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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:11 PM
Original message
Wanda Sykes used the "M" word on national TV
Mulatto that is. That word is so rarely used in the USA.

On google "Obama mulatto" brings up only 188,000 citations but "Obama black" brings up over 75 million.
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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:13 PM
Response to Original message
1. Oh.
Edited on Mon May-11-09 04:13 PM by Bluebear
Is it considered an insult? (i.e. "M" word)
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:15 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Only when white folks use it to describe people of color
After all, it's not like anybody's parentage is really our business, is it? It's presumptuous at best, contemptuous at worst.

Leave it to the comedians.
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Lex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:15 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. I think it is considered an insult
Edited on Mon May-11-09 04:16 PM by Lex
or in the same way "colored" is considered. (At least when white folks use the term anyway.)



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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:30 PM
Response to Reply #4
13. Merci!
It was an archaic term even when I was hatched lol.
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TahitiNut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:44 PM
Response to Reply #1
8. Yes. It's a racist term... like "octroon" and "quatroon."
Disgusting crap.
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sarcasmo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 06:39 PM
Response to Reply #8
22. Like OctoMOM?
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Number23 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 10:53 PM
Response to Reply #8
25. ??? Who considers this "disgusting crap? or "racist?"
The vast majority of black folks I know, mixed race or not, don't consider it even remotely a big deal. It's an old school word like "colored" or "Negro" but nobody considers it offensive.
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HopeHoops Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:13 PM
Response to Original message
2. That was a RIOT!
I probably haven't heard anyone use that word in ten or more years!

But the "if he screws up, it will be 'that half white guy' line was even funnier".

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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:36 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. I liked that she used it and I wish it was less loaded
or that another word could be invented. As a Spanish speaker it is SO NORMAL to use that term but one must inhibit that word in the USA.

It's a compliment in the Caribbean not an insult. I think.
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HopeHoops Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:40 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. Bigotry in any form is a sign of stupidity.
The term is descriptive. In the context of the joke, it is a real stretch to call it offensive.

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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:05 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. We see here that it still has negative connotations in the US
no doubt due to its historical use. But right now the word should be liberated and celebrated as in Mulatto power. It's okay to be mixed and one doesn't have to identify with one side or another.

Wanda brought out the truth and the hipocrisy at play. He's black until he screws up! She is something.

I loved the wasssup also.

Our country needs to chill. It's already starting.
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MrsBrady Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:15 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. i think in the context
people would understand the use of sarcasm in comedy? :shrug:
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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:47 PM
Response to Reply #11
14. Do you know if Wanda is offended by the term mulatto?
I don't think it is clear. I think it depends on various factors.
It cannot be assumed to be a negative word even in the USA because
of all the immigration from the Caribbean.

Believe me mulatto is one of the most common words in Cuba, the
Dominican republic and probably Puerto Rico.

Common and positive. Not negative that I know.

Wanda would probably be aware of that.
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NightWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 04:42 PM
Response to Original message
7. i love those Hillshire Farms Mulatto cookies
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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:07 PM
Response to Reply #7
10. Really? Never heard of those! nt
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MrsBrady Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:18 PM
Response to Reply #7
12. lol
:rofl:

You mean Milano from Pepperidge...right?
:hide:

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CTyankee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 06:30 PM
Response to Reply #12
21. All those Milanese coming to America for our health care!
Talk about the well dressed! These guys make American men look like total slobs. I have NEVER seen such cool, clean dressers in the male population like I did in Milan. Eventhe women were not much competition.
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AspenRose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:50 PM
Response to Reply #7
15. Is that a new Freeperism?
:rofl:
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Kali Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:58 PM
Response to Reply #7
16. ...
:spray: :rofl:
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MellowDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 05:59 PM
Response to Original message
17. "Mulatto" is like "colored"
in the US, it just seems really dated. Isn't the word "biracial" now? But I did love how she pointed out the ridiculous dichotomies we have constructed for ourselves over the completely made up idea of race. We DO need to chill, and it is happening, at least among the younger generation.
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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 06:12 PM
Response to Reply #17
18. Thanks for your mellow input Dan!
I think some people just don't like the sound of that word. Bi-racial is also simply descriptive.

Mulatico is the diminutive of mulatto in Spanish. It's an affectionate term. They would be sooo
confused if someone tripped on them for saying it!

Check this out in Miami to see what I mean...

I bet that many Cubans in Miami have said "mulatico lindo" when referring to Obama, at least the females.
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LiberalHeart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. That's how I think of it: dated. I never thought of it as offensive.
Maybe you have to see something wrong with being half black/half white to think of it as offensive. My colorful family considers it a non-issue.
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ejpoeta Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 06:25 PM
Response to Original message
20. i heard that and wondered if she'd hear it for saying it....
oddly enough, i haven't heard any complaints about that on the tube.... just about her picking on rush.
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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 10:03 PM
Response to Original message
23. from mulatto.org - towards a new definition
on Wikipedia

-- from boards/mulatto.org


This thread is for us to brainstorm how to improve the "mulatto" definition on wikipedia, and to make sure the improvements stay in the definition Here's some of my thoughts:

1. Make it clear "mulatto" equally means people who are first generation AND multigeneration white/black mixed.

2. Emphasize the "mullawad" etymology of mulatto meaning "mixed' in arabic as at least equal to the "mulo" etymology of meaning mule. I think one anonymous person keeps trying to emphasize the "mulo" etymology and put down the "mullawad" etymology for the sole purpose of trying to harm positive mulatto identity.

3. Make it clear many people in Brazil and other places DO identify as "mulatto". Make it clear many people in America DO consider "mulatto" to be a positive identification label.

4. A bunch of us need to commit to visit the "mulatto" page on wikipedia regularly, make sure it's edited to reflect positive mulatto identity fairly, and to remove unfair, negative edits.

=================on wiki

Here is a very loose outline of items I feel could be included to make the Mulatto article more complete. It's all over the place, really. Please make some suggestions.

The Synopsis could mention:

* That there is more than one functioning definition of the term mulatto, and that the term operates both outside and within the social construct of race.
* The root meaning of half mule half donkey.
* There are both negative and positive implications.

Eptymology

* The term's origins within the Spanish Empire and where it falls within this social caste system.
* The term mulatto was derived from the Arabic Muwallad. With this, the first mulatto's probably existed in or immediately prior to the Moorish Empire since this movement produced many African/Arab offspring; and spilled onto the Iberian Peninsula, of which part of it became Spain.
o Since, mulatto has Arab implications, and the sub-Saharan DNA is found throughout the Middle East, even in Iraq - even among the Sunnis, are Iranians, Iraquis, Lebanese, Baharains, etc... distant Muwallads?
* Other terms relative to mulatto:

Quote:
Originally Posted by "FlowerChild"

Black-- A race label that describes people with sub-saharan African ancestral roots.

White-- A race label that describes people with European ancestral roots.

Mulatto-- General definition: anyone of black and white ancestry.

Muwallad-- The most likely etymological root of the term "mulatto." Arabic for "mixed race." It was used to describe the offspring of African and Arab partners.

First Generation Mulatto-- A Mulatto born to one black parent and one white parent.

Multigenerational Mulatto, MGM-- A Mulatto who has both black and white ancestry, as in the offspring of two mulattos, for example.

Anglo-Mulatto-- Mulattos that are black and Anglo white. Also, Mulattos with black and white heritage that live within the English-speaking Anglosphere, such as Britain, America, Canada and Australia.

Hispanic-Mulatto-- Those Mulattos that are black and Hispanic white, such as Spanish. Hispanic Mulattos make up the majority of Cuba and The Dominican Republic, and significant portions of Brazil, for example.

Mono-Racial-- Identifying as having ancestry of one race.

Bi-Racial-- Identifying as having ancestry of two different races.

Tri-Racial-- Identifying as having ancestry of three races.

Multi-Racial-- Identifying as having ancestry of two or more races.

Eurafican-- A term for those of European and African ancestry.

Afropean-- A term for those of European and African ancestry.

Mixed-- Anyone who is racially mixed.

Mixie-- Anyone who is racially mixed.

One-drop Rule (ODR)-- A concept--once a law--technically called hypodecent--created in the 1830s that said that "one drop of black blood makes you black." Considered by many Mulattos to be a root cause of several of the hurdles a Mulatto faces as he/she moves through society today.

One-droppist-- One who prescribes to the One-drop Rule.

Loving v Virginia-- The landmark case in 1967 when Virginia ruled it unconstitutional to base marriage eligibility on race, and thereby legalized interracial marriage.

Race-- A loose, generalize term used to group certain ethnicities in order to simplify the description of one's multi-ethnic ancestry.

Ethnicity-- Refers to a certain origin and culture…usually tied by national, racial, linguistic and religious heritage, whether or not they reside in their country of origin. Not the same as race, more specific. For example, English, Scandinavian and German are three ethnicities of the white race.

Racial Identity-- How an individual sees themself racially.

Self-Identify-- In this context it refers to racially identifying as you choose, rather than having a racial designation assigned to you by outside individuals, as in the one-drop rule.

Black Identified-- Refers to Mulattos (by definition) that choose to identify as black, has been the historic default due to the ODR.

Phenotype-- A person's physical appearance. Often grouped into racial/ethnic categories.

Middle-phenotype-- Refers to individuals with phenotypes in-between black and white: Mulattos, Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterners…

Minority-- Refers to those of a race/social group that are not in the majority population-wise. Presumed to be disadvantaged socially, based on the idea that majority rules.

"Passing"-- "Passing" refers to Mulattos who try to pass for one race or the other, depending on which phenotype they most resemble. This was done especially in slavery times when Mulattos tried to escape slavery. It is the basis of many early movies made about Mulattos--embodying the Tragic Mulatto.

The Tragic Mulatto-- A fictional depiction of the--usually female--Mulatto used in early American movies written by white men in efforts to dissuade interracial relationships and convince the public that there is no place in society for Mulattos. The Tragic Mulatto myth can be seen in movies such as Pinky and Imitating Life. The Tragic Mulatto abandons her black family to pass as white, lives a great life, gets caught, and is banished from white society, only to be unaccepted by both races.

Census-- Referring to the US Census population counter. The census is significant to Mulattos because the Mulatto category was removed in 1930. Since then, Mulattos have been counted as black, with no option of acknowledging both sides of their heritage. There are currently Mulattos working toward the goal of adding a multiracial category on the census in 2010.

The Mulatto Movement-- Refers to the gathering of Mulattos across the world for activist work toward Mulatto rights: the right to self-identify; a multiracial, and ultimately, a Mulatto category on the US census; Mulatto representation--Mulattos representing Mulattos, and to rebuild Mulatto communities, for example.

The Mulatto Belt-- Refers to the areas of the South in Virginia, Louisiana, and DC, for example, where there are large populations of Mulattos.




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proteus_lives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-11-09 10:07 PM
Response to Original message
24. Old-School
I think I've heard it from older people but younger? More likely to use "mixed" or "biracial."
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