The Study of Racialism

Welcome · New User Joined: 20 Dec 2006 {Posts: 13 }

Sorry to bump, but I just wanted to add this picture to the collection.

This is a picture of Michael Jackson (as a kid) and his son, Prince. Now, many people do not think that Michael Jackson's children are his own, but I beg to differ. I think that it is evident from this photo, the similarities that they hold. Yes he has light skin and hair, but he has dark eyes, and looks like Michael did as a kid.

This is Michael as an adult (pre-surgery) and the mother of their son:

What do you all think? And how likely is it that Michael would have 2 kids who are both similarly light?

fwsweet · Posted: Wed 20 Dec 2006 19:33 Post subject:

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twinsmomm06 · Posted: Mon 19 Feb 2007 04:55 Post subject:

Hello all. I am new to the group. I am a mother of twins ( 1/2 Creole 1/2 Irish). I have noticed,in & outside of this forum, that when a child has a "black" mother + "white" father, the child tends to visually appear "white". However, when the father is "black" and the mother is "white" the child will have the appearance of being "black" more times then not. So is it safe to say that paternal genetics are more dominate then maternal genetics?

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Twinsmomm06:

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MisterLawyer · Posted: Tue 20 Feb 2007 14:40 Post subject:

Every child gets 50 percent of their genes from their mother and 50 percent from their father. There are no exceptions. When Quincy Jones took an autosomal DNA test:

fwsweet · Posted: Tue 20 Feb 2007 17:47 Post subject:

Jaime and Mr. Lawyer are correct. There is no difference between paternal and maternal genes in this regard. In fact, there is no difference between paternal and maternal genes in any regard in humans, except for some very recent discoveries related to the construction of a placenta in a pregnant female. (The placenta is an organ made cooperatively by the genomes of both the foetus and the mother.) Apparently the mother's contribution is impacted more by her paternal genes than her maternal genes. Google "genetic imprinting" for details.

Again, I stress that genetic imprinting has nothing to do with the half-dozen visible features that Americans consider "racially" significant. These have been shown to be perfectly Mendelian.

fwsweet · Posted: Wed 07 Mar 2007 21:02 Post subject:

[A thread on the genetics of cats was spun off to The Genetics of Cats (and Women).]

[A thread on the importance of findings in this forum, rather than mere unsubstantiated opinions, was spun off to Tech and Schol Stresses Findings, not Opinions.]

Frechesmaedl · Posted: Fri 09 Mar 2007 00:18 Post subject:

Apparently, one of the contestants on America's Next Top Model Cycle 8 caused a minor sensation by revealing her heritage saying that her mom is Black and her Dad is a German Jew.

Jael from ANTM Cycle 8 "Half Black/Half German Jew"

Jael and her mom:

Dragon Horse · Posted: Fri 09 Mar 2007 01:05 Post subject:

her mother is obviously of mixed race.

zsana · Moderator Joined: 05 Feb 2005 {Posts: 1013 }

It bothered me the reaction of everyone when Tyra revealed that information. Most especially Nigel Barker. http://www.fashion.org.au/userimages/user1270_1145634082.jpg Because apparently there was also a bit of a shock when his Sri Lankin Indian mother was on the show a while back. Out of all of them, I thought he would be the one judge to not overreact. It wouldn't surprise me if he and his mom didn't have similar incidents of surprised reactions growing up. I myself have experienced the "double- take" when I'm out with my kids on more than a few occasions. I guess that's why I don't find it THAT surprising (enough for me to react the way the judges were on that show) when someone who looks utterly white, stereotypcialy hispanic, black, asian, etc. is revealed to be of mixed descent.

A lot of people are not carbon copies of their parents.

Now of course Tyra was coming from the uniquely American ODR inspired definition of blackness. No surprise there. I realized that immediately and new darn well when she said "Jael is half black" that her mom would be light-skinned and of obvious physically detectable mixed black/white or black/white/native-american descent but "black" by culture/self-identification/tradition.

I'm thinking Nigel and Twiggy being British, must have been extra shocked because they don't have the ODR there and a woman who looks like Jael's mom would be considered mixed-race/biracial (maybe even Arabic/Indian?) by everyone. I didn't notice how Ms. J was looking. Being black AND American he shouldn't have been that shocked since he should have known Tyra was meaning black under ODR standards.

Really, considering Jael's mothers appearance, it would be downright shocking if Jael didn't turn out white.

But then again maybe I'm being very naive. Still - even though we all know better here - MOST Americans white, black and other I suspect STILL think there must always be "tell tell signs" of blacknes in people of partial black descent. Even when that descent is the minority of ones genetic makeup.

Folks STILL probably subconsciously think - deep in the back of their mind - that "black" automatically trumps "white". Even one drop.

I've missed most of ANTM's Cycles but I think I'll tune into this one.

Looks VERY interesting indeed!

And did anyone else notice how Jasleen's roots were never explored?(Not that anyone's background should be that big a deal) OK to be fair I only caught the end of the show where Tyra revealed Jael's heritage.

But I'm pretty sure Jaslene http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/gen-gallery-antm-models/7/1 is from Chicago and is considered Hispanic. I'm thinking either Dominican or Puerto Rican. Out of all the young women on the show, she's the one who looks MOST stereotypically black/white biracial (to me anyway) yet no one goes there because her last name is Gonzalez. Now what if her name was Jaslene Jackson, Jones, or Robinson? Truly, I think everyone's perception of her would be different. Totally different. Because people have been conditioned to see biracial descended people with Spanish last names differently than those without.

It's so interesting...

I'm not saying this is wrong or right. It's just an observation and I wonder if anyone else noticed this?

Frechesmaedl · Posted: Fri 09 Mar 2007 08:31 Post subject:

Here is the Youtube recording of the ANTM judges reaction to Jael's heritage - see as of minute 7:44: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BC6cccHBCnU

I was also dismayed by Nigel's reaction considering his own background. But you are probably right, Zsana, it has to do with the different definitions that they have for Black and mixed race in the UK. Tyra positioned Jael's mom as one drop "Black", whereas in England she would definitely be considered mixed race. If she had used the latter label, then Nigel's and Twiggy's astonished reactions would probably not have been as extreme.

I also agree that Jaslene, who is Puerto Rican, will never be questioned about her heritage as a Latina, which - as we all know - most Americans consider to be a separate race.

ANTM Cycle 4 had another White contestant, Noelle, who stated that she was biracial, but nothing was made of it on the show beyond one mention.

Noelle from ANTM Cycle 4 - biracial

By the way, if you miss an ANTM episode, you can catch it later on Youtube.