AllDeaf - the mulatto factor.

I'll say it out loud here for all to see. Somebody is misunderstanding the whole thing in a post which got off topic when I broached a subject about mulatto in a thread I started but it is no longer there. Thank goodness for Google cache. How kind it was for moderators to delete the whole thread, quietly, shhhh, without ever informing me or AD members rather than just delete posts that have the "offending" word instead. Either there's been a misunderstanding on their part or we have some very, very sensitive people out there who hide under the race mantle. I think it's more like the latter tho'.

But you cannot and shall not call a president a mulatto in that forum. EVER! *stomps foot like an upset little boy*

How politically expedient. How...hypocritical. How...convenient.

Let me count the ways.

Recognize the common theme that liberals go by on nowadays? Put a joker face of Obama and you're called a racist. Or put on a Hitler face and you're a racist. Do not support health care and you're a racist. But a white SEIU union thug beat up a black guy captured in a YouTube video and suddenly liberals look the other way saying it wasn't a racist attack and nothing to do with race with a straight face even after the Gates-gate incident between a white cop and professor Gates, and a president that acted stupidly in all that fracas.

*sigh*

All this is really getting old and it's being done for political expedency or agenda driven purposes rather than debate in a dialogue that's meaningful and not worry about being called a "racist" at every turn. It's highly ironic that people use the color of a person's skin as an excuse to level racist charges. And to discuss race in a subcontext fashion using the word mulatto would have you charged as a racist in the attempt to "disrespect other members" in a discussion forum.

This defies logic. And people need to seriously lighten up. Like, dude man.

Because using the very word "mulatto" in a context of a race discussion might actually offend very sensitive people who claim the race mantle even though they're white. Maybe they think they count because they happen to have a friend, extended family, or a spouse of ethnic diversity?

How convenient. How intellectually dishonest.

Wait! Before you get into temper tantrum let me give you an example.

The joker president. Putting a joker face on a president isn't about race nor is it racist. Look here in the Google image section to compare and contrast.

Exhibit one on joker faces - Bush.
Exhibit two on joker faces - Obama.

And you're telling me people who use a joker face on a president is a racist?

How convenient. The hypocrisy is just...dripping here.

Another compare and contrast example.

Look to Deafreedom discussion forum on the topic "Obama is a mulatto" (I had a topic thread discussion I started yesterday in AD "Famous Mulatto People" but that got removed....rather quickly....about celebs and well known people who are mulatto. Even the Google cache wasn't quick enough to capture that thread). I know I won't be at risk for banishment from DF or have my "Obama is a mulatto" thread removed just for discussing the mulatto topic and saying that Obama is a mulatto. And if DF members get into a tizzy and complain over the topic "Obama is a mulatto" need to take a chill pill. It's a fact. Obama is a mulatto. Even Mulatto.org says it with great pride to see the first mulatto president by describing him as a mulatto. Yet, could it be that the liberal white lily skinned people are the ones who are doing the complaining and retching over the word...mulatto? What are the odds that people will soon level a charge against DF by calling it a racist forum just because of a thread "Obama is a mulatto" got started?

Yet all this reminds me of a description "hearing impaired" in reference to people whose hearing is impaired and by using that word you'd likely be called an "audist" by some of the Deaf elites. Problem is, some of these people read way, way too much into these things. Same with mulatto. Thin skinned people are no fun. They just run to their mommies instead demand censorship or feign a bit of fake outrage as a matter of political correctness.

Hmmm...

Funny thing is I have mixed blood as well. Recently my uncle who is a genealogist nut worked on for years to gather information about his side of the family and was able to trace back to one our ancestor who is the sister of Pocahontas. Whoa! Found out last week when my mother came over to visit. I'm gonna ask my uncle to supply me his CD on his genealogy work. But I'm not the only one with mixed blood. My wife's blood is a little more "thicker" with North American Indian blood in her (her grandfather is 1/2 Indian). So, in a sense my wife is a mulatto. So am I but it's not that obvious with my strong Irish features and caucasian skin color. Even Obama's blood is 3% Irish. Though you won't see him celebrating on St. Patricks Day. But looking back at the whole Pocahontas discovery was a strange revelation since my Mom whose brother is my uncle helped me say the word "Pocahontas" when I was a little boy. I remember vividly that one. Since I am of mixed blood, or "mulatto" in a sense, then I can't be racist for discussing the mulatto topic in deaf/hh forums then?

Now, I'm sure Obama as a person and human being is a cool guy. Something that you can sit down and maybe have beer with him, and chat or play a good game of basketball with him. The problem is that he lacks proper judgement and experience on the politics of things. It's the combined qualification, experience and political knowledge I look for in a president. Not skin color which is why many people voted Obama for his "blackness." Condoleeza Rice, Michael Steele, Bobby Jindal and even Colin Powell are much better choices to be president than Obama. And that's just looking at their background, not the skin color. Just because I disagree with Obama's policy and direction does not make me a racist person. The articles or comments I write are not by its nature racist. So, please do not use the color of Obama's skin to be used as YOUR excuse to set your poltical correctness agenda and tone that are politically and conveniently expedient for you. Leveling the racist charge is the worst form of demogaugery around. Doing so shows obvious intellectual dishonesty in this whole charade while hiding under the race mantle. You, too, AllDeaf mods and the few who got their sensibilities challenged when I said that Obama is a mulatto by accusing me of being a racist, implicitly so. You dudes need to seriously chill, man.

Meanwhile, enjoy a video of me playing a 1908 piano piece called "Black and White Rag" by George Botsford. A well known and famous ragtime piece in an era when Scott Joplin was (and still is) the King of Ragtime. The picture at the top of my blog is Scott Joplin, the most famous black Ragtime composer. Heck, with me playing ragtime pieces I'd probably be called a racist. Maybe an "audist," too. But do enjoy one of my many favorite ragtime pieces, Black and White Rag. And if you like hearing me play ragtime piano then visit my Ragtime Piano blog.



UPDATE III:

Another update and clarification for those lurkers, you know who.

I was never informed of the change on the wording from "mulatto" to "bi-racial" as I was just recently informed but the thread is no longer there. Oooh, how brave. How convenient, too. Nor was I ever contacted about it beforehand. They made NO effort to contact me just to hear my side of the story since there's no way to get in to check any PMs. You want to talk about intellectual dishonesty while claiming to be "neutral"? There you go. There's a case load right there. At least Deafreedom.com mods never went the route of political correctness just to appease a few limp-wristed complainers who think that having "friends, families or spouses of diversity" earn them the equivalent race mantle. It's simply an example of pc for the sake of expediency. They shout "Fire!" when it's just a flashlight I'm shinning on rather than play the guessing game.

UPDATE II:


Manufactured outrage. Tho' this baby really is crying.

UPDATE: While on the subject of mulatto in the AllExpert website talks about the origin and history of the word "mulatto" it provides us with a list of "Famous Mulattoes" beginning with Obama at the top of the list:

Famous Mulattoes

*Barack Obama, (1/2 Kenyan - 1/2 European American) U.S. Senator
*Halle Berry, (1/2 African-American - 1/2 white British) American actress
*Aleijadinho, (1/2 Portugese - 1/2 African) most famous Brazilian colonial architect
*Thandie Newton, (1/2 Zimbabwean - 1/2 White) British actress
*W.E.B._Dubois, (part Dutch, Haitian, French MGM) civil rights leader
*Booker T. Washington, Civil Rights Leader
*Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist
*Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, Cuban Astronaut
*Antonio Maceo, Cuban Aboloitionist, general and independence fighter
*Bob Marley, (1/2 black Jamaican - 1/2 white Jamaican) Jamaican singer/rastafarian
*Kelly Holmes, (1/2 Jamaican - 1/2 English) British athlete/olympic gold medalist (800m, 1500m)
*Daley Thompson, (1/2 Nigerian - 1/2 Scottish) British Athlete/olympic gold medalist (2x Decathalon)
*Vicente Guerrero, Mexican Abolitionist and independence fighter
*Emiliano Zapato, Mexican Abolitionist and independence fighter
*Alexandre Pétion, first elected Haitian president and abolitionist
*Sade Adu, (1/2 Nigerian - 1/2 British) British singer and musician
*Isaiha Jackson, Director
*The Hughes Brothers, film directors
*Shirley Bassey (1/2 English - 1/2 Nigerian) British Singer
*Craig David, (1/2 Grenadian - 1/2 English/Jewish) British R&B singer
*Ophelia Devore, French, German, Indian, Black]]
*Machado de Assis (1/4 black Brazilian - 3/4 white brazilian and portugese) Brazilian writer, considered the most important writer of brazilian history
*Alexandre Dumas(1/4 African 3/4 white French) most read French writer
*Fefe Dobson, (1/2 Jamaican/Asian - 1/2 White/Native American) Canadian singer
*Paul Boateng, Former British MP, now ambassador to South Africa
*Rick Fox, (1/2 Bahamian - 1/2 White Canadian) American basketball player
*Trisha Goddard, (1/2 Dominican - 1/2 English) British talkshow hostess
*Malou Hansson, (1/2 Ghanaian - 1/2 Swedish) former Miss Sweden
*Ben Harper, (1/2 Jewish/American - 1/2 African/American) American musician
*Javine Hylton, (1/2 Jamaican - 1/2 White) British singer
*Alicia Keys, (1/2 Jamaican American - 1/2 Italian/Irish) American singer
*Boris Kodjoe, (1/2 Ghanaian - 1/2 German) Austrian model/actor
*Shakara Ledard, (1/2 Bahamian - 1/2 French) French model
*Noémie Lenoir, (1/2 Réunionese - 1/2 French) French actress/model
*Shemar Moore, (1/2 African-American - 1/2 Irish/French-Canadian) American actor/model
*Romário, Brazilian football (soccer) player
*Ronaldo, Brazilian footballer
*Roberto Carlos da Silva, Brazilian footballer
*Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
*Cedric Simmons, (1/2 African American - 1/2 German) American basketball player
*Mya, (1/2 Jamaican - 1/2 Italian) American Singer
*Sophie Okonedo, (1/2 Nigerian - 1/2 Jewish) British actress
*Renee & Rosie Tenison, (1/2 African-American - 1/2 White) American models
*Mariah Carey, (1/2Irish - ¼ Venezuelan-1/4 African-American) American singer
*Tamia Washington, (1/2 French-Canadian - 1/2 African-Canadian) Canadian singer
*Vin Diesel (1/2 Italian,Scottish,Irish - 1/2 African American) American actor

And it provides external links that discusses the topic on mulatto.

* Joan Carradine's International mulatto.
* Joan Carradine's American International mulatto
* Mulatto Families of Southern Maryland
* An article on the mulatto depictions in fiction.
* Mulatto.org
* Mulatto America wikipedia
* Asians Find Pride as Hapas An Article from the Los Angeles Times

Go figure. Mulatto. Mulatto. Mulatto. If it was such a racist word why the use, especially in Mulatto.org - a site where mulattoes come together to discuss their mixed heritage? I suppose "hapas" (mixed Asian race) will be considered as an offensive word, too? The first happas U.S. president? The first hapas pro-golfer? That would be Tiger Woods. Get a grip folks. But what's interesting is the increased constituitional resilency seen in people with mixed heritage.

And, turning racist ideas of "hybrid degeneracy" on their head, Psychology Today magazine earlier this year featured studies finding that Eurasians were regarded as more attractive than whites or Asians and healthier because of their genetic diversity, associated with a lower incidence of some diseases.

So, AD get their wet panties in a wad over the term "mulatto" thinking it's a racist term. I suppose if I say that Obama has a lot of "mulo" in him you'd think I'm making a racist slur on him? Get real. The meaning of mulo in Spanish according to the Real Academia Espagnola is "a person characterized by strength and vigour".

For once, folks, stop with these knee jerk reactions thinking everything has a racist connotation when there is none to be had.