This is a thought provoking thread on how race is defined by others. As for Vitiligo, I've heard of it but the picture that jillio showed really helped. I remember seeing blacks with patches of white skin and wondering why their skin were pale in places... Now I know why.
My parents are very old school when it comes to races. I think it's likely that I may have some Indians and a drop or two of black blood in my family; We've been around for over 300 years in America so a mix is likely. Not many people had slaves where my mother's family lived for 300 years so it's unlikely I have more than a drop or two of black blood. I don't dare ask though cuz race is a sensitive matter in my family.
I usually tell others that I'm of mostly Germanic descent. My family is of Swiss-German, Prussian, Norman, English and Saxon origin and it's proable that one branch of my mother's family was Jewish or Slavic in orgin but I don't know for sure. If I had a choice of choosing my family background, I'd pick anything but Germanic origin thanks to Hitler. Being of Germanic descent doesn't mean I'm better than other.
To my parents, Obama will always be black in their eyes. To me, he's of mixed descent.[/QUOTE]
Now, that's when I find it so fascinating even though it could be a bad thing. In the older generations, they dont see him as we do. Like with my hubby's older relatives (they are all black), they dont consider him black because he is not 100% black but your parents consider him black. I think they were strongly influenced by the one drop rule.
You and I see him as a mixed descent.
The Germans had all kinds of detailed "scientific" charts for determining the Jewishness of someone, which they used for evil purposes.
Anyway, Obama looks an African-American to my eyes buy why complain? He married to FULL African-American woman, anyway.
