Silly shit up in this mutha...

I'm Filipino-American and I don't believe that Prince is part Filipino because if he was then he would of said something or given clues to it. Though I wouldn't be surprised if there are some Flips who look like P because there's a lot of mixture in my culture.

I know that Rob Schneider is half Filipino.

Prince's career has never gone down the drain and he can pick and choose his own damn race if he likes, guess what???
This is america and he can do what he pleases.

I do believe Prince is Blk and Native American...he has the features of Native and Blk...so he could very well be a blk man with Native roots.


Whats the big deal!
Most blks are mixed heritage anyways and some generations happened to be skipped , where you have a light skn person w/ long silky or curly hair or for that matter drk skin and look like the odd ball, its only because genes skip around the blk family tree.

And for that lil boy in the pic w/ his mom and step-dad...the lil boy looks mixed or has some white or something in him...and after meeting mrs. nelson at celebration 2000...i could very well tell that she is a blk woman whose fair skn and its possible that she has native roots also.!!!

so please give it a rest!

Since it's clear Black people in America are comprised of a little bit of everything, WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS??? Give it a rest people, the muthafucka is Black. Good God!

UptownDeb said:[quote]

Essence said:

Haywood Baker kinda looks like Bert from Sesame Street.
That guy looks HIT!!!

Does anyone really care?

Why do some Black people get defensive when someone who is black gets called mixed-race?

There's some psychological stuff going on there.

MiaBocca said:

I'm annoyed w/ the topic b/c not only has it been discussed to death for years & years, but it's been answered several times over on this thread. Yet people are steady popping up saying, " Isn't he blah, blah & blah?! " It's pointless.

There's a lot of ignorance about the gamut Black people run in terms of shades/features/hair textures & it's a bit tired IMO. BUT I'm around Black people all the time & our diversity is so second nature to me. Sometimes I forget how sheltered others are & patience wears thin...

If you're mixed race, celebrate it by all means If you're Black, celebrate that too! Let's not forget some Black folks are eager to count off everything in their makeup that ain't Black & that's an issue in itself...

MiaBocca said:

It's the problem of exemplarity, whereby oftentimes successful black people are made to be "exceptions" when they defy stereotypes of black inferiority.

This goes way back to attempts to deny black authorship of literary writings and poems during the time of slavery, because black literacy was illegal and undermined one of the arguments that supported slavery. When black authorship could not be denied, the second strategy would be to claim that the author was "mixed" and that his/her white ancestry is what accounted for the intelligence.

Now, I can't say that this is what is going on when people ask the questions, but if it doesn't matter, why ask the question at all? Why do some people seem so pressed to claim that Prince is anything but black? Why did HE do that at the beginning of his career? What did it play to?

CalhounSq said:

I got some Indian in my family... Cherokee and Blackfoot.

NuPwrSoul said:

Was that the line most heard in high schools around the country or what??!!

***

There was a dude on Howard Stern the other night who was CLEARLY Black & when asked if he was Black he quickly said, "No. I'm this, this & that." After everyone made the face & pressed him a while, he admitted that Black was indeed on the list, that he was "basically Black." Shit like that is SAD, when you're eager to celebrate everything except your Blackness. If they were all celebrated equally, it'd be different. Unfortunately, some Black folks are dying to be anything BUT Black. Shit gets ugly, y'all...

Biscuit said:

Yeah I agree that other Filipinos would be able to see some "given clues" if Prince was Filipino. We do it all the time anyway with each other. I know I can pretty much spot another Filipino in the room.

There's quite a mixture of Asian people that constitute the Filipino culture: Malay, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Hawaiian, etc. As someone posted earlier, yes some of us do have "slanted eyes" but some of us don't. Some of us have darker skin. Some of us don't. Some of us are comfortable being Filipino in a predominantly white American culture. Some of us are not. I ain't gonna lie, it took me awhile.

Growing up in DC, the greatest lesson/gift I learned from the Black community is to be proud of who you are. Simple in theory, it is a hard lesson to apply and most people never learn or are afraid to learn about themselves.

Once I started to become self aware I wanted to learn more and more. I realize now that this will be a lifetime process but I'm alright with that (Thank you Bruce). As for other Filipinos and their own process of self awareness, whether they choose to learn about themselves or not, they're still my brothers and sisters. It took me too long to realize that and I'm not about to turn back now.(Thank you Malcolm)

CalhounSq said:

right? MJ even came out his mouth with that one when he was being questioned about the plastic surgery.

CalhounSq said:

Riiighht! Dayum! I still hear it. (I mentioned this recently in another thread.) I remember a girl in elementary school named Juliette. She used to claim being Indian. (That's was it was called back in the un-PC days.) When I think about it, she had a beautiful complexion, high cheek bones, and long shiny, wavy, black hair that she always wore in braids. Heck she could have had some West Indian in her for all I know.

CalhounSq said:

It always sounds so much more exotic to claim some other ancestry. I remember reading that at least 75% of African Americans can claim Native American roots. (I think I read this in F. James Davis' "Who is Black." I do know that I learned the definition of a "sambo" from reading this book. It is a person who is 3/4th's black (3 of 4 grandparents were black; a griff is defined the same way. Anyway, too much math involved; this can get technical).

I always think while it's okay to acknowledge whatever parts of your heritage you want to claim, none of this ever makes a difference to a racist who will crack your head open because he only sees one color; he couldn't give a $h*t about the sum of all your parts.
[This message was edited Sun Feb 23 12:19:43 PST 2003 by UptownDeb]

U...thanks for your response. I'm just to the point that I'm gonna go INSANE the next time I hear someone say, "well...I'm a quarter this and half that and 2/3 this". HOW IN THE HELL CAN ANYONE BE 2/3 ANYTHING!? Especially a NATIONALITY. When someone says I'm a quarter French or German. That's just stupid. Someone's grandmama may be German or whatever but does that mean the PERSON is German? I think not. Is someone German because their grandma taught them some German and they've acquired a taste for bratwurst? They're all labels. Labels are what calls me 'black'. Calls someone else 'white'. Calls someone intelligent and someone else dumb. It's the easy way out. The concept of Race is twisted and that's why I try my DAMNEDEST NOT to fall into the trap of saying I'm 1/4 Blackfoot Indian and 1/4 Irish. That ain't me. I live and die by my own accomplishments and I'm not any prouder of an 'Irish' achievment or how brave MY Indian ancestors were. I'm proud of HUMAN achievment. I know it's a tad idealistic BUT it's one of the little ways I try to make a difference. Anyhow...I got into Prince because here was a cat that blended funk with rock and made it cool for an impressionable young kid back in '84. And at the time...yeah I thought it was damn cool that he was black 'cos so was I. Be Peaceful!

tricky99 said:

You mind if I quote you every time this crap comes up?

It was a idea by WB to make him appeal to a wide audience. There is Italian on his fathers side. His uncle that lived in Chicago would speak Italian and confuse some of his neighbors. It is not a big deal.
But I got a complex growing up everyone in my family has fair skin and light eyes. I am very dark. I would be with family and someone would call me a "N" and that hurt them more then it hurt me. Are you adopted or something? No.
To Put you discussion in perspective. I got a opportunity to go to Africa. Eygpt. I as dark as I am was called a "mulato" by some cab driver. He refused to allow me in his cab. I thought he was joking because his skin was fairer then mine.
Micki Free is my 1st cousin on my fathers side and Donatella Vesace is my 1st cousin on my mother's side.
So just imagine what our family reunion looks like. I do have a funny incident though. Two years ago we had a mini-reuion. At a public park, to barbeque and play softball,etc. The parks security guard got confused he was Caucasian. He came over to us and started screaming there's no way you all are related to each other. He looked over the crowd and his eyes landed on me. Everyone stood up and waited for him to say something deogritory. But he shocked us all. He grabbed my hand and asked if I would stand at the gate with him so he would not insult anyone by not letting them join us.
I have relatives that pass for Caucasian and would not be lieing if they marked all the boxes you all speak of.The race thing is only an issues when it comes to the census technically what are we? Most African Americans can't really shake their family tree to find how they can claim the Africian part really.
I can also identify with the person that denied being "Filipino"(tang-tang/gilley-gilley). I until recently would not admit to any of my diverse and rich background. I think some are making issue out of pride.
Alex Haley did a family tree and found out the he was related to me by marriage and also by blood. Meaning that if his first cousin was not married to my uncle we would have been related anyway. I used to collect those "kiss me I am ?" Buttons. Well funny thing I ended up with enough of them to fill a jacket so go figure. People will put you in the group you look like. It's more then the skin your in what you identify yourself as is only for those that don't get it. What am I what race? The Human Race thank you very much. No really what are you - a woman last time I checked.

queen627 said:

yes i agree. Prince's father straight up lied!

Of course he's part Filipino - just look at how well he plays the guitar

Queen627 who aren't you related to.
Alex Haley
Micki Free
Donetella Versace/ Gianni Versace
Prince
I wouldn't have thought that these people relate in any way, but apparently they do through you. Maybe we should've played 6 degrees of Queen627. Heck we all would've been right no matter who we picked.

[This message was edited Fri Feb 28 10:41:50 PST 2003 by ScarLett]

WHO GIVES A HOOTY WHERE PRINCE COMES FROM? HE COULD BE AN ALIEN FOR ALL I CARE!

This is getting out of hand.Why is there ALWAYS so much confusion about Prince's race? I remember a White friend of mine saying "I can't believe how many people think Prince is Black,just because of the way he dances".I kid you not,he REALLY said this! He actually thought Prince was White!!


Throughout the years,I have heard that Prince is half-Italian,half-White,half-Filipino,half-Puerto Rican,half-Indian,half-this or that.When will it end?

DavidEye said:

This Sh#t is getting rediculous!! Fact is, PRINCE
is BLACK, BLACK, BLACK!! Y'all stop hatin on da black man and enjoy the funk.

His momma is black and his daddy is black. So guess what that makes him.

queen627 said:

So I guess you know better then Prince's father about what he has in his family. I guess His father was lying to Ebony magazine.

I'll settle this once and for all. Skipper is half poodle...


Prince

my stomach hurts...

he's cute, causeheain't so tall.. i like it

If its of importance I believe prince is also of more than two back grounds, he is unusually exotic to be of just one or even two races, the most exotic persons usualy are

GIOVANNI said:

Huh? What in the world does that mean,"exotic"? He is Black, where's the confusion? What Black people can't be "exotic"?