth of Asian and Hispanic immigration and 40 years’ worth of official interracial marriage patterns and you have what many might call the recipe for a melting pot where race doesn’t matter.

Sadly, this isn’t the case. 

Think about it. If the mere presence of interracial intimacy was enough to bring about racial harmony, it would have happened long ago. Instead, laws were passed to keep races apart. Punishments, including fines, imprisonment and death, were instituted to keep people from crossing the color line. Loving Day is a time for us to celebrate that many of these laws and punishments have been overturned—and it’s also a time to remember that the racism inspiring such laws and punishments lives on in many communities. As Diane Farr put it recently, some of us continue the interracial struggle having “been told there was a right and an ‘over my dead body’ [racial] choice for love.”

Some of us have been told that there is a right and wrong gender choice for love too. In light of this, Loving Day is not just a commemorative anniversary for heterosexual interracial families and multiracial individuals. Loving Day is increasingly celebrated by supporters of same-sex marriage—a right that Mildred Jeter-Loving supported in her later years. Currently same-sex marriage is permitted in five of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, even though the Williams Institute reports that 9 million adults identify as LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender]. Compare that 9 million to the 9 million people in the 2010 census who identified themselves as being of two or more races and you’ll see that we’re talking about a population that deserves just as much attention and acceptance. Unfortunately, reliable data about how many LBGT people are multiracial or are partners in interracial romantic relationships is hard to find. However, discussions about Loving Day, multiracial identities and interracial romantic relationship issues are taking place within LGBT communities. Loving Day communities should return the favor.

As we celebrate Loving Day, we might also remember that some people choose not to have interracial romantic relationships and that this choice does not necessarily make them racists. Take singer-actress Jill Scott. About a year ago Scott came under fire forconfessing that she sometimes winces in her spirit when she hears about black male-white female romantic relationships. Let’s add a bit of context here. Discrimination and violence have resulted in unequal racial populations and beauty standards. Our history of slavery, lynching and imprisonment has had a disproportionate effect on black males as a demographic. Black women face particular challenges when it comes to being considered beautiful candidates for long-term relationships. While many of us may not agree with Scott’s comments, it is important to acknowledge her perspective in context. That way we can create a space where it’s safe to escape our comfort zones and have conversations about race, love and relationships in the spirit of openness that Loving Day represents. 

So as we celebrate Loving Day this year, let’s do it justice. Let’s remember our ongoing interracial history, diversity and struggle. Let’s remember the truth that the Lovings fought so hard for—that every race, ethnicity, gender and faith is lovable.

Example Workshop on "Black" Multiracial Identity

Example of a Workshop Delivered at:

The 6th Annual Pan-Collegiate Conference on the Mixed Race Experience

April 14, 2002

Zebulon Miletsky, Ph.D. Candidate, Workshop Facilitator                                                                                                                       

Workshop Theme:
Beyond the One Drop Rule: Exploring "Black" Multiracial Identity

Most people who identify as biracial or multiracial have been told by society at one time or another that they have "the best of both worlds". It is an ideal that flies in the face of traditional notions of race in American society and is at times a difficult one to live up to.  This workshop will discuss the reality of being mixed in a country that has since its inception thought within the very narrow terms of black and white.  Is it possible to have the best of both worlds?  Do people with one parent who is black feel more pressure to identify monoracially than other multiracials?  How does the so-called "one-drop rule" affect "black" multiracial identity?  What is "black" multiracial identity?  Hasn't the African-American community, because of its legacy of slavery, always been mixed?  We will discuss these and other issues while we explore the possibilities for a “black” multiracial identity beyond the one-drop rule.

Beyond the One-Drop Rule: Exploring “Black” Multiracial Identity

Overview: ·       Introduction ·       Brief History of Mixed Race in America Discussion Questions: ·       Is it possible to have the best of both worlds? ·       Do people with one parent who is black feel more pressure to identify monoracially than other multiracials? ·       How does the so-called “one-drop rule” affect “black” multiracial identity? ·       What is “black” multiracial identity? ·       Hasn’t the African-American community, because of its legacy of slavery, always been mixed? ·       How do “black” multiracials fit into the mixed race movement?

Resources: Korgen, Kathleen Odell. From Black to Biracial: Transforming Identity Among Americans. Westport, CT.: Praeger, 1998. Malcolmson, Scott. One Drop of Blood: The American Misadventure of Race. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2000. Spencer, Jon Michael. The New Colored People: The Mixed-Race Movement in America. New York: New York University Press, 1997. Spencer, Rainier. Spurious Issues: Race and Multiracial Identity Politics in the United States. Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1999.

Biracials Learning About African-American Culture or B.L.A.A.C.

The idea for this blog came from several discussions with students and young people who come from mixed-race backgrounds, especially so-called "white and black" biracials who, for whatever reason, grew up without learning very much about African-American life, history or culture. Whether they be trans-racially adopted, grew up in a home without the biological black parent or were perhaps raised in an area without many black people, the probability for people of mixed race descent to grow up without a solid, positive grounding in the black experience is much higher for reasons that will become fairly obvious. Not so obvious at times, however, is the more complicated truth of racism in America, a past deeply rooted in the ugly practice of white supremacy and centuries of stigmatization of African-American culture, heritage and contributions. This phenomenon, known to some scholars as "Anti-blackness", has done more to confuse and ultimately divide than perhaps any other factor.

Those scholars have identified a specific preference for a mixed race identity based on whiteness, and argue that the new multiracial identity, what some call generation mix, as nothing more than good, old fashioned racial denial--that any identity is better then the dreaded "curse" of blackness. Consequently, many mixed race or multiracial Americans of African descent in particular, grew up believing and internalizing some of the ugliest and worst myths about African-American culture, which obviously has a negative impact on their self-perception, self-esteem and general sense of self worth as an African-descended person of mixed race. Sometimes it is a racist parent (or one that holds strong racial views, which more often than not is the black parent). `Especially complicated are things such as the one-drop rule, which says that any person with any black ancestry whatsoever (one drop) is considered black.
These factors have contributed to all kinds of racially detrimental identity choices, bullying, and the pressure to identify with blackness, which considering the historical experience of African Americans, is understandable. On a deeper level, the accusation often hurled at people who identify as biracial and or multiracial (even when this is is now the case) that they would rather identify with anything before black is often the result of simple ignorance on the part of mixed race people (especially young people). This blog proposes the rather simple notion that with more knowledge about African-American culture and history, using techniques and pedagogies borrowed from the discipline of Africana studies, that biracial, multiracial and mixed race people of African descent will gain a greater understanding and respect for their own culture, no mater how divorced from or alienated they may have felt from it in the past. These lessons can be offered as part of this blog in the form of current events, articles, news items and information regarding race and mixed race.

In addition, this may be expanded in the future to include a curriculum as well as speaking events, workshops and broader education of the general public through media events, interviews and social media. Our motto is "learn the truth and then you decide." Give our B.L.A.A.C. experts a chance to challenge your previously held assumptions about race, whiteness, America and the true nature of American history. Although we may not have invented or been responsible for these circumstances, we are stronger when we face history together. Race is a social construct and only when we do the crucial work of deconstructing race, do we begin to find healing and a satisfying, healthy black adulthood. We made race... we can unmake it.