On Interracial Mate Selection: Part III (Black Women and Non-Black Men)
The Facebook Migration Series, Volume VII
Originally written November 18, 2009
We live, assuming that someone from another country will not read this, in a country in which racism is one of the pillars that hold it up. When this country was created, non-white males were looked down upon, especially blacks. As time has passed, racial strife has gotten better obviously, but the pillar of racism is not going to disappear; so it is always going to exist. As part of this pillar of racism, it is only natural that people believe that people should have a mate that is in their race. Some of it is out of pure ignorance or hatred while others could seriously have good intentions. However, one's good intentions is not protected from their own ignorance. Here in Part II of my thoughts on interracial mate selection, I will take a look at some of the arguments that might be made by whites and non-whites in favor of not selecting a mate outside of your race.
*Whites and Non-Whites: "It is only natural for people mate within their own race. It's within their own people, which is how it's supposed to be."
People that believe it is natural for people to date within their own race are missing something very important and fundamental. We first have to observe the concept of race. What is race? There is no consensus on the concept of race, but I will take my shot at it. First and foremost, race is an arbitrary method used by certain societies to create some kind of social order. By arbitrary I mean useless. Here in America, it is more about the color of the skin, despite people of different skin tones and colors sharing the same culture. Nonetheless, race has no real value. An anecdote comes to mind when I think of this whole concept of race. I work with international students at Santa Monica College. My colleague made a horrible mistake despite my benevolently vehement warnings. There is one student who looks like he could come from somewhere in east Asia. As my colleague was helping this student, she casually asked him which part of Japan he was from. She made the horrible mistake of taking one's phenotype and presuming what race that person is. The gentleman is actually from El Salvador. He speaks Spanish, partakes is customs that are El Salvadorian, and has few ties to Japan, only that he is of Japanese decent. Does this automatically makes him Japanese? I'd say no if I were to guess, and he'd probably say so too. You are what you identify with. Thus, based on his life experiences, the guy is El Salvadorian or Hispanic in our terms. Yes, he looks Japanese, but he is not Japanese in a sense of being part of Japanese culture.
People that believe staying within the race is natural seem to not understand the myriad of possibilities that is the human race. I, as a young black man from California, has been mistaken for a Dominican on several occasions, especially when I was on the east coast. So, just because I look a certain does not guarantee me to be part of a particular race. We should really be concerned about people's life experiences and what those experiences contributed to that person's culture rather than looking for this arbitrary difference. Once these people can figure this out, they will realize that people like people of other races, because they realize that they have what they are looking for. This shows how the concept of race altogether is arbitrary.
Second, if it were natural for the races to be only mating with each other, it would not have happened already. Interracial mate selection has occurred since the advent of the race concept. In fact, interracial mating could be better for the human race due to the great pool of genes that this would create. People would say that mating within your own family will give you a child that is retarded. Not quite. It's all about genetic variability and simple statistics. The more genetic variability, the better chance good genes get passed on. If a condition exist within a family, mating is shared by a few, the genetic variability will be low which would give the offspring a large chance in getting that condition (and its not automatic that the offspring will have that condition, but the chances would be greater). In short, everybody mating within their own race would be creating lower genetic variability than if everyone were to mate outside the race. I disagree that selecting a mate that is outside of one's race is unnatural unless you think natural is something that hinders survival.
*Non-whites: "We have been through so much strife in this country. We need to stay within our race to create a stronger bond within our people."
There is no doubt that many non-white groups have endured their fair share of oppression, whether lawful, systemic, or de facto. Should this be a cause for people to not select a mate that lies outside of their race?
I agree that any group, based on race or any other characteristic, should come together in times of adversity to create an aware in order to overcome that adversity. This is why the poor and working classes will continue to falter until the US becomes very similar to a developing country that has no middle class and small wealthy class unless they come together to do something about it (a possible note?). When a group is oppressed, they need to come together as mentioned; but where does mate selection fit in all this. The fact is that relationships are relationships. There are good times and bad times. These are going to come no matter who you are with. So, a relationship among a non-white and a white or any other type of interracial relationship is going to have the same outcome. Let's say we as a black community were to keep it within our race. Then, some of those relationships go awry and eventually sour. How would that strengthen the bond of black people? In fact, could it be detrimental? Well the answer to the latter is actually no because none of this would have any significant impact on the strength of the bond of a people. We are all aware that the majority of couples do not die together. There are many break ups, and this has played no role on making any group of people stronger or weaker.
*Black women: "It seems like so many good black men don't want them a black woman."
Another note.
*Whites: A Radical and Controversial Hypothesis.
There exists a book out there that I am very hesitant to recommend anyone because of knowing people will take it one of the possible wrong ways. My older cousin suggested a book for me to read when I was about 18 or 19. It is called "The Isis Paper," by a Dr. Frances Cress Welsing. Welsing is (or was) a psychiatrist from Washington D.C. (The District as Jim Rome and I like to call it). Over her years, she challenged the conventional notions about the truth and origin of racism. "The Isis Papers" is a collection of essays she composed throughout her career. Her hypotheses and theories are very intriguing and thought provoking. I am not one to fall for her works as if it is dogma as to what racism really is; rather, I use it to provoke my own thought.
The core of her argument revolves around white vs. non-white with respect to genetics. With skin color, the alleles that produce whiteness are recessive while the alleles for darkness are dominant. Now, dominant and recessive traits does not imply that one is better than the other. So, dark skin as a dominant trait does not mean dark is superior and white is inferior or the other way around. Due to this, people with dark skin have the potential to basically eliminate the white race eventually if they were to mate with whites. It's not entirely true that a white and a non-white, especially a black and white, will automatically produce a child of color. Nonetheless, there is a greater chance that the mixed colored couple will produce a child of color as opposed to non-color. Using this science of probability, Welsing believes whites guard against interracial mating at the sake of the white race. She believes whites have established a color divide to save the existence of whites, due to survival being the most primitive behavior for any species. In short, if colored peoples were to mate with non-colored peoples unchecked, the end of the white race would be inevitable. This may not be entirely true, but you can see where her argument comes from. Again, this is a very controversial theory, and should inspire scientists and laymen alike to at least think about this if not further research this.
The whole point is that the very concept of race is very flawed to begin with. Here's a funny reference for you. Chris Rock, I can't remember which comedy special though I want to say "Never Scared," was talking about black stereotypes. He says with that patented Chris Rock grin, "You tell me you know one person that does not like fried chicken and watermelon!" He is saying that people talking about how black people love fried chicken and watermelon, as well as anybody of any race. That's just good eating right there. Ultimately, all people are more similar than they are different. It is true, however, that people may manifest these similarities in their own cultural, idiosyncratic way. Like when people ask me "have you every had Thai food." Though I have not (well now I have) had any before officially, I tell them yes. "Yeah I had Thai food. All cultures use the same dead animals and crops, just prepared a little differently." All cultures want to survive, seek companionship, enjoy family, enjoy entertainment, enjoy good sex, see their offspring prosper, celebrate rites of passage, enjoy good food, partake in music, and the list can be seemingly infinite. While we all have different skin tones, and maybe prepare our chicken with curry, flour, or wrapped in a tortilla, we are all humans and part of that over arching human race. Having limitations that are based on race will cause trouble. What if you meet someone that is great, but they are of a different race? You mean to say that you would be better off with someone in your own race just because? I doubt that. You will find that the overwhelming majority of humans want the same things in life no matter their so-called race.
To be continued...
Originally written November 18, 2009
*Whites and Non-Whites: "It is only natural for people mate within their own race. It's within their own people, which is how it's supposed to be."
People that believe it is natural for people to date within their own race are missing something very important and fundamental. We first have to observe the concept of race. What is race? There is no consensus on the concept of race, but I will take my shot at it. First and foremost, race is an arbitrary method used by certain societies to create some kind of social order. By arbitrary I mean useless. Here in America, it is more about the color of the skin, despite people of different skin tones and colors sharing the same culture. Nonetheless, race has no real value. An anecdote comes to mind when I think of this whole concept of race. I work with international students at Santa Monica College. My colleague made a horrible mistake despite my benevolently vehement warnings. There is one student who looks like he could come from somewhere in east Asia. As my colleague was helping this student, she casually asked him which part of Japan he was from. She made the horrible mistake of taking one's phenotype and presuming what race that person is. The gentleman is actually from El Salvador. He speaks Spanish, partakes is customs that are El Salvadorian, and has few ties to Japan, only that he is of Japanese decent. Does this automatically makes him Japanese? I'd say no if I were to guess, and he'd probably say so too. You are what you identify with. Thus, based on his life experiences, the guy is El Salvadorian or Hispanic in our terms. Yes, he looks Japanese, but he is not Japanese in a sense of being part of Japanese culture.
People that believe staying within the race is natural seem to not understand the myriad of possibilities that is the human race. I, as a young black man from California, has been mistaken for a Dominican on several occasions, especially when I was on the east coast. So, just because I look a certain does not guarantee me to be part of a particular race. We should really be concerned about people's life experiences and what those experiences contributed to that person's culture rather than looking for this arbitrary difference. Once these people can figure this out, they will realize that people like people of other races, because they realize that they have what they are looking for. This shows how the concept of race altogether is arbitrary.
Second, if it were natural for the races to be only mating with each other, it would not have happened already. Interracial mate selection has occurred since the advent of the race concept. In fact, interracial mating could be better for the human race due to the great pool of genes that this would create. People would say that mating within your own family will give you a child that is retarded. Not quite. It's all about genetic variability and simple statistics. The more genetic variability, the better chance good genes get passed on. If a condition exist within a family, mating is shared by a few, the genetic variability will be low which would give the offspring a large chance in getting that condition (and its not automatic that the offspring will have that condition, but the chances would be greater). In short, everybody mating within their own race would be creating lower genetic variability than if everyone were to mate outside the race. I disagree that selecting a mate that is outside of one's race is unnatural unless you think natural is something that hinders survival.
*Non-whites: "We have been through so much strife in this country. We need to stay within our race to create a stronger bond within our people."
There is no doubt that many non-white groups have endured their fair share of oppression, whether lawful, systemic, or de facto. Should this be a cause for people to not select a mate that lies outside of their race?
I agree that any group, based on race or any other characteristic, should come together in times of adversity to create an aware in order to overcome that adversity. This is why the poor and working classes will continue to falter until the US becomes very similar to a developing country that has no middle class and small wealthy class unless they come together to do something about it (a possible note?). When a group is oppressed, they need to come together as mentioned; but where does mate selection fit in all this. The fact is that relationships are relationships. There are good times and bad times. These are going to come no matter who you are with. So, a relationship among a non-white and a white or any other type of interracial relationship is going to have the same outcome. Let's say we as a black community were to keep it within our race. Then, some of those relationships go awry and eventually sour. How would that strengthen the bond of black people? In fact, could it be detrimental? Well the answer to the latter is actually no because none of this would have any significant impact on the strength of the bond of a people. We are all aware that the majority of couples do not die together. There are many break ups, and this has played no role on making any group of people stronger or weaker.
*Black women: "It seems like so many good black men don't want them a black woman."
Another note.
*Whites: A Radical and Controversial Hypothesis.
There exists a book out there that I am very hesitant to recommend anyone because of knowing people will take it one of the possible wrong ways. My older cousin suggested a book for me to read when I was about 18 or 19. It is called "The Isis Paper," by a Dr. Frances Cress Welsing. Welsing is (or was) a psychiatrist from Washington D.C. (The District as Jim Rome and I like to call it). Over her years, she challenged the conventional notions about the truth and origin of racism. "The Isis Papers" is a collection of essays she composed throughout her career. Her hypotheses and theories are very intriguing and thought provoking. I am not one to fall for her works as if it is dogma as to what racism really is; rather, I use it to provoke my own thought.
The core of her argument revolves around white vs. non-white with respect to genetics. With skin color, the alleles that produce whiteness are recessive while the alleles for darkness are dominant. Now, dominant and recessive traits does not imply that one is better than the other. So, dark skin as a dominant trait does not mean dark is superior and white is inferior or the other way around. Due to this, people with dark skin have the potential to basically eliminate the white race eventually if they were to mate with whites. It's not entirely true that a white and a non-white, especially a black and white, will automatically produce a child of color. Nonetheless, there is a greater chance that the mixed colored couple will produce a child of color as opposed to non-color. Using this science of probability, Welsing believes whites guard against interracial mating at the sake of the white race. She believes whites have established a color divide to save the existence of whites, due to survival being the most primitive behavior for any species. In short, if colored peoples were to mate with non-colored peoples unchecked, the end of the white race would be inevitable. This may not be entirely true, but you can see where her argument comes from. Again, this is a very controversial theory, and should inspire scientists and laymen alike to at least think about this if not further research this.
The whole point is that the very concept of race is very flawed to begin with. Here's a funny reference for you. Chris Rock, I can't remember which comedy special though I want to say "Never Scared," was talking about black stereotypes. He says with that patented Chris Rock grin, "You tell me you know one person that does not like fried chicken and watermelon!" He is saying that people talking about how black people love fried chicken and watermelon, as well as anybody of any race. That's just good eating right there. Ultimately, all people are more similar than they are different. It is true, however, that people may manifest these similarities in their own cultural, idiosyncratic way. Like when people ask me "have you every had Thai food." Though I have not (well now I have) had any before officially, I tell them yes. "Yeah I had Thai food. All cultures use the same dead animals and crops, just prepared a little differently." All cultures want to survive, seek companionship, enjoy family, enjoy entertainment, enjoy good sex, see their offspring prosper, celebrate rites of passage, enjoy good food, partake in music, and the list can be seemingly infinite. While we all have different skin tones, and maybe prepare our chicken with curry, flour, or wrapped in a tortilla, we are all humans and part of that over arching human race. Having limitations that are based on race will cause trouble. What if you meet someone that is great, but they are of a different race? You mean to say that you would be better off with someone in your own race just because? I doubt that. You will find that the overwhelming majority of humans want the same things in life no matter their so-called race.
To be continued...
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