Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences 
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While I do think the question is a little sensitive, I have to say that I am more provoked by the answers. The questions posed is as legitimate as the questions it, er, questioned. If we are going to treat each other’s so-called ‘stupid’ racial questions with respect, then we should use that same kindness when answering queries of any sort with the same sensitivity. For the record, I disagree about the author’s question on whether seemingly offensive questions should be answered. Since the intent here is not to ridicule, we should answer each question as matter-of-factly as they are asked. I used to be offended by questions such as these, too, and as an activist, an African-American studies major and a womanist, I get questions like this very frequently. Since I am also a performance poet and a webmaster, I recently became a lot more accessible, so believe me, I understand your frustration. One day I thought, why not just answer these questions as they come up and postpone my personal feelings, and see what happens? Invariably, dialogue is started when you make a conscious effort not to be offended. A bridge is built, and you eventually get to a point where you can say, ‘I prefer you ask questions like that of me than offend others who don’t know your intent.’ I think it takes a lot of courage on the part of a man to ask me why feminism is necessary, a lot of bravery for a person not of color to ask me if I tan. These questions show that they are interested in people like me, and they trust me enough to ask. Sometimes the questions I get are amusing, sometimes they border on hurtful. But they always end up as one more step toward navigating across this Grand Canyon between groups that should not still be there. Am I suggestiong a love-in? Of course not. but, man, we are stuck together. We might as well be less afraid of each other. If we pass this test of time, maybe our children can bring America to its full potential for all its people.
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Name : Tinu, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Greenbelt, State : MD, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,There are a lot of reasons, but I will try to be as brief as I can. This is partly a throwback to the so-called one-drop rule of the Jim Crowe days, where in our society, one drop of black blood meant you were a black person. Of course, now that scientists have proven that the first known human was a black African, and that it is almost biologiccally and genetically impossible for her parents and ancestors to be anything but, making us all black, this notion is making a disappearance. There is also the identification of black as a cultural attribute, and as an identity of pride rather than of shame, especially in the last 30 years or so. Not that there is anything shameful about being white. As for the parentage of children born to a mixed couple, I think it is partly that because there is not yet a broad acceptance of multu-ethnic parentage, the race is determined by the more dominantg enes. It could also be partly that if the child appears in any way to be black, he or she will receive all the benefits and experience all the dangers and harsh realiities of being black in America. Better to have. Whether this is a good or bad decision, I can’t say, but maybe someone of several racial backgrounds can answer.
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Name : Tinu, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Greenbelt, State : MD, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,As a black woman who has been overweight most of my life, I can say that one reason for the confidence we have is that our men culturally seem to prefer our curves – they tell us that they prefer a curvy size 9 to a skinny size 6. They say they prefer a slightly rounded belly to seeing our rib bones sticking out. Other women of our culture reinforce this preference up to a certain point. As long as we are proportional and healthy, we make the cut. For my height, I have always been a little too big by cover girl standards, a D cup and wide hips. But this is the first time in my life I have felt truly overweght, and even now I am only 30 pounds outside my ideal. We also did not necessarily internalize the national/international standard of beauty because it did not include us, but this is changing. Bulimia and anorexia nervosa is increasing in young black teens at an alarming rate. Hopefully the majority of us will see our curves as a blessing, and maybe the world’s image of what a beautiful woman is will change back to what it was before about 100-200 years ago, a healthy medium. After all, the average size woman, black or white, is a size 12.
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Name : Tinu, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Greenbelt, State : MD, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,That is an interesting question. My first instinct is to say, how would we know? We have never been not-black, so how would we know what hot feels like to you in comparision? We were certainly made to withstand heat better, and exposure to direct sunlight. We can still get sun tanned and sun burned, but
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Name : Tinu, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Greenbelt, State : MD, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
