Here are some famous people who, like Barack Obama, have black fathers and white mothers. They are listed according to their date of birth (though in some cases I had to guess when that was):
1700s:
1710s:
1720s:
1730s:
1740s:
1750s:
1760s:
1770s:
1780s:
1790s:
1800s:
1810s:
1820s:
1830s:
1840s:
1850s:
1860s:
1870s:
1880s:
1890s:
Nella Larsen (“Passing”, writer of the Harlem Renaissance)
1900s:
1910s:
1920s:
1930s:
Shirley Bassey (sang “Goldfinger”)
1940s:
Sue Simmons (Channel 4 news in New York).
1950s:
Lani Guinier, Walter Mosley (wrote “Devil in a Blue Dress”), Vickie Sue Robinson (sang “Turn the Beat Around”), Lonette McKee (Flipper’s wife in “Jungle Fever”), James McBride (“The Color of Water”), Mario van Peebles, Sade, Victoria Rowell, Vanity.
1960s:
Barack Obama, Cindy Herron (En Vogue), Mel & Kim, Roland Gift (Fine Young Cannibals), Downtown Julie Brown, Lisa Jones, Jennifer Beals (“Flashdance”), Christopher Reid (Kid N Play), Jasmine Guy, Neneh Cherry, Rob Pilatus (Milli Vanilli), Barbara Becker (wife of tennis great Boris Becker), Halle Berry, Lisa Bonet, Jayson Williams, Renee Tenison (Playboy Playmate of the Year), Ben Harper, Joshua Redman, Rick Fox (Lakers), Sophie Okonedo.
1970s:
Mariah Carey, Shemar Moore (“The Young and the Restless”), Adrian Fenty (mayor of Washington D.C.), Danzy Senna (wrote “Caucasia”), Donald Brashear, Persia White (“Girlfriends”), Wentworth Miller, Amy Holmes, Jason Kidd, Boris Kodjoe, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Alana Davis, Derek Jeter, Sherri Saum, Paula Patton, Blu Cantrell, Melyssa Ford, Rashida Jones (daughter of Quincy Jones and that white girl on “The Mod Squad”), Goapele (sang “Closer”), Ida Corr (Danish singer), Emilia Rydberg (Swedish singer), Corinne Bailey Rae, Mya Harrison, Mel B, Ursula Rucker, Imani Coppola (Little Jackie).
1980s:
Alicia Keys, Craig David, Grady Sizemore, Hoopz, Samantha Mumba, Leona Lewis, Lewis Hamilton, Jordan Farmar (Lakers), Laura Izibor (Nigerian/Irish), Jordin Sparks, Corbin Bleu (“High School Musical”).
I had no idea so many mixed people were in the public eye! Till I learned about their backgrounds, I thought of most of these people as just plain black. Even Halle Berry.
A few I thought were white when I first saw them: Mariah Carey, Jennifer Beals and Vickie Sue Robinson. Both Carey and Robinson sound black on the radio but looked white on television.
The only ones who I suspected might be mixed were Derek Jeter, Jennifer Beals, Persia White, Alicia Keys, Mya Harrison and Ursula Rucker, Shows you what I know.
Of those listed above, one in five are from New York City, especially Harlem. One in six is part Jewish.
One of the most striking things about this list is that few were born before 1950. That is no accident: before the fall of Jim Crow, black men were kept from white women in the southern states of America by law, force and terror. It was no easy thing elsewhere.
I think having parents from two different races does affect you growing up, especially if you find yourself in the strange position of being too black to be white and too white to be black, making you in effect neither black nor white but biracial.
But whether it is your mother or father who is black or white, does that affect you?
The only study I know of done about the sex and race of one’s parents is one done by Willerman, Naylor and Myrianthopoulos in 1974: mixed children brought up by a black father and a white mother had a mean IQ of 104.7, more than 8 points higher than those raised by a white father and black mother: 96.4. And, by the way, almost 5 points higher than the mean white IQ and, in those days, nearly 20 points higher than the mean black IQ.
See also:
Will you be doing one with people of a black mother, white(or other) father?
If blacks are biologically intellectually inferior, how can white mothers create babies of superior intelligence to whites with black fathers?
sorry what is the point of this post? we understand that since jim crow was taken down of course white women and black men have come together in unpresedented numbers… so?
Agreed, lifeisannoying. A bit random
What about Prince, Jason Kidd, Lenny Kravitz, and/or Slash? Perhaps some or all of those fall into the “white father/black mother” category?
That’s because mainstream media makes a big deal out of multiracial offspring of black father and white mothers. They do this because they want to show America how “progressive” they are with regards to interracial relationships between black men and white women.
Also, since white women are still being pedestaled in America and black men are seen as arbiters of black america, society wants to show that multiracial children from those two groups are desireable.
Also from white guilt as well, in particular white liberal guilt. They want to show that particular kind of relationship as consensual and good.
What say you?
La Reyna
Why this post: the title “black father, white mother” suddenly came to me and I went with it. Admittedly at this point it is more a set of notes than a post with a closely argued point to prove.
I will probably do “white father, black mother” too, if only to see how it compares.
Blanc2: Thanks for the suggestions:
Prince – both parents are black
Jason Kidd – a match! Thanks!
Lenny Kravitz – white father, black mother
Slash – white father, black mother
Some argue that Prince’s mother is white – Italian-American is what I heard – but the Wikipedia says they are both black. I will go with that unless it can be topped by a better source.
I added Jason Kidd – right after our dear Amy Holmes since they were both born in 1973.
Welcome back, lifeisannoying!
Whats your take on this washinton post article?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802219.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
“To me, as to increasing numbers of mixed-race people, Barack Obama is not our first black president. He is our first biracial, bicultural president. He is more than the personification of African American achievement. He is a bridge between races, a living symbol of tolerance, a signal that strict racial categories must go.”
Does it take away from the “black culture” is it the white cultures way of negating the accomplishment? Or is it a bi-racial person attempt to own part of the accomplishment.
I am facinated by things created by the race issue.
But I think – being white – my race wasnt an issue growing up. Its hard looking at the issue from the outside looking in as it were. No mater how open, or how empathetic I am – I can not live life as anything other than what I am. I ca try and understand – but can not ever fully grasp the concept.
Interesting about Prince. I had always assumed his father was black and mother white, but I’ve no real basis for that assumption other than urban myth and perhaps the suggestion formed by the casting in “Purple Rain.” I actually know one of his cousins. I can ask if you’d like.
As always – I have an additional thought after I hit the “Submit Comment” button
abagond says “I think having parents from two different races does affect you growing up, especially if you find yourself in the strange position of being too black to be white and too white to be black, making you in effect neither black nor white but biracial.”
My niece is in this position. Black father (actual half black/half latin – but considers himself black)…white mother. Black people think she is whtie – white people ask what she is, but dont think she is white- only multi racial people get it right.
What should I say – if she were to ask me where she belongs…to me she simply belongs – an all american girl.
@ Davida; ‘half latin’? Latin isn’t a race. He considers himself black, because he is black
oliva – what would his mother be? Hispanic – Mexican…
I know people who say he isnt black…or black enough… A friend of who is black (i.e. both parents are black) met my sisters husband husband and afterwards said he wasnt black – because he wasnt 100% (i.e. both parents).
And yet as a cop – he has responded to calls where a dumb ignorant A-Hole looked at him and said – I dont want a black cop responding to my call because your racist against white people…so for that guy he was too black.
Agabond: I asked. Yup, both of Prince’s parents are black, large black extended family, etc., with many gifted musicians among them and many more among their friends.
Just a guess but I think if you did famous people with white fathers & black mothers you wouldn’t find/get as many entertainers as you do for black fathers & white mothers.
Note: Agabond a few that you missed; Grady Sizemore (baseball player) of the Cleveland Indians.Tim Duncan (basketball player) and a few not so famous others unless you like sports like me.
just a thought on what davida wrote on having parents of two differing racial groups must be akin to having two parents of differing cultures, but more so. I imagine… i cannot relate on that scale but i have dated people from different cultures and i suppose it is awkward.
i dont know – but I would think its much more so.
One is permited to be half irish – half german – or what ever.
You embrace what you like – ignore what you dont etc.
But with Black vs. white…people insist on button holing you to one race.
I am 4/8 german, 3/8 and 1/8 american indian…but I dont have to choose one..I just am me.
But if your 1/4 black, 1/4 mexican (I know its not a race but I dont know what else to call it) 1/4 german, 1/4 scottish and american indian….What do you call yourself. Does my niece choose her mothers side and reject her fathers…does she identify with her mother and reject her father.
Must it be all or nothing?
If you look at all black then whites will not accept you as one of their own while blacks will. If you look black enough, then being black is not a choice.
This comes from One Drop Rule, a rule of American society which goes back to slave days but which Americans, both black and white, still apply to each other.
Maybe with Obama and the rise in the number of mixed-race children things will change, but in 2008 it is hard to say. As things stand right now America is a long ways from being “post-racial”.
So – my niece…how do I and my sister guide her. My nephew – how do we guide him. He looks more “white” than my niece does.
and I dont get the “accepting as one of our own thing” but the I apporach everyone as one of my own – human…I trust until I have reason not to.
OMG! i didn’t know Melissa Ford’s mother is white.
Abagond,
I’m going to keep reposting this comment because I refuse to allow ANYONE TO DEFINE AWAY MY IDENTITY BASED ON OUTDATED, INACCURATE, RACISCT ODR CLASSIFICATIONS. Until people of MIXED AFRICAN ANCESTRY STOP DEFINING THEMSELVES SOLEY ON THE BASIS OF RACIST CLASSIFICATIONS, THIS ASPECT OF RACISM WILL CONTINUE.
The Latino/Hispanic classification can be clarified by applying it to ALL peoples who originate from a Latin American country (eg. Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, etc.). These countries all share a cultural ancestry that is made up mainly of A MIX OF Spanish/African and Native RACES/CULTURES. What has ALWAYS bothered me as a Hispanic person of mixed African/Spanish/West Indian descent, is how those who use RACIST ,IGNORANT,and OUTDATED classifications(like the One Drop Rule), try to DEFINE AWAY (soley because of my African ancestry)my Hispanic CULTURAL/RACIAL identity AS BEING ONLY BLACK BUT ONLY ALLOW Hispanics of MIXED Native/Spanish or other NON-AFRICAN/Spanish ancestry to identify themselves as JUST HISPANIC (OR MOST INNACURATELY AS “WHITE”).
I agree. It is racist – and therefore ignorant – but, unfortunately, it is not yet outdated in Anglo-American society.
Blanc2: Wow, thanks for the word on Prince!
LLUP: Thanks for Grady Sizemore. As for Tim Duncan, I cannot find anything on the Internet that says his mother was white and his father black.
Oh just a note on the IQ thing, Iq is not an objective test. Having a white mother who we can safely assume is the primary caregiver that would be the same as a white child that would give the same input on the childs cultral upbringing. maybe i am wrong but that is my theory. now i Know that they say that biracial children of white women are smarter than white children and black children but there is the begining of the theory someone can finish it for me.
Davida: Here is my FREE advice about your mixed-race niece (commenters who know more about these things feel free to jump in and tear this apart – or confirm which bits are good):
1. Learn as much as you can about the experience of being biracial. I heard that “Caucasia” by Danzy Senna (who belongs on the list above) is a good book for that. There are also blogs, like this one:
http://lightskinnededgirl.typepad.com/
2. Let her spend as much time as possible getting to know both sides of her family, but particularly the black side.
3. This might be a bit old-fashioned, but if blacks will accept her as black, then that is the way she should see herself. Life will make far more sense to her that way in the long run.
It seems like some white parents want to bring up their mixed children as “biracial” – as if there was something wrong in being black. I cannot agree with that.
You might also read these posts (and the comments) on this blog – or reread them as the case may be:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/biracial/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/korean-adoptees/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/david-myers-a-black-boy-who-thought-he-was-white/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/should-i-read-black-white-jewish/
IQ tests do measure something. The reason it presents paradoxes, like the one about white mothers and mixed children, is because we think about these things in racist ways.
Davida, you said:
and I dont get the “accepting as one of our own thing” but the I apporach everyone as one of my own – human…I trust until I have reason not to.
Well, there are great souls out there of every race, but right now, right here in America there are plenty of white people who will think there is something wrong with you if you do not look like they do. They do not accept you as you are. They will either keep their distance or, worse, smile with you and talk behind your back. Even if they have known you for years, they will still apply racist stereotypes to you – and get upset if you point it out.
For more of what I mean:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/how-white-people-think/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/acceptable-blackness/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/korean-adoptees/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/the-wigger-fallacy/
There is nothing wrong with being black – but raising a bi-racial child as just black – negleting the other parents history – be it white, asian or what ever- would imply that there is something wrong with being the other race.
In an effort to right the wrongs of the past…are we going to far. If not, where do we draw the line.
Abagond,
Prince and Tim Duncan, are in no way, products of interracial marriages. Both of Prince’s folks are perfectly African American. He concocted the whole “white mother” thing as a marketing tool and to build a mystique back in the early ’80s. A cheap crossover tactic.
Vanessa Williams, the ex-Miss America and famed actress/singer, is another 100% black American (as opposed to 100% African) celeb who gets regularly mistaken for being a product of an interracial union.
I’m also puzzled at your inclusion of Grant Hill. Both of his parents are black.
Jordan Farmar, Doug Christie, Rick Fox (ironically, the aforementioned Williams’ ex-husband), Shane Battier are some more ACTUAL examples of black NBA players who had white mothers.
Aba,
Yeah, there’s many famous people of black/white (or any black/non-white) unions (particulary with the white parent being a woman-since the great majority of these type of unions occur that way) but only Obama, Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, Tiger Woods and maybe Alicia Keys (or Derek Jeter, maybe) are household names. And with the exception of Woods, all of those people identify as black.
Also, like you, I wouldn’t have assumed that the majority of these people were recently “mixed”. Just goes to show you, how undistinctive (is that a word?) they are relative to the general black American population. There was a study recently about the outcome of black/white offspring, the researchers found that socio-economically and socially, they eerily mirror “black” kids who don’t come from interracial parentages (many come from single parent households). So, does “biracial” really exist when you’re black?
Add Shemar Moore, Victoria Rowell, Sherri Saum, Lisa Bonet too.
LLUP and mynameismyname: Thanks for your suggestions. I will put up the ones I can confirm.
I took down Grant Hill: his mother looks like she could be white but some sources call her biracial.
Hill’s mother, Janet, isn’t white. Not in a million years. According to the documentary “Apple Pie”, she grew up in segregated New Orleans. Perhaps, she’s of Creole background?
Hill’s wife, Tamia, IS an actual product of an interracial union. Her father being white, while her mother’s black. Similar to another underrated interracial R&B singer, Faith Evans, Tamia never knew her white father.
Here’s that study I mentioned above: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/the-plight-of-mixed-race-children/
Gotta love the third finding on that list. How accurate and unbiased!
I added Tamia – to the other list. Thanks.
Thanks for the link to the study. I read that before – that mixed kids act out in all the worst ways of both black kids and white kids.
Here is the picture of Grant Hill’s mother that I saw. To me she looks Hispanic, but I could buy that she is Creole:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/janet_hill_145px.jpg
Yeah, that’s Janet Hill. Race is very subjective. I say that because in all of the images of Hill I’ve seen, including the one you linked above, I see a lightly-complexioned black woman. Even if she were Hispanic, I’d assume her to be at the very least, a black Latina or a “mulata” type. In this case though, I strongly wonder if she descends from a Creole background, given where she’s from.
I actually find that specific study to be very biased. Most studies on race are IMO.
Also:
Adrian Fenty, mayor of Washington D.C., is missing from the list above.
And Rashida & Kidada Jones’ mother, “the white girl from the Mod Squad”, is Peggy Lipton. LOL.
hi
Don’t forget the soul singer Goapele. Her father is South African and mom is Jewish according to her website. She is one dreadlocked stunner!!!
I went to my company party last night – and saw tons of intracial couples…specifically black spouses I didnt know with my coworkers. Had no idea most were even married.
the number of people I know in interacial marriages just got way bigger!
Does anyone know the race of Paula Patton’s parents?
I wondered about Patton too when I first saw her. As far as I know, she’s never stated herself as anything other than black. She and her husband are very vocal about the difficulties she faces as a working black actress in Tinstletown. Quite the opposite of what Aba said about perceived H-Town “preferences”.
Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions!
These are confirmed and added as having a black father and white mother (see the posting above):
Barbara Becker
Jordam Farmar
Rick Fox
Victoria Rowell
Shemar Moore
Adrian Fenty
Goapele (but assuming that “Jewish” means white!)
Sherri Saum
Lisa Bonet
Confirmed and added as having a white father and black mother (see the other posting: http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/white-father-black-mother/):
Lauren London
Prince Hall
DeBarge
Benjamin Jealous
I cannot (yet) confirm the backgrounds of these:
Doug Christie
Shane Battier
Dave Justice
Paula Patton
These have mothers who conceivably could be white but probably not, so they are not listed here (click on the link to see their mothers):
Grant Hill http://abagond.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/janet_hill_145px.jpg
Tim Duncan http://abagond.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/timduncan1.png
Christie and Battier both have white mothers. That’s common knowledge. Christie’s from Seattle, a location where interracial romance is the norm. He’s a product of that.
Justice and Patton: it’s never been mentioned.
Hill and Duncan. Two black parents. Have you ever encountered extremely-fair-skinned or racially ambigious black people, Abagond? I notice that a lot of Northerners are tripped up when they encounter them. That could be the case here. But then again, you think Halle Berry looks white! LOL.
You forgot Rain Pryor (Richard Pryor’s daughter) her mother is white. And I am COMPLETELY SURPRISED about Wentworth Miller (from Prison Break) I had NO IDEA he was black.
Aba, you never did answer the question from comment #44!
Yeah, Rain Pryor is missing. She and ex-American Idol contestants Justin Guarini and Corey Clark (both missing from the list above) disprove the racist notion that interracial black offspring are better looking than their “monoracial” black counterparts.
So, does Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, from the ’90s R&B girl group Xscape. Her father was a member of the group, The Tams. Her mother is white. I had no idea about this fact until she revealed so in a cover story for “Sister2Sister” magazine.
More notable omissions from your list:
Boris Diaw (NBA player, Phoenix Suns)
Lou Bega (one hit wonder)
Rhian Benson (underground soul singer)
Bizzy Bone (rapper, Bone Thugs N Harmony)
Amil (rapper)
Michael Franti (rapper/singer/activist)
Goldie (UK jungle musician/actor)
Kim Locke (American Idol hopeful)
Travis McCoy (rapper, Gym Class Heroes)
Ms. Dynamite (UK singer/rapper)
Tom Morello (guitarist, Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave)
KeKe Wyatt (R&B singer)
Clark Johnson (actor/director)
James Blake (tennis ace)
Anthony Ervin (swimmer)
Maven Huffman (WWE wrestler)
Tony Parker (NBA player, Spurs)
One thing I noticed: there’s so many female soul singers who are under the rader who are products of black/white unions. I wonder what that’s about?
In answer to #44 about racially ambiguous black people: the ones I have come across I assumed were Puerto Rican till I knew otherwise – unless they were in an all-black context.
I doubt that I said that Halle Berry looks white. I think I said that she looks mostly white.
But, yes, before I kept this blog I thought I had a good idea on where the white race begins. It turns out that it prizes its European purity far more highly than I thought. And now I see that Jews are much closer to the edge than I thought.
Quote:
“Oh just a note on the IQ thing, Iq is not an objective test. Having a white mother who we can safely assume is the primary caregiver that would be the same as a white child that would give the same input on the childs cultural upbringing. maybe i am wrong but that is my theory. now i Know that they say that biracial children of white women are smarter than white children and black children but there is the beginning of the theory someone can finish it for me.”
I don’t know but I have read that interracial couples spend much more time and money than average on education for their children. But perhaps this is related to the fact that interracial marriage rates increase with level of education?
What I mean is, if you select for social class or economic status would the IQ differences disappear?
I wonder who’s tallying the stats on the supposed IQ differences. My parents are both African-American, yet each of my siblings and myself were all honor students and graduated Valedictorians of our perspective classes. We also scored well on our SATs and did very well in college. Am I to credit our God-given intelligence to the fact that a white man supposedly injected smart genes into our bloodline when he RAPED our paternal great-great grandmother back in the 1800′s? Or could it have possibly come from our maternal side, when a married slave master had a baby girl with his black slave mistress, who grew up to become a great-great grandmother to us? God forbid!
Look, I’m not saying that genetics has nothing to do with intelligence, but the educational status of the mother (who in most cases is the primary caregiver) and the emphasis she places on education as she raises her kids bears a lot more weight than genetics. Fathers, for the most part, are not as hands-on with their kids. In our case, our mom did stress the value of education more so than our dad, and it paid off in so many ways.
Now that I’m a mother, I do the same with my daughter. She is only in kindergarten but has been at the top of her class for two years in a row. My husband and I take a very active approach and encourage her in her classroom success. I think this is the real differnce. Black moms are sometimes so busy, mainly because of economic stresses, that they don’t or can’t take the time they should in encouraging their kids’ academic growth.
Average black IQ has been going since the 1950s but so has everybody else’s (Flynn effect) so we’re still behind.
I meant to say: “has been going up since”
As far as the “IQ” debate, I have always believed that environment plays a larger role. Environment includes parental and peer influence, as well as cultural influence.
mynameismyname says:
“Vanessa Williams, the ex-Miss America and famed actress/singer, is another 100% black American (as opposed to 100% African) celeb who gets regularly mistaken for being a product of an interracial union.”
I have often seen her referred to as biracial. It is most likely because she has light skin, light eyes and hair (I am not sure of her natural hair color.)
I saw a picture of Vanessa Williams’s parnets – they are both black.
The Flynn effect affects blacks more than whites, so the difference in IQs has been getting smaller:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/12/24/the-flynn-effect/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/black-iq/
Yes, I know. My point was that blacks still trail whites because we started out further behind, even though we’re rising.
Interestingly, the Flynn effect is reversing in some western countries (such as Sweden and Denmark). At first they blamed this on an increase in minorities but the effect is continuing even after they reduced immigration drastically. And the effect exists even if you filter the statistics to remove the ethnic minorities.
Imani Coppola’s mother is black and her father is italian.
And since we’re adding ANTM models on here, Jael’s mother is black and her father is jewish.
Last but not least, my all-time favorite: Amber Rose (model), who’s mother is black (african, from Cape Verde) and father is italian.
Will you being one with people of black mothers and white fathers? I ask because my mother is black and father is white and that never seems to be talked about like it has never happened or still does not happen.
Im biracial also..mother is black and father is irish and indian. I love being biracial except everyone thinks Im spanish from the time I was a child. Im always being told but you look Puerto Rican!! Or when I say Im not spanish sometimes Im given weird looks like Im lying.
so what about justin guarini and jordin sparks?
WOW! I just came across the discussion and was surprised by the importance this subject still has. My whole family is from Puerto Rico we moved a couple of years ago. I have fair skin, green eyes and blonde hair. What category would you put me in? In Puerto Rico we have a saying “Y tu abuela a donde esta?’” (Where did you leave your grandmother?) It’s an old saying reminding us that we are all immigrants and none of us can 100% guarantee that our line hasn’t been mixed at least once since the discovery of America.
“My niece is in this position. Black father (actual half black/half latin – but considers himself black)…white mother. Black people think she is whtie – white people ask what she is, but dont think she is white- only multi racial people get it right.”
In my opinion, you should raise her proud of where she came from. Rejecting neither…When people ask tell them she’s american: A mixture of lots of cultures.
Just read the current issue of Giant magazine with Paula Patton on the cover.
Your intial irkling about her racial background was correct afterall!
The cover story reveals that Patton is the daughter of a “black lawyer and white schoolteacher”. So, I’m assuming her mother is the schoolteacher?
In the article, she talks about the difficulties of dating now-husband Robin Thicke in high school. She says that she hid their romance for a long time. She already got flack for “not being black enough” because of her appearance and her white parent, the knowledge of her being romantically involved with a white man would have made things even worst.
She also talks about her plight as a black woman in Hollywood.
Very interesting stuff. Interestingly enough, Giant calls Patton “the next Halle Berry” on the cover. LOL. Let’s just leave that alone!
I like Paula Patton. I think she is cool. However, I thought she had two Black parents lol.
I’m curious as to why would it be a problem for her to date a white man in high school, when she has a White parent?
Well, Dani, in the article, she was saying that it posed a problem for her because she really strove to cultivate a solid black identity socially. Being seen with a white man would further prove this “idea” of her not being black enough, in the eyes of her peers.
I also assumed that she had two black parents!
See most black/white offspring REALLY don’t look distinguishable from other blacks.
@ mynameismyname
Oh I get it now! But Robin Thicke is not like a typical white boy though lol but I feel her though. The funny thing about Paula is that she never came out and mentioned her mother being white. She always claimed Black and so did Robin. What’s also funny is that if you type in Paula Patton in the search engine, you would get narrowed searches that would say “Is Paula Patton African-American” “Paula Patton Bi-racial” “Paula Patton is Black” “Paula Patton is mixed race” lmao it’s a trip. She claims Black and to she looks like a light skin Black American to me.
Myname:
Oh cool. I added Paula Patton. Thanks!
i think that paula patton is very pretty. she’s looks like a crelo person to me. her and denise matthews aka vanity look some what a like in vanity younger days. ms. mattews is a black/german but she always looked and still is very pretty hispanic looks. go to her web site/strapbook pictures of her when she was a little girl. always beautiful/hispanic looking.
Carmen Ejogo, a beautiful Bi-racial British actress. She was in Metro with Eddie Murphy, as well as Sally Hemmings: An American Scandal.
She has a Scottish mom and Nigerian Dad.
She’s beautiful and a wonderful underrated actress. Married to Jeffrey Wright
Abagond, please do an article about white fathers/black mothers. White men and black women is rare to see, compared to black men/white women. I’m not phased when I see a black man and white woman, because it’s so common. I always thought if a white man was with a black woman, he definitely loved her and didn’t care what the world thought. Not to say white men aren’t attracted to black women, how could they not be, we’re beautiful, but I think it would be more behind closed doors of white men creeping with black women, rather than ‘this is my women or my wife.’ My husband happens to be white and he treats me like a queen. I never thought I would marry a white man, but it turns out he’s my soul-mate. Love has no color, but if people put color on love they may never find their true love.
Bob Marley’s father was white and mother black. The same with British actress Thandie Newton.
The only study I know of done about the sex and race of one’s parents is one done by Willerman, Naylor and Myrianthopoulos in 1974: mixed children brought up by a black father and a white mother had a mean IQ of 104.7, more than 8 points higher than those raised by a white father and black mother: 96.4. And, by the way, almost 5 points higher than the mean white IQ and, in those days, nearly 20 points higher than the mean black IQ.
I think there are actually several studies where the children of WF/BM couples were found to have higher IQs than the children of BF/WM couples. Hybrid vigor is often suggested as an explanation, but it’s not clear why it would not affect the children of both types of B-W couples equally.
The problem with these studies is that they don’t usually control for parental IQ. Also, if the testees are young children, SES differences seem to affect the results of IQ tests considerably, unlike among older testees. Furthermore, it’s not always clear if the norms the scores are compared to are up-to-date. Can you tell more about the Willerman et al. study? (BTW, in the “rootedness” thread I asked you about WWI army IQ tests, but did not respond.)
The Flynn effect affects blacks more than whites, so the difference in IQs has been getting smaller
The black-white IQ difference may have contracted somewhat, but probably not due the Flynn effect. The black-white IQ gap is qualitively different from the “Flynn gap” between different generations.
If you analyse the IQ test responses of people born 30 years apart, you’ll notice that they the tests are as if biased against the older people in that they are as good at answering some types of questions as the younger people, but at some other types of questions they are very bad compared to the younger people. In contrast, blacks and whites (of the same generation) find the same types of questions either easy or difficult, suggesting that the racial IQ difference is not due to test bias, unlike the Flynn gap.
^^^
J,
One of the arguments given as to why BM/WF couples have higher IQ kids than WM/BF couples is that more socialization and mental nurturing comes from the mother. Perhaps there is something about black culture that is not as cognitively nurturing as white culture, at least in the area of abstract reasoning.
I can’t think of any hereditarian argument that would explain this phenomena. We’d still have to know something about IQs of the couples involved. Given the stereotype that mostly low class white women marry black men(don’t know how true that is), and the fact that black women make about the same money as white women and have higher IQs and educational attainment than black men, I’d expect the results to be the opposite.
So I don’t know. I think this does give strong weight to the environmental explanation of IQ differences.
The hereditarian explanation of this phenomenon would be that these studies were done on young children, and hereditary differences do not fully manifest themselves until late teens or so. For example, in the Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study they found that at age 7, black/white biracial children raised by white upper-middle class adoptive parents had an average IQ of 105.4. However, at age 17 the same kids had an average score of 93.2. White mothers may be, on average, more nurturing than black mothers (for example, white mothers breastfeed their children more often than black mothers), which could contribute to their children having higher IQs. However, this nurture effect seems to be transitory, vanishing as the child grows up.
You can read about the results of the Minnesota study here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Transracial_Adoption_Study#Results. (Scroll down for the Flynn-adjusted scores–the original study had the problem with obsolete norms that I mentioned in my earlier post.)
You should also add:
Ian Khama (president of Botswana)
Phil Lynott (late lead singer of the great rock band Thin Lizzy)
Esperanza Spalding (jazz singer and bassist), she was handpicked by Pres. Obama to perform at his Nobel Peace Prize Concert
Yannick Noah (former French tennis player-only the second black man after Arthur Ashe-to win a tennis grand slam, he’s now a singer). His son Joakim plays for the Chicago Bulls.
Fefe Dobson (Canadian singer)
Jaye Davidson (British actor, famous for his Oscar-nominated role as a
transexual in the movie The Crying Game)
Jo-Wilifried Tsonga (French tennis player, former Australian Open finalist)
Cathy Tyson (British actress)
Ayo (chart-topping German Singer)
I don’t buy this… “Skin color” aside (hmmm) or should we look at cultural influences? Education, public education, National trends…
I think we need to look at the poverty level, social influences, and draw some logical conclusions:
In general, families from an uneducated background, poorer area, are going to have issues with nurturing by sheer nature of the environment and cultural issues that affect them daily. (This becomes a “Black cultural issue in America because Blacks are disproportinately at a greater percentage in this category.) I would bet the same observations above could be made with poor whites.
Look at this list. Proves my point.
Abagond, how were you so surprised that a lot of those people weren’t just black? I’m shocked. I thought it was obvious cause black Africans aren’t that light at all. Unless you go to Northern Africa, but the slaves were taken from sub-Saharan Africa right? Halle Berry??? wow shes obviously mixed!
Dee:
When I say “mixed”, I mean they have a white parent. Most blacks in America are at least part white, so “mixed” in that sense is not useful.
Some people say they can tell when a person is mixed. I do not buy that. And, in any case, I am clearly not one of those who can.
The trouble is there are plenty of light-skinned blacks in America, like Vanessa Williams, Prince, Angela Davis or Beyonce, who have two black parents. Some can even pass for white, like Anatole Broyard:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/anatole-broyard/
So you cannot tell just by looking whether someone has a white parent. Since like only 1% of black people have a white parent, if someone “seems mixed” you are better off assuming that they have two black parents – until you find out otherwise.
We all know that Halle Berry is mixed. I suspect a big deal was made of it to help her cross over to mainstream Hollywood success. I saw her mother, for example, being interviewed on television. Who in the world has their mother interviewed on television? But remembering back to “Jungle Fever” and “Boomerang”, which I saw before I knew she was mixed, she just seemed plain American black to me.
Interesting definition of “mixed” there. In Brazil, “mixed” takes in one’s entire family history, not just one’s parents.
This sort of thing is going to make trouble for future historians. I wager they’ll find a “boom” in “mixed” Americans staring in the 1980s. What many won’t realize, however, is that this is just when people began to openly acknowledge differences from the “one drop” rule.
Half-breeds.
Paula Patton definitely looks mixed- her features, complexion and hair. And Vanessa Wiliams is also mixed- a person cannot have light eyes, light complexion and mixed features unless they are mixed with White. Her parents both look mixed. Some African Americans have multi-generational mixtures, like some Latinos or some Creoles- they might end up being 1/4 Black or 1/8 Black, and their parents and grandparents may be 1/2, 1/4, etc. As for Wentworth Miller, he considers himself multiracial or White (depending on which interview you read), not Black. I think at some point, it makes sense for people to consider themselves multiracial (like Mariah does). If someone looks more ‘White’ than ‘Black’, people will not treat them as Black anyway.
Melissa Ford does not look mixed. Some folks lie about their ethnicity.
THE WHITE WOMAN IS THE WHITE MANS LAST TRICK !!!
When was the last time we seen more than just a few dark skin brothers or sisters in the same place at once, school, work, the supermarket ? For years hip-hop (so has the white media) been pushing the light skinned is better agenda from “redbones” to “yellowbones” to the casting of an all light skinned set of “video models” and actors and actresses in music videos and movies this spells the end for any total black empowerment, and unity.
africanblackmilitant
When was the last time we seen more than just a few dark skin brothers or sisters in the same place at once, school, work, the supermarket ?
I see dark skin black people together all the time and in large groups. You must stay where there arent many black people.
For years hip-hop (so has the white media) been pushing the light skinned is better agenda from “redbones” to “yellowbones” to the casting of an all light skinned set of “video models” and actors and actresses in music videos
I agree with you about hip-hop and music videos. Black people need to stop supporting this racist system. Dark skinned black women especially should stop watching these movies, music videos and stop buying these rappers/singers music who refuse to show women who look like them. Not one penny of my hard earned money will go towards people who disrespect me. Hell let the white people and the light people who they support, support them.
Anna,
You’re wrong. You can have light eyes, hair and skin and not be mixed. I should know. My baby sister has green eyes, light skin and dark brown hair and she definitely has two black parents.
Additionally I have known blacks with two black parents who are dark with light eyes, dark with “good hair.” I myself am dark with light brown eyes and a blue ring around my iris.
Every black person in america is mixed somehow, so that could be how these variances show up in those with two black parents. It’s the native american or white somewhere down the family blood line that skps through the generations.
>>Every black person in america is mixed somehow, so that could be how these variances show up in those with two black parents. It’s the native american or white somewhere down the family blood line that skps through the generations.
<<
Yes. This is something that is catching me by surprise….are young people today generally presuming that every light-skinned black person they see is the child of black/white parents?
My daughter is quite light skinned, although her features are very much African, but I and her mother are medium-dark. Her maternal grandfather is light-skinned, married to a very dark-skinned woman. Her paternal grandmother was light-skinned, married to a very dark-skinned man. So in the genetic roll of the dice, my daughter got genes for light skin along with genes for African features. That's how the genetic dice roll.
I have always known a significant percentage of light-skinned black people from my early childhood in the 50s who did not have a "white" parent. In many of those cases–but not all–they were the result of light-skinned blacks deliberately marrying light-skinned blacks to maintain a lineage of light skin.
In the 50s and 60s we would not have presumed for a that Vanessa Williams necessarily had a white parent–that was still very rare, but light-skinned (even light-eyed) children born to black parents (either both themselves light-skinned or a chance roll of the genetic dice) were fairly common.
Mom is mixed, Dad is white: IQ is 140 (was tested at 142 when I was about 12 or so, retested as adult and I’m dumber. WTH?).
Genes are funny things. My ex is white, brown hair and brown eyes. Myself I look like what I am, black mixed with white and native american: if I am in the northeast people have the tendency to assume I am mostly Puerto Rican. Now our son looks racially ambiguous; shave his hair and he looks like he is white mixed with either Asian or Native American. When he was a baby, I was always asked if my husband was Korean. Our daughter looks white, think California Barbie with green eyes and long,blonde curly hair. No blonde hair in any immediate family on either side, though my great granddad was a flaming redhead. She’s a throwback to blonde genes somewhere in the family.
I had a co-worker who would tell everyone at work that she was mixed at least 3 times a day in some form or another. If she didn’t get the instant recognition she wanted (she was extremely dark-skinned) she would bring up her hair proving that she was mixed because it was a loose wave. She would go on a spiel about her mother being a white British woman and her father was a black American soldier. Now genes are a funny thing here also, because in the same family she has an older sister who looks white, a younger one who is light-skinned with light eyes, a brother who looks black and another sister who is medium complexion.
Marci,
I believe there is a certain problem when it comes to “predicting” adult IQ when testing a child. In other words, you can get different results as a child. Many gifted and educated kids score higher on IQ tests, but their results as adults are sometimes lower (or higher, in some cases?)
I don’t know why this happens and if it is a real phenomenon or just a problem with data/statistics or a random thing, though. In any case, I don’t think 140 vs 142 is so much of a difference.
Genes can skip generations, and if we do know one thing, that is that you can’t predict child’s phenotype based on parent’s phenotypes. There are dominant and recessive genes, obviously, but you just never know. That’s why siblings often don’t look alike, and their phenotypes can be different, as well as facial features, height, body shape, etc. You just never know.
Your co-worker obviously has a problem with being black, that goes beyond “I want to acknowledge my white mother and/or British heritage”.
Marci,
The difference between 140 and 142 isn’t statistically significant.
RDKirk,
I’m with you. I always assumed that other Black people’s families ran the gamut, as mine does, so meeting Black people (online, at least) who think light-skinned = mixed is pretty strange to me because as I was growing up, people in Black communities were assumed to be Black unless their White parent was standing right there.
Your co-worker obviously has a problem with being black, that goes beyond “I want to acknowledge my white mother and/or British heritage”.
I agree Mira. It sounds like she was insecure about how she looked and wanted to prove her “mixedness”. If she had time to talk about it 3 times a day, I’m guessing she didn’t get much work done.
Lol, that reminds me of a girl I go to school with who I mentioned on my blog the other day. She starts every sentence with “well I’m biracial so…” As I mentioned in the post (no lie), “What did you have for lunch today?” “Well I’m biracial so…” Her mother is “African” (per her words) and her father is White, but she doesn’t look stereotypically biracial, so I think she’s insecure about it.
Mira, Jasmin,
I know it’s not that much difference, but when you have a brother and you are both competitive with each other, 2 points are bragging rights over the other.
A funny word about genes. I was on an AFB and an airman came up to me and asked me if I was a member of so and so family from this little town(the town is actually named-unofficially-after our family) in NC. I was surprised and said yes, how the heck did you know? He said I had the family look and all the girls look like each other. That had me laughing.
@Jasmin
Are you serious?! That’s way worse than what I had to put up with. I think I would have had to ask her to bring some authentic African food in to share. Just because she’s biracial, you know.
>>Marci– Her mother is “African” (per her words) and her father is White, but she doesn’t look stereotypically biracial, so I think she’s insecure about it.<<
For my generation, Boomers both black and white, "biracial" is just another word for "black." My X-Gen son tells me it's pretty much the same for his generation.
My Net Gen daughter told me last night that for her generation, however, to be bi-racial is a significant and distinctive thing, and in most cases is better than only being able to claim a single race. That's kind of the Hawaii experience (in which she went through elementary school).
RDKirk,
I’m Gen Y (at the older end), but I would say most people around my age seem to think more like your son than your daughter, with the exception being that biracial doesn’t necessarily equal Black (it can just equal biracial, though most people prefer to call themselves Black). But it doesn’t mean anything “special” (meaning better). Most people my age tend to only reference their Whiteness in terms of genetics, they never talk about it in terms of culture, which is why I guess they call themselves “Black” or “biracial and Black”, but never “White” or “biracial and White”, regardless of what they look like.
Marci,
I found that so weird, since I’ve never heard a person of African descent refer to themselves as “African” (as opposed to Nigerian, Somalian, Ethiopian, etc.), especially in a room full of Black and Latino people of different ethnic backgrounds.
Nor have I, (heard the person refer to a whole continent and not one nation, I mean) that’s why I was being a bit tongue in cheek. Of course, it fell flat because I neglected to use quotes around African.
Lol, don’t worry, I got it.
“I’m Gen Y (at the older end), but I would say most people around my age seem to think more like your son than your daughter, with the exception being that biracial doesn’t necessarily equal Black (it can just equal biracial, though most people prefer to call themselves Black). But it doesn’t mean anything “special” (meaning better). Most people my age tend to only reference their Whiteness in terms of genetics, they never talk about it in terms of culture, which is why I guess they call themselves “Black” or “biracial and Black”, but never “White” or “biracial and White”, regardless of what they look like.”
I would disagree. I’ve noticed that the term “mixed-white” has increasingly appeared in discussions on multiracial websites. I think this is a good descriptive term for people who look basically white in appearance, are primarily white in ancestry, and are usually treated as white in daily social situations but who come from a mixed background and may have a bit of ambiguity in their looks. Of course, you can still probably find many individuals who look like Rashida Jones or Wentworth Miller who absurdly describe themselves as “non-white”, but they are still operating under the common misconception that race is a binary rather than continuous variable.
In regard to byracial people,
i think that if a person of mixed race, they should not have to choose between parents as to what colour they are, why should one have to discard one side of their heritage ? It’s really telling one parent that they are not a part of them.
It is a insult to one parent when you has to choose
They usually are beautiful people !
They were created from both
You should include Drake
in your section of famous biracials born in the 80s
this is just PIZDETS! You are rasists! WOW!
REALLY AMERICA? IS THERE NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT. WHAT A PATHETIC WORTHLESS BLOG. A HUMAN BEING IS A HUMAN BEING SO GET OVER IT AMERICA.
THIS WORLD IS FILLED WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES AND IT WILL ALWAYS BE THAT WAY SO PEOPLE NEED TO MOVE ON. EVERYONE THINKS THERE RACE IS BETTER , BUT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A RACE THAT IS BETTER. WHERE ALL PEOPLE LIVING OUR LIVES AND EVERY RACE SHOULD BE EMBRACED. THERE ARE SO MANY INFLUENCIAL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS, OPRAH, RUSSEL SIMMONS, DONALD TRUMP, JUST TO NAME A FEW. PEOPLE SHOULD STOP BEING SO HATEFUL AND UNACCEPTING AND PUT THERE ENERGY INTO BEING MORE POSITIVE AND BEING BETTER ROLE MODELS.
It’s sad. Why water down the melanin, black boys? These people could’ve been so much better if they were fully black.
I’ve always wondered why whites believe that Prince is the product of an interracial relationship. It might be because they never heard of Prince prior to “Purple Rain” or “1999″ at the earliest, whereas we remember the big afro-ed Prince from his first eponymous album.
is kris humphries on the list?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hgm1EzIDYlA/TNMBkx2pofI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/3Yc1_s5Lfaw/s320/KRIS_HUMPHRIES.jpg
“Why water down the melanin” sounds a lot like “why muddy up the whiteness”. Get over yourselves, let people be happy.
Is Samantha Mumba (actress, singer) on either of these lists?
I have a friend who is 1/4 Native American, and while having dark eyes, dark brown hair, and a relatively tanned skin(for someone who is mostly white), he is almost always assumed to be white. He becomes very angry when he is referred to as white, and insists he is mixed. I agree with him obviously, but the white people who assume he is one of their own are confused at his anger and rejection of their acceptance.
Vin Diesel, or is that still a case that’s (excuse the pun) in the dark?
Also Jessica Szohr but that might be the other list.
Imani Coppola’s mother is black and her dad is white (Italian). You were a bit offensive on your post for black mothers/white fathers so correct this.
This is a great informative blog. Something interesting about Mariah Carey is that her father is Venezuelan of African descent. She never recognizes her Latin American roots. She just says she’s biracial without ever mentioning the origin of her roots. Latinos are a mix themselves. We have white, black, indiginous roots, which form a big mix. Anyhow, no one ever knows that about her. Thought you would want to know.
Here’s another one: Carol Channing
from the moment i laid eyes on the BEAUTFUL MS. DENISE” VANITY” MATTHEWS, it was LOVE at first sight indeed. i seen a few photos of her parents her mom german{white} her dad black vanity dosen’t look either black/white, she looks spanish, am. indian, turkisk etc. even in her bio her oldest sister patty says vanity looks like an eskimo. denise looks like every race except 4 asian a lot of ohers people agreed stronger with this as well. look at vanity pretty straight black hair, high cheek bones, pretty dark fiercing eyes, pretty light brown skin & beautiful face that tells it all.
Imani Coppola has a white father and black mother, her dad is italian.
denise matthews aka vanity is a beautiful bi-racial woman. no way any 1 could look at her and say she’s just black {no madness}.
Well racismo sucks so…
Visit Latin America!
There is slight racism (a couple or more of countries not so much) and that’s why people can have kids with whoever they want, and let me say, people have no issue with mainstream bullshit, because a lot of people don’t give a crap about it.
Oh the combinations are endless and beautiful…
denise matthews aka vanity is the most BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD PERIOD!!!!
denise matthews aka vanity is beautiful & she’s 1/2 german-1/2 black.
Go to NegroParents.org for information