Topic
for
3/17/97:		 How should the offspring of inter-racial couples (African-American and another race) be categorized?



Submit Date: 31 JAN 1999
Name: cort5
Email: "trpddd@primnet.com
Response: The categorizing of any people would not have been an issue if the Cain story had not materialized. It shoud not matter what your blood mixture consist of, we are all human beings. Teach your children that we are all human beings and the color or their blood mixture will not be an issue isn their lives. If you use the scriptures leave out the Cain and Able story, for this is where the issue of skin color arose.


Submit Date: 29 JAN 1999
Name: Abu Tahir Della
Email: "TahirDella@aol.com
Response: The beginning of Freedom is to stop devine people and to catedorys them. Because therein is root of Racism


Submit Date: 8 DEC 1998
Name: Brandon Swanson
Email: "Lasher702@yahoo.com
Response: There shouldn't be ANY kind of new category for mixed children. There shouldn't even be categories for so called full bred children. If we continue to segrigate ourselves then how can we bridge the gap of human unity.


Name: Ancel
Email: Bancel@swbell.net
Response: The catagoration of inter-racial offspring is neccesary to track the trends of American society. Future generations will depend on us to leave an accurate account of the times inwhich we live. Our political habits, eating habits, mating habits, and everything else about us should be tracked and recorded. How many people were born of Black fathers and White mothers, how many with White fathers and Black mothers, and so on etc... The children should all be classified seperatly for the benefit of our decsendents, to know how we developed, and to know their past. Stop being so emotional! Think logically. How many of us "Black" Americans really know our racial mixture.


Name: Yazmin Karlsson
Email: sol_latina@hotmail.com
Response: I think that multi racial children are Gods way of showing us how the world should reallly be. They are a product of two peoples love, a love that is color blind and this is the way it should be. The love between people should not depend on race or religion it should be based on the "the person". So the children are special and very beautiful but to rare, but i hope that we'll see more in the future. And i do think we will Inshaallah! Thank you!


Name: Amutha
Email: amutha@tm.net.my
Response: CALL ME AN INTRUDER !!! It doesn't matter. I'm an Asian female in my late twenties. As I was browsing thru this website, I just couldn't believe what my eyes are reading. WHAT IS ALL THIS COLOR STUFF? You can't classify human being, no one can, even God never classified us. WHY ARE WE THE LIVING BEING WITH BRAINS KILLING OUR THOUGHTS WITH SUCH THINGS? I just can't understand. What right do we have to classify a newly born child. We human started this color classification, only we human can end it. Let me not be a fool to hope this thinking would end, but it would end if we start it changing ourselves. Why are we saying bad stuff about ourselves? There are so many questions pouring out of me to understand this "color" concept.When two people are in love and choose to live the rest of their lives together, there shall never be anything such as race, color, religion or anything which will separate these individuals. One should learn to repect and accept each other's believe. The child in an any kind of marriage should only be classified as THE CHILD OF LOVE.EVERYONE, PLEASE ... PLEASE ... STOP TALKING ABOUT COLOR ...


Name: mallmon
Email: mallmon@raider.grcc.cc.mi.us
Response: The color of the skin should not matter. Society is so caught up in this black and white thing, its rediculous! I like all races regardlesss of the color. There are questions you should ask yourself. Are we all human? Do we all have the same body features? Most of us choose the same religion. So therefore, the color of ones skin should not matter. Us blacks have been down so long that we confine ourselves to the past! I love all you all. Peace!!!!!


Name: NJS
Email:
Response: I must start by first saying that there is no such thing as inter-racial offspring. A baby is just that, a baby. Why anyone would want to say different is beyond me. Stop and think where did the word race come from? God didn't say, "I will put all these different races on the earth and see how long it takes for them to get rid of one another. We brought this on ourselves and only we can do something about it. No one has the right to say one person is better than another because of the color of his or her skin. What I really find as being strange is the fact that a baby of a couple who's parents are from different backgrounds being involuntarily placed into a category by the very ones that do not like being placed into a category themselves


Name:
Email: crownme@hotmail.com
Response: Why should the children of interracial couples be any different than any other child. People have the right to choose whoever they wish to be with, and have children with whoever they choose to. A child of an interracial couple not only gets the privilege of knowing one culture, but two. Basically, it is nobody's business where the child came from, all that matters is that it is there, and should be treated like a human being.


Name: Nkenge Zenzele
Email: zenzeln@admrs6k.roosevelt.edu
Response: I've browsed through the comments on this topic and I've read the responses ranging from (I'm paraphrasing) "they should be called human" to "the hell with them if they don't want to be one of us." People have discussed the rape of Black female slave with the intention of forced breeding and the mixture of Native American blood (although this constant claim makes it seem that the original and true Americans were a pretty promiscuous bunch since everyone from blonde-haired-blue-eyed people to sable-and-ebony-folk claim some of them in their ancestry). But no one had talked about the color caste system in this country that has affected and continues to affect Black people's life chances and choices today. This color caste system is what I feel is the basis of this whole discussion. Black folks don't like to talk about it. It's piece of dirty laundry in our community. But we have to be honest about it. All Blacks are not viewed equally, inside or outside the community. We all know that inside the community those Blacks with lighter skin and more European features are more preferred and are considered to be more attractive, even more intelligent than darker skinned Blacks. If you don't believe me check out some rap and R&B vidoes. How many times have you seen these often dark chocolate brothas seranading a woman of their hue. Or look at the now defunct (thank God!) TV show Martin. Martin dissed Pam, his wife Gina's dark-skinned friend constantly. The target of attack was Pam's physical appearance especially her hair. Martin made fun of her for having naturally nappy hair (her "bee-bees") and for trying to cover up her "affliction" with a weave. The sistah was damned if she did and damned if she didn't. There is a sort of color-preservaion culture in our community. There are still Blacks who would disapprove of their children dating and/or marrying someone who is darker than they are. Skin color still has a major say in who we choose to love, befriend or choose to hang with. Also outside our community it is a sort of racist "common knowledge" that lighter-skinned euro-phenotype Blacks were in fact superior to Blacks with more African phenotypes. On ABC Nightline there aired a show about the color divide in the Black community. A professor at DePaul, Midge Wilson who co-wrote the book _Divided Sisters_, and a White woman did a little experiment. She showed her class, a predominantly White one but with many Third World folks in it, some pictures of Black people. These were just head-and-shoulder shots. There were three types of pictures 1) ones taken with normal exposure to reflect the subject's true skin color, 2) ones that had been underexposed to make the person's skin look lighter and 3) those that had been overexposed to make the subject's skin look darker. Prof. Wilson asked the students their impressions of the people in the pictures. Were they intelligent? Were they attractive? Would they be successful in their lives? etc. Not surprisingly the majority labeled the darker pictures as being unattractive, less intelligent and giving them not very favorable life chances, while the lighter photos were more intelligent, more attractive and were deemed to be successful people. On camera, one young White female student even labeled the smiling, pleasant young Black woman in the overexposed picture as being a slut. This White girl would most likely deny having a racist bone in her body if confronted. So even though they may not receive all of the skin color privileges accorded to Whites lighter-skinned Blacks do receive privileges based on their color that are denied to darker-skinned Blacks. Light-skinned Blacks tend to be more affluent than dark-skinned Black who are more likely to be poor. It is this seemingly passive reception of skin color privilege by light-skinned Blacks that is at the bottom of this discussion. For if light-skinned offspring of "plain ol' Black folk" light, dark, or in between can claim privilege over that of their darker brethren then it is that much easier for multiracial people to claim privilege since they can point back one generation to a parent who is non-Black instead of going back generations. The fear is the establishment of some sort of apartheid-like race/color hierarchy with Whites at the top, multiracial and light-skinned folks in the middle, and dark-skinned Blacks at the bottom. However, you cannot tell a book by its cover. Some of the most radical Black folks I know are light-skinned. And they're not trying to prove their Blackness. Mostly they're trying to resist a system that they know is way willing to pimp them against their brothas and sistaa. And just because someone has the complexion of smooth ebony doesn't at all mean they're down. Clarence Thomas is a pefect case in point. So what should multi-racial children be called? I think that's putting the cart before the horse. We've got to take time to wash our dirty laundry before we can wear it and show it off.


Name: guille
Email: gfuenzalida@cdechile.cl
Response: SAMBO MAMBO ... SAMBO MAMBO, Que tienes tu que no tenga yo? (What is in you that is not in me?)prais the song from chilean folk group Inti-Illimani (Sun-man in Quechua language). I am surprised of you people, who can speak, read, write in english, the first-World language, and use computer machines, watching (reading) your cries! Respect yourselves as does my people, the araucanian (Mapu-che, man-of-the Earth), the inca and the azteca, who silent face-up the loosing of their lands: heroes they were as Huey and those first Black Panthers, fighting against mad power. What more can I say to you, men and women-of-the Earth!


Name: B O P
Email: supa_ronn@hotmail.com
Response: It is obvious that most of the children from inter-racial couplings will classify themselves as Black or African American. This is so because 9 times out of 10, they will live and work around other African Americans. Why we get so upset with those that would profess otherwise, I will never know. Who really cares if they do not want to be part of us?!? To me, we are better off without them. They could only bring us down. I also feel that there is nothing wrong if they want to celebrate all of their heritages (ie Tiger "Don't Ever Call Me Black!" Woods) so long as they do not deny their African part.


Name: Cheri
Email: januw@voicenet.com
Response: I am from a mixed marriage. I consider myself BLACK not african american. I am sick of other people defining who I am. I agree with several other people on this discussion. The most racist people I know have been from the black community. When one person of Color gets ahead, who tries to pull him down another person of color. They are trying to be white are the comments when a person shows any hint of liking something different that's not associated with the black community.


Name: KLeonard
Email: k8wra@juno.com
Response: Children of interracial marriages should be classified however THEY want to be known. But, where will the loudest outcry come from? From the white proponenets of the 1/32 doctrine or the black leaders who fear losing some of the constituency that they purport to represent?


Name: Jeff
Email: jeffery_robinson@dpsnet.detpub.k12.mi.us
Response: After reading some of the other opinions on this issue, I see we all seem to need a bit of a history lesson. The children of interacial marriages should be classified as they always have been and that is as black. Remember that the old law said that if you had one drop of black blood in you then you were concidered as black. While the racist that wrote this rule surely did not have us(BLACKS) in mind, it is written exactly as it it should be. I would think we had enough divisions in this world without someone now trying to single out children of bi-racial, mixed, or interacial marriges or relationships. All this will lead to is another wedge that will seperate black people. let's all concentrate on more inportant things that will bring us together rather than push us apart.


Name: Just Terry
Email: home01@themall.net
Response: I am distressed, of all the topics our community needs to discuss this one I had not considered necessary. Our young are being killed or stimatized as criminals, as an adult community we are coerced into a mind set of dependency, destroying any ability to impact our environment, and, our quality of life is at an all time low compared with other cultures in The United States of America. Our acceptance of second and third class has been so indoctrinated that Steppin Fetchin and Amos&Andy type characters are back on entertainment screens and Uncle Tom is now the standard of a successful African-American, but we discuss what to call an interracial couples children. I am angry, our culture, as reflected in the 1990 US census data contributed far more money to the government than any other culture except the European-American, yet it is our communities that have been pillaged and our population stimatized as undeserving and unqualified, taking from the European-American and "hard working immigrants". African-American community leaders and politicians whimper and whine to their "Liberal" white colleagues for understanding and empathy for our "lesser capacities" while apologizing with promises to do better when they are allowed to speak with white Conservatives, but we are captivated with discussions on color consciousness. Okay, to your topic of discussion. First I say it is irrelevant what they are called, this subject is more an introduction of the European-Americans desire to confuse us, a subtle form of reverse psychology. Second, address them as they wish to be addressed, for that is the only way you have non-adversarial conversation with anyone. Third, I hope we can discuss real issues which are killing our culture and ravaging our population. Vehicles of Communication should not be squandered.


Name: Margaret Jones
Email: stella1@jaguarsystems.com
Response: For lack of a better term call them darker white people if the parents are white and black. We use the term white and black to separate and distingush the races.Actually this is not accurate term. Most so-called black people are not black but are different shades of brown. Every darker skinned American should read Richard Moore's book "The name "NEGRO" its oeigin and its evil use. The term African-American also is not accurate for darker-skinned Americans. When I think of a African-American , I think of a African coming to the United States and getting citizenship here. If a Irish family of seven generations that was born in the US and mixed with any race except black. They would not be called Irish -American. We need to get together and come up with an accurate term to describe darker skinned people


Name: Geri E.
Email:
Response: I am a very light skinned Afro American woman and I took a lot of heat all through school, being called red bone, half-white, and any other derogative thing you may be able to think of. I was raised by a christian mother and father and I don't even know where my light skin comes from nor do I care. All I know is that we should be treated with as much respect as any other Afro-American. I am proud to be what I am and I think that childred of Mixed-mariages, should be able to choose whatever ethnic group they would like to. It has been my opinion that most choose to just be left alone to figure their own fate. We are all Gods children and skin color does not matter in his eyes.


Name: Anthony Ashe
Email: anthony.ashe@boeing.com
Response: Most racially mixed children choose to be called African-American for 3 reasons. 1) We want to proclaim how proud we are of being African & American. 2) African-American is a reflection of how we are seen. 3) The African-American culture is often where we feel the most comfortable internally, and externally. This is not a denial of the other portions of our make-up, but rather a declaration of where we feel "the most at home". I agree with the person's comment that the world is becoming a more increasingly racially mixed. However, people should be PROUD & COMFORTABLE, in claiming where they come from; not as a means of separation but as a means of pride and communication. That goes for African-Americans, Asian-Americans, European-Americans, etc. Questions: Ask someone where they're from....If they're truly proud of, and happy with their hometown they'll tell you. If not they'll say the state, or not even answer fully. Same idea here.


Name: Jeanne
Email: JMisleh@aol.com
Response: I think the children should be "classified" as bi-racial until they are old enough to decide for themselves how they wish to be "classified".


Name: Francine
Email: francinej@msn.com
Response: I believe it is very important that the offspring of inter-racial relationships be "aware" of the african heritage. Those on the outside looking in will definitely shock them into reality if they are foolish enough to believe that they can just blend in with society. It's sad, but true that racism is ALIVE and prevailing in America; therefore, to be categorized should be nothing new. There was once a time when if you had a drop of african blood, you were classified as such. Why not be a PROUD AFRICAN IN AMERICAN? !!!


Name: Tremel
Email: c6techcon@vicenza.af.mil
Response: In the beginning that decision is up to the parent(s). As time goes by time kid will embrace or reject the culture that suits her best. It is their right to choose. Of course, the OUTSIDE WORLD will always consider them (and not let them consider themselves anything other than) black, unless they happen to be rich, famous & extremely gorgeous. Fortunately, many of our fair skinned bros. & sis. (ie. Halle, "His purpleness", Mariah, etc.) proudly claim there place in the black race. It is unfortunate, but true: our society puts label (justified or not) on all of us, and will never be color blind.


Name: Beverly Burch
Email: bevburch@erols.com
Response: If the children of biracial couples are most comfortable being called biracial that is what they should be called. Society has no business discrediting any portion of that persons history and that person should feel proud of each aspect of their background as well as make every concerted effort to learn equally about their history. The challeng is


Name: Jimmy Lateef Vaughan
Email: jvaughan@ctia.org
Response: 'Inter-racial Offispring' - this sounds like a term from some Science experiment. Aren't we all 'Inter-racial Offspring'? All people of Color have some other ethnicity's blood flowing through their veins. In a perfect world, the 'category' this topic is asking for is simple - Human Being. In the real world, there should not be a separate category for 'inter-racial offspring'. If an 'Inter-racial' category was created, it would only create more questions, rather than provide an answer.


Name: Jesse
Email: jessee@surfnetinc.com
Response: Inter-racial offsprings should be catogorized as human beings. no more no less.


Name: Mr. B
Email: brybrill@aol.com
Response: African is the most dominant part of the equation and so should come first. The Originals came first, ruled first, and gave birth first. Some still don't believe that Jesus is Black! For this reason, it's important to put the "AFRI-" first, and let the lessor degree follow the hyphen. The more aware you and others are of the heritage, the more pride and righteousness that should follow.


Name: Quincy McNeil
Email: qmcneil@utkux.utcc.utk.edu
Response: Let's be realistic. As another poster stated, this is not a color-blind society. To say that the label for any one of us should be human is obvious, but that is not the case. The children of inter-racial couples should be the ones ultimately to decide what they will classify themselves as. The question arises-- "What will the child do if he/she does not want to pick the race of either of his/her parents over the other?" Such questions become relevant in the case of college admissions (and subsequently minority scholarships), admissions test (although not required), and so forth. Perhaps the person will be comfortable marking "other". Either way, no matter how they are officially clssified, the true classification comes from people's perception of the person. If a "mixed" child is percieved to be black, then that is what it is, and vice-versa.


Name: Ray Belsher
Email: ray2@gol.com
Response: Racially labelling people is a legacy of bygone racist times. I think that the time has come to move on from this. People of mixed origins are precisely that. MIXED ORIGINS. Neither one nor the other, but a wonderful combination of both. Perhaps we are witnessing a natural progression in action. Every nation on earth is mixed. White people come in all shapes sizes and hues. Undoubtably, there must have been an initial time when they were seperated into tribes with their particular distinct features (height nose size, hair color, etc). You could tell a mixed person immediately and they were pointed out and classified . Then as time went by, everybody became a mixed person, then soon the expression had no relevence or meaning anymore. Nowadays, there is no such thing as a pure race. From every country, various race-hate groups use racial purity as an justification for their paranoid nonsense, but you only have to look at the differences in features of they and their fellow countrymen and then laugh in their faces. At this crucial stage in the development of the human race, we should encourage people of mixed origins so that they love and respect both sides of their heritage. We must not let the racists (on both sides) unbalance them. Mutual acceptance of both sides of their heritage is essential. For only then can they find true harmony in their lives.


Name: Chip A.
Email: FiveFeet18@aol.com
Response: Mixed children should still be catorgorized as African American. Why? The shame of this nation is that it always looks first to discriminate and segregate by skin tone. Therefore, our mixed children will always face the cultural polarity of this country. We're really "Separate but Equal: Two Separate Nations" .


Name: Serious in Chicago
Email:
Response: Omar's comments are on the money. As the aunt of bi-racial children, whatever they decide to classify themselves as in the future will be fine with me. They come from good stock and a great people, so I do not worry about the this one particular choice they'll make. I will trust their judgement. I think much bigger choices will be at hand like are they God fearing, are they happy, are they loved, are they productive citizens, are they compansionate, etc. These are the important things in life.


Name: VERONICA
Email: veronica@southwind.net
Response: For one thing the question bothered me,everyones an offspring of somthing,and people of different race shouldnt be called inter-racial couples,as with the childeren they have.Thats the human races proplem now we all feel we have to put people in different groups just to justisfy ourselves.If everyone could just learn the word accept and the meaning, we could just be.


Name: Verl
Email: Chelonia@vero.com
Response: So the question is WHAT are the offspring of an Afro American and another race? First, I feel there should not even be a question as this because in my opinion there is only one race.....HUMAN. Secondly, I am an offspring of several different races and as a child I would have wanted to be referred to as a child. Now as an adult, I would like to be regarded as a man. In my opinion each and everyone of us are a part of this earth. It should not make any difference to what region or culture we hail from. IN MY OPINION we are all brothers and sisters. If we each did not have sight would it really make a difference what color, race , creed or culture we came from. I don't think so folks. We all need to get off the soapbox and quit quibbling what we are by title , to get on with more important issues such as surving disasters, discovering cures for ailments and diseases, and coming up with enforced laws that apply to us all equally.


Name: Nnamdi Nzingha
Email:
Response: Interracial children should be categorized as mixed. That's what they are, a mixture of two different groups. The one drop rule was wrong and not of our creation, so we should not consider that as an argument I realize we have dominant genes, but that doesn't change the fact that the offspring of a mixed couple is mixed. Hotep!


Name: Myra
Email: Myra@aol.com
Response: The children of inter-racial couples should have the same label as the rest of us--Humans. If they are perceptive enough to know that they are put in racial classifications, then everyone else should respect their rights. Like it or not, we are not a color-blind society, and as long as there is color(s), we will never be.


Name: WL
Email: WLaws1911@aol.com
Response: I noticed a few comments stating , there is no need to classify your race. Well, allow me to be frank. Even if you decide not to declare your race, believe me someone else will classify it for you. If you do have AFRICAN in your blood you should be proud of it and not ashamed to announce it when asked. If you choose to avoid the truth, go ahead and step to the other half, quarter, ect of your race, and we will be here to catch you when someone shoves you of the fence of waivering.


Name: Omar
Email: BlackMA126@aol.com
Response: The question is not so much what they shall be called or how they should be so classified; the real question is "why a classification at all?" If it is merely for the satisfaction of some numerical statistic, then I oppose this. If it is merely to claim another number to our own ethnicity or culture, then this too I oppose. It is my opinion that any child born of two human parents should be classified as human; to arbitrarily decide or define what someone is or is not without their say so is rather presumptious to say the least...to be a little more graphic, it is one of the greatest crimes that we can commit. We, as a people have been defined pejoratively by others throughout our history; nigger, coon, negro, etc. These labels serve to infuriate us because we did not choose them for ourselves!!! It shall be the same with them. My advice? Teach them the truth about themselves and about the society inwhich they live. Show them the beauty and the ugliness of each of the cultures that they are comprised of, not merely from one perspective, but from each. If we teach and train them correctly, they will be greater than our hatred for those who hate us...they shall learn to love themselves for what they are, and they will love themselves so much that they will understand the beauty of self-definition...it is a power that we have yet to discover...too pre-occupied with external things to even imagine the beuty of that which is internal...tis' why we are still "dependents"...haven't yet learned to be independent of the "will" of other's...perhaps if we teach them without our hatred, they will inturn teach us how to be better human beings...and perhaps, we shall eventually be human enough to see them for what they are, and not for what we wish them to be...they are human...perhaps we should leave it at that!


Name: james n.
Email: jjn@mindspring.comjames
Response: I think they should be left alone to define their own existences. Not to be sterotyped, labeled and limited to boundaries physicaly and mentally to our interpretation of them or ourselves. No one chooses their parents, bottom line. We are, what we are, no matter what shade of color we maybe. For us, racism is a hard and little-changing constant, that neither suprises nor enrages us. Terry McMillian If possible people, read BEFORE THE MAYFLOWER: A HISTORY OF THE NEGRO IN AMERICA 1619-1964 BY LERONE BENNET, JR. Peace


Name: Die-Hard Prince Fan
Email: s015lab@desire.wright.edu
Response: Randall, Prince LIED when he said he was mixed. The dude is BLACK! Both of his parents are Black people, regular "ole' folk", who live in Minneapolis. If he indeed has Italian in him on his father's side like he originally said, it is WAY BACK, like from his great-great grandfather, or somebody. Don't be so quick to categorize light skinned Black people as mixed just because they are light. Hell, WE ALL got somebody's blood in us from someone else's race, and if we are going to get THAT technical when we categorize ourselves, to the extent that we are counting our great, great grandparents and whatnot, then 'WE ALL MIXED'! Let us not forget that 80% of the Black population is interbred with Native American populations, which is why some ashamed-to-be-Black Women are quick to point out when someone comments on their "long, straight, pretty hair": "Oh that's 'cuz I'm part Indian!" Whatever. Like the rest of us are not-smirk.


Name: Nita
Email: djnitak@bellsouth.net
Response: I, too, believe it is time to stop categorizing by race *and* gender. People should be known as humans, not categories, especially when it comes to children. Children have enough hardcore realities to face way too soon in this life! We must start with not categorizing ourselves and people we know. Instead of describing folks as "black" or "white" I'll say, "You know, that guy with the pretty smile that plays sax..." or "you know her, she writes for the newspaper, she's always dancing at the brass band shows..." whatever. That way I'm not forcing people to differentiate race when thinking of a fellow human being. This is especially effective when dealing with people who might be racist. They think of the *person'* qualities or characteristics first. We all need to come together. "Interracial" children are an aspect our future that I hope will continue the evolution of a non-racist society. It is difficult to "hate" some part of yourself that you cannot change. It is safe to assume that a majority of interracial children come from loving unions in opposed to being the result of white men raping black women during slavery and post-civil war years. *All* children are our future. Adults need to *stop* messing up their minds by categorizing them or forcing them to categorize each other in such a cold manner.


Name:
Email: LSYF60A@PRODIGY.COM
Response: IT JUST DOES NOT SIT WELL WITH ME .THE BROTHERS STARTES SOMETHING,NOW YOU SEE SISTERS JUMPING IN WITH THE SAME GUSTO.THERE IS SOMEONE FOR EVERYONE IN THEIR OWN RACE JUST KEEP LOOKING.DOES THIS SOUND LIKE I'M AGAINST IT? YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Name: bigjim
Email: bigjim18@ols.net
Response: Bi-racial or human race.


Name: Darnell Barber
Email: darnellb@pophost.net
Response: The parent should decide;however, we are too hung up on race Isn't it time to stop labeling people by racial heritage.


Name: maria
Email: mjraven@eden.rutgers.edu
Response: the children of "Inter-racial" couples should be classified simply in which ever way the children themselves are comfortable with. that's all


Name: Ralph A. Randall
Email: QCP@juno.com
Response: These kids should be categorized as children of the king or Supreme Being according to my true believes. But, if you are interested in a response limited to the human world devoid of the spirit that lives in humans, then, I would say call them Afro-Mexican, Afro-Italian, Afro-Spanish, Afro-Chinese, Afro-German, Afro-French, Afro-English, Afro-Whatever. You might observe from the examples I have given that Afro (short for African or the indigenous people of the continent called Africa) is as dominate in the structure of the categories as the African pigmentation that usually is evident after a union of indegenious Africans and WHoever or Whatever. You know the saying, I don't know what his/her race is but they got some color in them, ie., Maria Carey or The Artist formerly known as Prince who proudly proclaim Black as his race.


Name: B.Thornton
Email: bthornton@continuum.org
Response: I'm constantly amazed that one has to "define" your race. I never think about mine and see nothing but trouble when it becomes an issue. People must get beyond the tunnel vision view of the world when they catagorize themselves. Look to the Gestalt or big picture.