call the midwife

[gina32]

is it me or was the baby born to the white mother very black as opposed to being halfcast?

[craft1948]

Don't know flipflop, but apparently even if a child is 10% black it is apparently called black..................

[Ric.ror]

Its called the one drop theory.
Thats why Halle Berry calls herself black despite having three white granparents.
I think its the same for President Obama too

[Ric.ror]

opps I missed the other threads

[flip_flop]

In that case Helen, as my great grandfather was Irish, and despite all of my other forebears being English, from now on I have decided to describe myself as Irish even though I'm not.

[Ric.ror]

So I must be Irish too as 3 of my grandparents were

BTW - the term used is now Bi- racial not mixed race

[whiskeryron]

I decided a long time ago that no-one would be called black or white or brown or olive skinned, they would be & are called HUMAN BEINGS. I treat everyone how I wish to be treated. Please let us have an end to this name calling.

Ron.

[flip_flop]

Halle Berry has 3 white grandparents, and the father of the child is white - which makes the ethnicity diluted even further; the child isn't 1/4 black its (I think) 1/8 black or, to put it another way, 87.5% white.

I couldn't give a tinker's cuss how Halle Berry, or anybody else for that matter, decides to describe the ethnicity of their kids, but calling her child black when the child is overwhemingly white is, well, a bit odd.

[carolegif]

In slaving days, the correct term for person who is quarter black was 'quatroon'. There was also mulatto and other phrases to indicate how black a person was.

[Quizmonkey]

I repeat, 'black' is political terminology - it is not a chromatic description!

[Postdog]

Guess this is non PC now too..... Media URL: http://youtu.be/4HHT_V294Co
Description:

[Postdog]

http://youtu.be/4HHT_V294Co

[Mosaic]

There was also the 'octoroon' in the deep south. even after slavery's abolition, octoroon women remained valued 'entertainers' in the New Orleans area, as it was deep taboo for 'proper' white ladies to be seen dancing barenaked or exchanging favours for cash. An octoroon was a negress according to the one drop law, but looked white.
I didn't invent any of the above and I don't applaud it.

[flip_flop]

I'm obviously being denser than usual, but I'm struggling to understand what political point Halle Berry is making by calling her overwhemingly white baby, black.

Also, talk about learning something knew everyday!

Before today I had never heard of the one drop rule, so had to 'wiki' it.

[gina32]

why is it that out of all the posts on this thread only a few have actually been about the question i asked????

[flip_flop]

'new' not 'knew'

Yes, the child did seem very black.

[ladybirder]

Perhaps if you "hosted" the thread you could keep it on track gina. By "hosted" I mean giving folks a nudge now and again to stop the thread wandering too far from the OP.

[gina32]

i havent been on it for a while so i couldnt

[Postdog]

Gotta be honest,t'would have been a very boring thread if it consisted of just "yes I agree" or "no I don't!"

[hc4361]

Isn't that how conversation normally flows, though?

My tuppence worth - children of mixed race can be very light skinned, very dark skinned and everything in between. Some mixed race twins are very different - google 'black and white twins' to see. I know one person who is very dark skinned, after her father, with green eyes and ginger hair from her mother.

[netibiza]

Just have to interject here, my labour from only 25mins,with 2 pains, still had my sweater on.