As my critical contemplative response tempered my emotional one, I saw that the antiblack bias at the core of many multiracial organizations had shaped the larger discourse of mixedness and multiracial identity. While many mixed individuals and organizations are engaged and invested in social justice, discussions about mixed identity the realm of popular culture and mass media tend to frame the presence of black ancestry as a hindrance. While I believe that there is a definite mixed experience, I think that care must be taken not to cleave that experience from the broader historical continuum of how race has been constructed and reconstructed in America and that any analysis of race/identity must begin with defining whiteness and how the construction of whiteness has directly impacted the construction of all other identities in this country. As parents of black/white mixed kids and black/nonwhite mixed kids, we have to address the ways in which we've all internalized messages of antiblack bias and how that affects both the identity choices we make for our children and the ones we want them to make for themselves. For those outside the realm of the black/white/black/nonwhite mix, it's still important to consider how antiblack bias relates to your child's particular identity construction and how the historical black/white mixed binary informs how all mixed/multiracial identities are understood in our society.
Michelle Clark-McCrary, "Coming Clean About Blackness, Mixed Race Identity and the Multiracial Movement," Is That Your Child? Thought in Full Color, (December 11, 2012). http://www.isthatyourchild.com/2012/12/coming-clean-about-blackness-mixed-race.html.
Rebecca Hall's Brief But Spectacular take on 'Passing' and racial identity
Posted in Articles, Arts, Autobiography, Biography, Interviews, Media Archive, Passing, United Kingdom, United States, Videos on 2022-01-13 14:53Z by Steven
Melissa Williams
Rebecca Hall has been on-screen since age 10, but in her new film "Passing" she steps into the director role for the first time. It is based on a novel that was written in 1929 by Nella Lawson Larsen at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. Hall shares her Brief But Spectacular take on "Passing" and on her own racial identity as part of our arts and culture series, CANVAS.
Read the full transcript here.
Tags: Judy Woodruff, Melissa Williams, Nella Larsen, PBS, PBS NewsHour, Public Broadcasting Service, Rebecca Hall
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Why Harry and Meghan's 'Megxit' is a crossroads for the UK on race
Posted in Articles, Media Archive, United Kingdom on 2020-01-22 00:58Z by Steven
Courtney Vinopal, Digital Reporter
When Prince Harry and Meghan, the duke and duchess of Sussex, first announced that they intended to "step back" from their duties as "senior UK royals," palace officials were reportedly taken aback by the decision.
But it came as no surprise to close watchers of the young royals — particularly among the United Kingdom's communities of color — that the couple made the historic decision to renounce their "Royal Highness" titles and spend most of their time in North America.
"Minority communities expected this to some degree," said Nels Abbey, a London-based media executive and author of the novel "Think Like a White Man." With "the level of hostility and racism that Meghan has been on the receiving end of, it's no surprise that she's chosen to leave," he added…
Tags: Afua Hirsch, Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, Arianne Chernock, Courtney Vinopal, Gayle King, Jenne Osterheldt, Meghan Markle, Nels Abbey, PBS, PBS NewsHour, Prince Harry Duke of Sussex, Public Broadcasting Service, Sarah Gaither, Sierra Sangetti-Daniels, Tony Dokoupil
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Talking about race with your own mom can be hard. Here's why it's worth it
Posted in Articles, Family/Parenting, Media Archive, Social Justice, United States, Videos on 2018-05-19 21:53Z by Steven
Public Broadcasting Service
Judy Woodruff, Host
Ijeoma Oluo
When Ijeoma Oluo got a voicemail from her mom saying that she had had an epiphany about race, Oluo didn't want to call her back. But, she says, as awful and awkward as the conversation was, she is glad it happened. Oluo shares her humble opinion on why that talk can be so fraught and why it's so important.
Watch the video and read the transcript here.
Tags: Ijeoma Oluo, Judy Woodruff, PBS, PBS NewsHour, Public Broadcasting Service
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Author looks back at how interracial couples have stood up to white supremacy
Posted in History, Interviews, Law, Media Archive, United States, Videos, Virginia on 2017-06-29 22:08Z by Steven
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which struck down the law prohibiting interracial marriage. Author Sheryll Cashin explores that case and other historical examples in her book "Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy." Judy Woodruff sits down with Cashin to discuss economic and ideological forces at work.
JUDY WOODRUFF: This week marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia.
In 1967, the justices struck down Virginia's laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
In her latest book, "Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy," Georgetown University law Professor Sheryll Cashin explores the history of white supremacy in this country and how relationships between different races challenge that ideology.
As part of our Race Matters series, I sat down with Cashin yesterday…
Watch the interview and read the transcript here.
Tags: Judy Woodruff, Loving v. Virginia, PBS NewsHour, Sheryll Cashin
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The white supremacy of being asked where I'm from
Posted in Articles, Asian Diaspora, Autobiography, Media Archive, Social Justice, United States, Videos on 2017-01-29 21:15Z by Steven
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "white supremacy"? For actor comedian Peter Kim, it's facing the commonplace cultural assumption that white is the default race in America
ANTONIO MORA: Finally tonight, a look at the subtle ways our society often equates being white with what's normal.
It comes from Peter Kim, who was a member of Chicago's famed Second City comedy troupe.
It is the latest edition of IMHO, In My Humble Opinion.
PETER KIM, Comedian: When you hear the phrase white supremacy, what picture comes to your mind? Maybe it's Adolf Hitler screaming into a microphone. Maybe it's white-hooded figures marching around a burning cross.
For me, it's a lot less dramatic and a lot more commonplace. So, if I may, I would like to offer an updated definition of white supremacy. It's the idea that white is the ideal, and we are all consciously and subconsciously working to achieve whiteness…
Read the entire transcipt here.
Tags: Antonio Mora, PBS NewsHour, Peter Kim, Whiteness
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How Obama's unique background shaped his outlook on race
Posted in Articles, Barack Obama, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States, Videos on 2016-12-22 18:47Z by Steven
Judy Woodruff, Co-Anchor & Managing Editor
The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates has criticized President Obama's policies toward black Americans. Perhaps for that reason, he was invited to discuss such issues with Mr. Obama several times throughout the president's second term. As part of a collaboration with The Atlantic, Coates speaks with Judy Woodruff about his latest Atlantic cover story, which considers Mr. Obama's legacy and rare optimism through a racial lens.
JUDY WOODRUFF: As President Obama winds down his time in the White House, we will be looking back at the legacy of his presidency in the coming weeks. Tonight, as part of our partnership with "The Atlantic" magazine, my conversation with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates about his cover story, "My President was Black."
TA-NEHISI COATES, The Atlantic: I think so many African-Americans got so much joy out of the image of Barack and Michelle and Malia and Sasha, the first family, and that was going away, and there was a kind of sadness.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Can you put into words how much his election meant in the first place?
TA-NEHISI COATES: The notion of an African-American president for black people was perceived as being so impossible that most of the great sort of representations of it are in comedy. It's just a moment that seemed so impossible and so far off that actually it came to be, it actually happened…
View the story here.
Tags: Judy Woodruff, NewsHour, PBS NewsHour, Ta-Nehisi Coates
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In 'Loving,' an American story about a marriage worth fighting for
A new movie, "Loving," tells the real-life story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a Virginia couple who were arrested because interracial marriage was illegal in their home state. They appealed their case and won a landmark civil rights ruling at the Supreme Court. Jeffrey Brown speaks with director Jeff Nichols and others about how they brought the love story to the screen.
HARI SREENIVASAN: The film "Loving" opened nationwide over the weekend. It tells the true story of Richard and Loving, rural Virginians of different races who married in Washington, D.C.
On return to their home in Virginia, they were arrested for violating laws against interracial marriage. Their case eventually made it to the Supreme Court.
Jeffrey Brown has our story.
JOEL EDGERTON, Actor, "Richard Loving": I'm going to build you a house right here, our house.
JEFFREY BROWN: "Loving" tells the real-life love story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a Virginia couple who married in 1958 in Washington, D.C., because interracial marriage was illegal in their home state…
Tags: Hari Sreenivasan, Jeff Nichols, Jeffrey Brown, Loving v. Virginia, Mildred Loving, PBS, PBS NewsHour, Public Broadcasting Service, Richard Loving
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Scotland's national poet writes for those who've been asked 'where are you from?'
Posted in Articles, Interviews, Media Archive, United Kingdom, Videos on 2016-09-10 21:46Z by Steven
Jackie Kay is Scotland's first black national poet. Adopted as a child, much of her poetry and prose speaks to her own experience of not feeling entirely welcome in her own country. "I wrote the poems that I wanted to read and I wrote about the experiences that I wanted to find," she says. Jeffrey Brown reports.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now a Scottish literary talent whose work on identity and belonging, among other themes, has helped propel her to a unique role and a popular writer there.
Jeffrey Brown has our profile.
JACKIE KAY, Scottish Poet & Novelist: "And this is my country, says the fisherwoman from Jura. Mine, too, says the child from Canna and Iona. Mine, too, says the Brain family. And mine, says the man from the Polish deli."
JEFFREY BROWN: Jackie Kay wrote her poem "Threshold" for the Scottish Parliament and a special guest, Queen Elizabeth.
JACKIE KAY: Let's blether some more about doors, revolving doors and sliding doors.
JEFFREY BROWN: In the wake to of the recent Brexit vote to leave the European Union, it was a plea to keep doors and the country open to the outside world. As Scotland's new national poet, Kay made it personal.
JACKIE KAY: Scotland's changing faces — look at me!
I like the idea of trying to change the face of Scotland. But, traditionally, when somebody thinks of somebody Scottish, they see a white man with red hair in a kilt and a — and they don't see me.
JEFFREY BROWN: Jackie is the adopted daughter of John and Helen Kay. Her birth mother Scottish. Her father was then a Nigerian student studying in Scotland.
JACKIE KAY: I was an illegitimate child. And being picked to be a national poet is probably a pretty legitimate thing.
JEFFREY BROWN: I will say…
Tags: Jackie Kay, Jeffrey Brown, Judy Woodruff, PBS, PBS NewsHour, Public Broadcasting Service, Scotland
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"I'm never racialized as Latina. I'm always racialized as black. My whole identity isn't acknowledged [and] I'm assumed to be an outsider in almost every space I enter. That is a very isolating feeling."
Posted in Excerpts/Quotes on 2016-04-22 01:39Z by Steven
[Ariana] Brown's poem "Inhale: The Ceremony" speaks to her relationship to her ancestors, a history that she said is often unacknowledged or disrespected. "I'm never racialized as Latina. I'm always racialized as black. My whole identity isn't acknowledged [and] I'm assumed to be an outsider in almost every space I enter. That is a very isolating feeling," she said.
Corinne Segal, "How poet Ariana Brown became the Afro-Latina role model she needed," PBS NewsHour, February 8, 2016. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/poetry/how-poet-ariana-brown-became-the-afro-latina-role-model-she-needed/.
Tags: Ariana Brown, Corinne Segal, PBS NewsHour
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How poet Ariana Brown became the Afro-Latina role model she needed
Posted in Articles, Audio, Identity Development/Psychology, Latino Studies, Media Archive, United States on 2016-04-21 00:35Z by Steven
Corinne Segal, Online Arts Reporter/Producer
Poet Ariana Brown. Photo by Christopher Diaz
Poet Ariana Brown is the role model she needed.
Growing up in San Antonio, Brown said she struggled to find other representations of herself — an Afro-Latina woman from a working class family — both in her community and literature.
"I remember reading books and being so invested in the characters and the story, and then I would get to a certain line in the story where it would describe what the character looked like. And then I would realize, this book is not talking about me," she said. "Part of my work is to always go back for little girl Ariana and figure out what it is she needed that she didn't get."
In high school, Brown picked up the autobiography of Malcolm X. He was "someone who was also working class, from a poor family, a family of color, who didn't have access to opportunities, who came from a neighborhood where you weren't expected to excel," she said.
Reading about the way Malcolm X used language to command attention gave her a road map for her own future, she said…
…Brown's poem "Inhale: The Ceremony" speaks to her relationship to her ancestors, a history that she said is often unacknowledged or disrespected. "I'm never racialized as Latina. I'm always racialized as black. My whole identity isn't acknowledged [and] I'm assumed to be an outsider in almost every space I enter. That is a very isolating feeling," she said…
Tags: Ariana Brown, Corinne Segal, Malcolm X, PBS NewsHour
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