I’ve never been ashamed to say, nor do I shy away from that fact that I am black. I’ve grown up black, black is the only existence I’ve ever known.

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

Paula [Patton] knows what it’s like to be misunderstood. Growing up in L.A., the daughter of a white teacher and an African-American defense attorney, it wasn’t easy to fit in. “People judged me because I was light-skinned. [They’d assume] I didn’t want to be part of the black race,” she says. In fact, Paula, who has been referred to as biracial, says it’s a word she doesn’t care for. “I find it offensive. It’s a way for people to separate themselves from African-Americans…a way of saying ‘I’m better than that.’ I’m black because that’s the way the world sees me. People aren’t calling Barack Obama biracial. Most people think there’s a black president.”

Rory Evans, “Paula Patton’s Precious Moments,” Women’s Health, January 27, 2010. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19985167/precious-movie/.

I’ve never been ashamed to say, nor do I shy away from that fact that I am black. I’ve grown up black, black is the only existence I’ve ever known.

“I’ve never been ashamed to say, nor do I shy away from that fact that I am black. I’ve grown up black, black is the only existence I’ve ever known. But it’s strange when you live in a world where people go ‘OK but biracial—then which piece of this, which piece of that?’” —Trevor Noah

Amber Payne, “Trevor Noah Brings ‘A Different Perspective’ as Daily Show Host”, NBC News, September 23, 2015. (00:00:19-00:00:35). http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/trevor-noah-talks-diversity-new-daily-show-n432236.

Tags: Amber Payne, NBC News, The Daily Show, Trevor Noah

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2015 at 16:14Z and is filed under Excerpts/Quotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Mixed Race Studies

I’ve never been ashamed to say, nor do I shy away from that fact that I am black. I’ve grown up black, black is the only existence I’ve ever known.

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