MJJstudent said:

Harlepolis said:

Here's why I think thats an incorrect information See, Mariah never came out and flatly said she's "more" of a segment of her background than the other, she looks visibly uncomfortable when interviewers ask her that question and thats why she ends up with this long ass answer about her family tree and each of the continents they came from

Most of my mutli-racial friends are like that, folks might perceive their caginess as "putting down one side over the other" but their attitude is more like not leaving any side of their family out.

That whole "Most misunderstood black woman" episode from Essence was just hilarious, though.

frankly, i don't see why she needs to have a long explanation. it's nobody's business. she's mixed, like a lot of people in this country. many of the mixed people i know usually identify with one or more of their ethnicities... very few people i've met have tried to give defensive explanations.

Of course, but there're also many who - like her - would prefer to remain neutral in order not to alienate either sides of their families, we can't discredit their views either. Whether I agree or disagree, its not really my place to pass judgement on how they'd like to be perceived, but unfortunately, in this label-junkie country, people seem to have a problem with folks who can't put an X in one of the race boxes.

Mariah's dilemma seem to mirror many Bi-Racial people, there're many who address the same issues as she did, and their Vlogs are all over youtube. I used to be perplexed about their reluctance of "choosing a side" as they put it, but now I sympathize with them.

[Edited 2/18/11 8:51am]

Excellent