HamsterHuey said:

It may be funny, but percentages are only important to an individual when one seeks to do a DNA test in search of tracing their family roots, other than that society doesn't give a damn about percentages of one's heritage.

Society as a whole judges one on their skin color immediately upon appearance. That may not be the "right" way, but it's a fact. Thing is, if one doesn't apply themselves to learning about specific race/ethnic or religious groups, and base it on misinformation, then they haven't learned anything about that group at all but misinformation, lies and BS. It's funny though when someone outside one's specific group, with no knowledge of that group, tries to put a label on you just for their own self-satisfaction, instead of dealing with the facts. It is pathetic that some fans refuse to accept or respect Prince as a Black man, as though it's some sort of curse or sin.

When the local news is giving the description of a suspect, one of the first thing they include is what they perceive that individual's race/skin color to be, not the percentage of their DNA.


(Counting down to when this thread will either be moved to the P&R forum, locked or deleted)
[Edited 3/10/10 9:47am]

"There was a time he was shifty about all of that, but that because he was trying to rise above all of that"

No, I don't think he was trying to rise above anything; he was just trying to sell more records by crossing over to the white audience, thus purposely blurring lines as to his true racial identity. If his racial identity seemed less defined, more ambiguous, then perhaps the wider audience would not be able to tell; would blur over; would think he could be "one of them" or sort of like them; or otherwise not care what race he was given that he was enough like them and had good music. They would then feel more comfortable, or their parents would feel more comfortable, buying his records than they otherwise would have been had he been "pure black" like other artists they saw in the late 70s and early 80s. Prince also had to overcome the barrier that he and his music were viewed as indecent by many, which was also part of the allure, but which also limited potential buyers; accordingly, by blurring racial identity, potential buyers had one less barrier with which to contend.

The United States music industry and buying public were quite different back then. Only in certain segments was there considerable mixing of genres, but when it came to popular music and radio play, the walls were quite high. Prince, Michael Jackson and others served, and very well I add, to break down those walls.

violetorgangrinder said:

Sure, that was part of it; we all know Prince is about crossing borders and trying to find ways to open new markets. He still does that.

But I think the biggest reason for 'being shifty' was that he actually believed during that part of his life that racial problems could be overcome one day. He certainly blurred his racial identity, but to me it always felt more that he wanted to point out people's own prejudices ("Am I black or white? Am I straight or gay?")

But let's be honest, we can only guess what Prince's ideas behind this or that were. I just like to think that he was a person back then that wanted a better world, as did I.

He is 100% Afrocaucasionalianese!

ronnwinter said:

And he speaks Carmenese.

that's embarrasing

I must really have nothing better to do than to engage in this conversation.

While I have not read this book, the title would lead an unknowing person to believe that Prince is the product of one parent that was one race and the other parent was another. PRINCE IS BLACK. I have seen pics of both parents and they too are BLACK. Yes, like most Black people in America he has many different races in his DNA, but we don't consider ourselves biracial unless one parent is one race and one parent is something else. Even if Prince tried to pull this, "I'm biracial/triracial" he is just being Prince, being mysterious, playing Devil's advocate, and just saying something for conversation sake and to keep people guessing! I've seen both parents. Mother part Black, part Native American, part French...translation "that's most folk in America!" My grandmother was a true biracial person, white father/black mother. I know I have Native American, French, and German in my bloodline at that's great! But I'm Black, with green eyes and wavy/curly hair. My family is all shades of Black with all different hair textures, from Wesley Snipes to Vanessa Williams. My father is about Denzel's complexion with brown eyes. His father was the same complexion but had light eyes. My mother has brown eyes and has experienced Hispanic people walking up to her speaking Spanish because they thought she was Hispanic too. My first cousin on my mother's side is Gladys Knight's complexion with brown eyes (both of her parents black), her husband is Ludacris' complexion with brown eyes (both his parents black), and their daughter is Faith Evans' complexion with bluish eyes, and it is not strange to us. Why is all this so intriguing to non-Black people?