Girls were for breeding purposes only

[ukcouple]

The majority of mixed race kids I know are indeed gorgeous.

Nimbus.. I agree with you 100 percent. Many mixed race kids are often lovely.

My kids certainly are.

It's not patronizing to say so, so don't hold back from saying it.

 

[jstar]

Not necessarily so, lots of people have non-French surnames but are largely of a French background. Unlike my great grandmother, a woman born of two French immigrants from the early 20th century, the Cajuns seemed to have zero qualms about miscegenation. Nearly all of us have African and Native ancestry, yours truly included. I way surpass the one drop rule, I have two identifiable black (or really Creole) ancestors.

Another interesting factoid about Louisiana's "white" population. http://www.nola.com/news/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2014/12/1_in_8_white_louisianians_has.html

Thanks. It's by coincidence I know a Bardwell in Massachusetts. And as so often with Americans, obsessed with his genealogy.

Anyway, travelling in the south east US and visiting quite some small villages and churches etc., I found there are more people speaking French than I expected (more African Americans than Caucasians). And not (as you would think) a weird mix as in Canada, no it was pretty good and understandable.

Nimbus, kudos; French fries are in fact Belgian fries. The Americans in WWI in south west Flanders did not really realize where they were when they 'discovered' this local food.

So where were we? Breeding girls?

 

[ukcouple]

I share this in case any of you find yourself talking to Americans with non-white heritage and the topic comes up - you may be surprised at the reaction you get.

My being a non white foreigner gives me a little lattitude in committing social faux pas, but I try not to overuse it.

So even Moderators sometimes shoot themselves in the foot..

 

[Scooterindo]

On the subject of mixed race people - when I was growing up the official term used was "half caste" Any other Brits on here remember that ??

 

[Puspawarna]

So even Moderators sometimes shoot themselves in the foot..

Very true, but how did I do it this time? I need to know so that I can apply the proper bandages. (I have met Nimbus in real life BTW - he and his family played gamelan at my house a few years ago when they were on a trip back to Indonesia.)

 

[Dan]

Since I suspect this topic may get hot (or maybe not) or more likely will get moderated largely out of existence, if anyone wants to talk more about their experiences with their kids and their cross cultural marriage... go here.

https://forum.expatindo.org/showthread.php?636-They-re-All-So-Beautiful-Mixed-Kids&p=10447#post10447

 

[Anglian]

On the subject of mixed race people - when I was growing up the official term used was "half caste" Any other Brits on here remember that ??

Yes half caste, or round where I lived "half chat" don't know if it's PC but nobody seemed to bothered,

 

[Puspawarna]

The term "half caste" makes me think I'm reading a novel by EM Forrester, Somerset Maugham, or someone of that era.

 

[Scooterindo]

The term "half caste" makes me think I'm reading a novel by EM Forrester, Somerset Maugham, or someone of that era.

Where I grew up in South London there was actually a very high black white ratio (60/40) and right up to the time I left the UK the term "half caste" was still very much the descriptive term used to describe the children of mixed marriages and partnerships. There was no racist connotations or undertones its just that that's what they were called by both black and whites at the time. It was only about 6 or 7 years later after I became a father that I first heard the term "mixed race kids"

 

[Puspawarna]

Since I suspect this topic may get hot (or maybe not) or more likely will get moderated largely out of existence,

Why, have you noticed a tendency for that to happen here?

Strictly a rhetorical question, because we all know the answer: it hasn't happened yet, in over 10,000 posts. You need to update your mindset, Dan

 

[Scooterindo]

Can we migrate the discussion on mixed race kids to Dans thread as the comments made so far will be extremely valid.

https://forum.expatindo.org/showthread.php?636-They-re-All-So-Beautiful-Mixed-Kids

 

[Dan]

Why, have you noticed a tendency for that to happen here?

Strictly a rhetorical question, because we all know the answer: it hasn't happened yet, in over 10,000 posts. You need to update your mindset, Dan

Yes, but there's merit to keeping threads free of clutter, too. I know you guys are operating under a new mindset, and hey, we all know one another pretty well. We can be brought back onto the right path with limited moderation. But why not self-moderate a little if I'm conscientious of the fact that the tangent has become the dominant topic?

 

[Puspawarna]

Yes, but there's merit to keeping threads free of clutter, too. I know you guys are operating under a new mindset, and hey, we all know one another pretty well. We can be brought back onto the right path with limited moderation. But why not self-moderate a little if I'm conscientious of the fact that the tangent has become the dominant topic?

Self-moderate all you want, it can only make moderators' work easier! (Not to imply it has been hard so far. It has not.)

 

[harryopal1]

As a parent of mixed race children I always thought the term 'half caste' as derogatory and seemed to suggest almost half a person, presumably the white part was the okay bit and the other part ignored.

 

[Anglian]

As a parent of mixed race children I always thought the term 'half caste' as derogatory and seemed to suggest almost half a person, presumably the white part was the okay bit and the other part ignored.

I think you are right, in literature at times a half cast or half breed is portrayed as someone untrustworthy,

 

[HappyMan]

There was an NPR story on this recently, a very long essay on whether or not the author should feel offended at being described as mixed... and what other terms might be acceptable, or unacceptable. Really seemed like gobbeldygoop to me. There is no one term to describe mixed race people that everyone finds inoffensive. So, if someone is using one of the words that just doesn't seem right to you, but doesn't seem to intend offense, why would you give a shit? Self centered much? What is clear is that there are words that are intended to be offensive. If someone is using one of those words to describe my child, I'll be offended. Perhaps the best we can hope for is for people to accept us as "one of them", for Indonesians to refer to my child as Indonesian, for Americans to think of him as American.

Really, I'd like to live to see the day where Indonesian and American and even Asian, described only location of domicile, and no other stereotypes, but the rise of Trump makes that seem unlikely, even in the great melting pot.

 

[Pak Asam Manis]

So I should probably warn the gentle reader that this post is going to -shock! - be germane to the actual topic of the thread ... and ... um ... apologize in advance?

"So sorry for going back to the topic, please excuse the interruption of your perpendicular postulations"?

An article posted on CNN's website, presenting a rather different perspective from that of Mssr. Valls:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/07/opinions/burkini-ban-france-myriam-francois-opinion/index.html

 

[Pak Asam Manis]

Quoted from the article:

"France has the gall to parade itself as the bastion and purveyor of freedom, all the while using the same discourse to veil its inconsistent treatment of its Muslim citizens.

In which warped universe is it legitimate to claim to assist women -- in this case presumed to be under duress -- by criminalizing them? In which logic can this possibly be heralded as a marker of feminist solidarity and liberty? How exactly are women deemed to be freer with less choice? And when exactly, is everyone going to call out the emperor on his lack of clothes?

Amnesty International refers to the burkini debacle as just the latest in a series of laws which they argue "indirectly" discriminate against Muslim women. That pretense -- the suggestion these laws are not clearly and specifically aimed at humiliating and discriminating against Muslim women -- needs to stop now.
France claims to be blind to racial and religious differences on the basis of the Republican ideal. In practice, this has allowed France to maintain a willful blindness to inequalities among different groups, clearly delineated on the basis of race, religion and class."

 

[fastpitch17]

Quoted from the article:

"France has the gall to parade itself as the bastion and purveyor of freedom, all the while using the same discourse to veil its inconsistent treatment of its Muslim citizens.

In which warped universe is it legitimate to claim to assist women -- in this case presumed to be under duress -- by criminalizing them? In which logic can this possibly be heralded as a marker of feminist solidarity and liberty? How exactly are women deemed to be freer with less choice? And when exactly, is everyone going to call out the emperor on his lack of clothes?

Amnesty International refers to the burkini debacle as just the latest in a series of laws which they argue "indirectly" discriminate against Muslim women. That pretense -- the suggestion these laws are not clearly and specifically aimed at humiliating and discriminating against Muslim women -- needs to stop now.
France claims to be blind to racial and religious differences on the basis of the Republican ideal. In practice, this has allowed France to maintain a willful blindness to inequalities among different groups, clearly delineated on the basis of race, religion and class."

I read that article earlier today but felt that since this thread was announced as dead by they that must decide these things I felt it had no place here. Maybe I was wrong.

 

[Pak Asam Manis]

I read that article earlier today but felt that since this thread was announced as dead by they that must decide these things I felt it had no place here. Maybe I was wrong.

I suppose that "we" might be just as much in the "right" position to "decide" such matters as "they" ,,, but I could also be wr-wr-wr(ong).

Since we know that several mods have been posting in the thread, it might not be too optimistic to think they might, in the course of time, delete posts which are off-topic, or move them to a more appropriate thread ... "we" could only hope, eh?


From the same article:

"As the electoral machine begins ahead of the 2017 election, not only does this pattern seem to be repeating itself. Such substantive issues as unemployment, housing and the cost of living are being virtually ignored in favor of fearmongering and populist pandering."

... which, if I recall correctly, is essentially what El Goretto said in one of his earlier posts in this thread.

Creating a flap-storm over bits and bobs (like people who supposedly show too much or not enough of them) in order to avoid facing the most politically risky issues head--on is certainly nothing new under the sun.