George Zimmerman's Ethnicity?

[Titus2woman]

IMO this whole conversation is just silly.

There are many ethnicities but really only one race. The mapping of the human genenome has shown that even the division of Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid is really not valid as all people, even the most remote tribes, share genetics.

So really we've become ethnicists not racists... picking tiny details of skin color or hair texture or language or even dialect to distance ourselves from others. Only religion is more fragmented for less reason. What a mess we humans have become.

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

Of course the same reaction can come from having a pimple on her chin from a teen girl. I would say if kids are having identity crisis it's because the adults are sending out messages that their identity is not OK.

It could just as easily be her peers at school or other people in the community. It's important to factor in where she lives as well. There are certain areas of the country and certain neighborhoods where race is a big, divisive issue. Even if parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, close friends, etc., all send out a very accepting message, that can be undermined quickly and easily--especially with impressionable, sensitive children. Further, teenagers can look in the mirror and come up with all sorts of reasons to dislike themselves, without ever having a single adult in their life draw that to their attention. There are certainly self-esteem issues that originate within the individual and have nothing at all to do with their environment. Some people are naturally more negative and insecure.

We have a bi-racial grand daughter. She loves herself plenty being one of those kids that got the best of all races looking very French Creole pretty (my husband is Cajun, I am Mexican, son's wife is mulatto). I think she is the perfect example of the nice creamy caramel we will all be in a few generations.

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

I don't get all the drama in the above post... .

I realize you explained yourself pretty well in the rest of your post, but just to answer this question: The direct implication of your post was that PO's niece lacks confidence because the adults in her life make her mixed race an issue. The comparison to your own granddaughter being very confident further emphasizes that point. E.g., "if you guys were doing your job right, she'd be perfectly confident and would 'love herself plenty.'"

You also compared having an identity crisis over a zit to having a crisis over being mixed race. The two aren't comparable, because having an identity crisis over something that is truly part of your identity is different from having a panic attack over a zit. The latter is temporary and not at all part of a child's identity. It's a problem that needs immediate repair and is normally addressed as a physical flaw.

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

It could just as easily be her peers at school or other people in the community. It's important to factor in where she lives as well. There are certain areas of the country and certain neighborhoods where race is a big, divisive issue. Even if parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, close friends, etc., all send out a very accepting message, that can be undermined quickly and easily--especially with impressionable, sensitive children. Further, teenagers can look in the mirror and come up with all sorts of reasons to dislike themselves, without ever having a single adult in their life draw that to their attention. There are certainly self-esteem issues that originate within the individual and have nothing at all to do with their environment. Some people are naturally more negative and insecure.





I realize you explained yourself pretty well in the rest of your post, but just to answer this question: The direct implication of your post was that PO's niece lacks confidence because the adults in her life make her mixed race an issue. The comparison to your own granddaughter being very confident further emphasizes that point. E.g., "if you guys were doing your job right, she'd be perfectly confident and would 'love herself plenty.'"

You also compared having an identity crisis over a zit to having a crisis over being mixed race. The two aren't comparable, because having an identity crisis over something that is truly part of your identity is different from having a panic attack over a zit. The latter is temporary and not at all part of a child's identity. It's a problem that needs immediate repair and is normally addressed as a physical flaw.

Good points, especially about peers,which can be of paramount importance to pre-teen/teens and even beyond. Please note I NEVER said adults in her FAMILY. Not my intention to compare POs neice to my grandaughter except to say that bi-racial kids can be well adjusted and even excel so the idea that maybe they should not ever be made is just not gonna fly in my world.

The zit comment was strictly intended to emphasize that kids can be sooo dramatic... The whole holding her hand up to her face as if to split herself in half just smacks of teen drama... Maybe I was a little hard on my kids but it made me want to go... "Aww boo-freakin'-hoo, get over it. There are kids without legs that aren't that whiney". Of course my kids did not have some undiagnosed underlying depression or something else either so I thought maybe the suggestion for counseling was a better idea.

Honestly, I just don't get it... we really are a single race... To deny it is to deny science. We don't make sterile hybrids when we 'cross breed' like a donkey and a horse... We make other fully functioning, reproducing humans.

I am sometimes uncomfortable with other cultures, as in I feel like an outsider... Unknown languages, unfamiliar foods, different customs... But concerned about blending skin tones... nawww... And the facts, if anyone wanted to point them out, is that PO's neice is not half dark and half light... I'm sure she is some creamy shade of caramel, which is usually much more attractive than that nasty pasty color with all the green veins.... just sayin'.

[Godzchild]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

Good points, especially about peers, which can be of paramount importance to pre-teen/teens and even beyond. Not my intention to compare POs neice to my grandaughter except to say that bi-racial kids can be well adjusted and even excel so the idea that maybe they should not ever be made is just not gonna fly in my world.
The zit comment was strictly intended to emphasize that kids can be sooo dramatic... the whole holding her hand up to her face as if to split herself in half just smacks of teen drama... Maybe I was a little hard on my kids but it made me want to go... "aww boo-freakin'-hoo, get over it there are kids without legs that aren't that whiney". Of course my kids did not have some undiagnosed underlying depression or something else either so I thought maybe the suggestion for counseling was a better idea.

Honestly, I just don't get it... we really are a single race really... to deny it is to deny science. We don't make sterile hybrids when we 'cross breed' like a donkey and a horse... we make other fully functioning, reproducing humans.

I am sometimes uncomfortable with other cultures as in I feel like an outsider... unknown languages, unfamiliar foods, different customs... but concerned about blending skin tones... nawww...

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

...and the facts, if anyone wanted to point them out, is that PO's neice is not half dark and half light... she is some creamy shade of caramel, I'm sure which is usually much more attractive than that nasty pasty color with all the green veins.... just sayin'.

So true. I'm quite jealous of the caramel colors. Too much Irish, German and French infusion; all the promising Indian blood has been sadly overcome by whiteness and freckles.

[Godzchild]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

So true. I'm quite jealous of the caramel colors. Too much Irish, German and French infusion; all the promising Indian blood has been sadly overcome by whiteness and freckles.

that's funny to hear you say whiteness and freckles....I look more Hispanic than Indian and I have no visual likeness of my German mother my skin is olive tone and in the summer it is almost a bronze tone, my eyes look almost Onyx and hair is almost black......but sometimes being of a darker skin color gets in the way of how some perceive and accept you. It sure got in the way at TB's church ..... we were the only "outsiders" there. And that is what is sad!

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by Godzchild

that's funny to hear you say whiteness and freckles....I look more Hispanic than Indian and I have no visual likeness of my German mother my skin is olive tone and in the summer it is almost a bronze tone, my eyes look almost Onyx and hair is almost black......but sometimes being of a darker skin color gets in the way of how some perceive and accept you. It sure got in the way at TB's church ..... we were the only "outsiders" there. And that is what is sad!

And, isn't that sad being that Memphis is 75% black.

[Godzchild]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

And, isn't that sad being that Memphis is 75% black.

yes it is! But it was the black churches that turned us away and TB's church (majority Caucasian) shunned us as well

[Godzchild]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

IMO this whole conversation is just silly.

There are many ethnicities but really only one race. The mapping of the human genenome has shown that even the division of Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid is really not valid as all people, even the most remote tribes, share genetics.

So really we've become ethnicists not racists... picking tiny details of skin color or hair texture or language or even dialect to distance ourselves from others. Only religion is more fragmented for less reason. What a mess we humans have become.