[Eddie N.]

What do the children of interracial relationships consider themselves to be? All of one race, half-and-half or what? I ask this because of all the media attention to such interracial personalities, such as Mariah Carey and Tiger Woods, who have gotten some flack from members of the black community for not saying that they are exclusively black, or exclusively another race. Instead they give detailed accounts of their ethnicity (“black, Venezulean and Irish” in the case of Ms. Carey).

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Name : Eddie N., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Nigerian-American, Religion : Christian, Age : 29, City : Benin City, State : NA, Country : Nigeria, Occupation : Computer engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Sarah28116]

I’m half Chinese and half white. I have white skin and light brown hair while my sister has tan skin and black hair. Although we’re born from the same parents, my sister is considered Chinese and I’m considered white. I’ve never thought of myself in terms of race and I don’t see other people that way. I was raised in America, I’m an American, I’ve studied Chinese culture, but it’s not a big part of my life (making me a sell-out to the Chinese community). I tend to avoid anyone interested in my race, they’re usually racists…

User Detail :  

Name : Sarah28116, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Atheist, Age : 16, City : San Francisco, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Xabel]

Re: 131200013503, the question on what children of interracial relationships consider themselves to be: it really depends on the individual. Some will choose to identify with one particular side of the family, others will prefer to consider themselves interracial and/or list the different groups in their background; there’s just no simple answer here. In my case, my mother is Native American and my father is Caucasian. While I don’t deny my father’s side of my heritage (I couldn’t if I wanted to, as I inherited his light coloring), I’ve nevertheless always identified primarily as Native American, rather than as interacial. My reasons boil down to the following: 1. Tradition: my mother’s tribe is matrilinial, and considers children to belong to the tribe/clan of the mother, regardless of the father’s background. I was raised in our traditions and religion and hence have always thought of myself as Native. 2. Family background: my folks divorced when I was young, and my father thereafter provided next to no support (emotional, financial, or otherwise). I was raised by my mother and her family, in our family and tribal traditions; my father’s side had basically no influence on my upbringing. As an adult, choosing to identify with the Native side feels right to me; they’re the ones who were there for me. If my father had played a more active role in my life, I might be more likely to play up the interacial aspect; but as things stand, I feel that do so would be to disrespect the love and hard work of my mother’s side of the family, and to give his side credit that they never earned. 3. Contrariness. 😉 Due to my appearance, people almost inevitably ‘assume’ that I am white. By insisting on identifying with my Native background, I like to think I’m causing folks to think twice about making such assumptions about others.

User Detail :  

Name : Xabel, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : American Indian, Religion : Native American, Age : 30, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : Internet / technical, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

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