Faking Your Race is WILD.

[@TazzyPhe]

A lot of you have pointed out that Michael Jackson didn't intentionally change his race. Sorry guys, I really did a bad job on using him as an example by just popping up photos and saying he went from "this" to "this". I definitely should have added more explaining what I was trying to say because I wasn't meaning to say he faked his race. There was meant to be more nuance around why I brought him up, so that part of the video was a fail. Sorry about that! But thanks to you all who were nice and gave constructive criticism about it.

[@artejikeme3673]

Michelle Jackson had Viteligo. A skill disease that destroys the pigment in your skin. That's why he went from black to white. He wasn't trying to be white, he was sick. Also he had lupus a disease that destroys the cartilage in your body, hence the reason his nose changed shape a lot. Before using him as an example of someone who fakes their race, please do your research.

[@mmps18]

It doesn't really bother me when people do this but it usually just concerns me about their mental health. I'm Japanese and have known many girls that are racialized as white in the United States (as in they're of northwestern European descent) pretend to be Japanese with various makeup and hair and clothing styles. And I'm like.... you know, you can dress that way and love anime and still be proud of your own ancestry! Don't need to change. 😅

[@tutu3909]

It's hilarious to me, but they mainly do it because USA history from the start has been centered around race and it's why anything that's not european or none white according to them is more "Exotic".

[@thatsrealroughbud...2394]

How do you feel about Japanese girls who dye their hair to Eurocentric colours, and wear coloured contacts emulating European eyes, and do contouring to change their nose, eye and brow structure to emulate Euro features, all along with eye tape? Genuinely curious due to your distaste for Euro girls doing the same vice versa and the extreme prevalence of what could be seen as "whitefishing" in Douyin and Japanese makeup styles, or the entire subgroup of Lolita fashion which is based on dressing as French porcelain dolls of little French girls?

[@zetaforever4953]

​@@tutu3909 not necessarily. Plenty of East Asians dye their hair blonde and essentially "mimic" western culture (or various subcultures within it) to emulate their favorite artists or whatnot. For most people, it's just a phase. It's only a problem if it lasts for years or decades.

[@razmiddle9410]

But can't you say the same about men or women who wear clothing typically worn by the women or men respectively, that they can dress how they want but still be proud of their gender assigned at birth?

[@someonethereQ]

@@razmiddle9410 this is in no way the same thing, take your transphobia elsewhere.

[@znmnky13]

I'm Hawaiian. My culture has been reduced to plastic grass skirts and coconut bras at pool parties. Everyone does it, it's a great summer party theme, but zero respect is payed to my culture. It's a joke and if I say anything about it I'm the a$$hole.

[@HosCreates]

you aren't TAH . I always thought the cheap grass skirts and coconut bras were stupid and tacky and would rather spend time with real polynesians . plus no one would ever really want to wear a coconut bra, they are hard and hurt! correct me if I'm wrong but most women wove cloth and wrapped it like a bandu to keep their chest up just like in ancient greece right ?

[@znmnky13]

@A H Absolutely. They had many ways to cover themselves, or not, as it suited them.

[@kant.68]

And surf is a “white blonde with hot body” activity thing some youngsters do in Cali…

[@HosCreates]

@@znmnky13 thank you for that information. I've Become more interested in other cultures the more I get older because I find their dress history and food cultures fascinating . I just wish the world was more interested in learning about more cultures than erasing them .

[@Red_Ryan_Red]

Hawaii is an interesting place to be right now, for better or worse I suppose.

[@charlirogers6235]

The woman that pretended to be black did so after having a baby in college and finding out there were programs in place to help young black college students that were mothers. She made a formal complaint to the college because it was just for black people. She raged and complained for months. Finally someone explained that the program was through the NAACP. Flashforward and guess who was suddenly black. And then she went so far as to get a job and become a prominent leader in NAACP. Not only was she literally making a living as being black due to her income from her job at NAACP but she got to travel the world and get praise as a black woman with achievements making a difference. She dated black men as a black woman, she married a black man as a black woman. She had a best friend that was black that shared all her hopes and dreams and trauma as a black woman with a fellow black woman. As a white woman she was shy and invisible in most social outings, but as a black woman she was outspoken and sexy, taking selfies in literal trees wearing sexy clothes made of African prints. Everything she did as a black woman was wrong on so many levels. She got to experience all the joyous parts of being a black woman and non of the trauma. She jumped in to the shoes of a successful black woman without experiencing being a black girl, a black teen female student in the American school system. She got to be a fair skin college educated black woman with a solid peer group and a profession that praised and protected her as a black woman. As a black woman I cannot find pity for this woman because she hurt too many of the people she claimed to adore so much "chose" to be one. Wow!!! Didn't know that was taking up space in my mind!

[@HosCreates]

#mycultureisnotyourcostume comes to mind . as a white women I think it's unacceptable she stole the opportunity from a member of the community who actually grew up as black. It disgusts me ! I personally hope she was fired for falsifying her background

[@jasonm23]

Wow. Doezal is a bigger scammer than I thought.

[@nunyabiznes33]

Wasn't her husband also black? I remember seeing a picture of her with her husband and baby, which look more black than white. I guess if she go out tanned and curly it's less likely to call attention to them.

[@terrajanae12]

Are you talking about that woman who also got huge implants and a bunch of other surgery to look black or another woman?

[@LethalLemonLime]

I'm sorry, but I just can't get over how people didn't clock Rachel as a white woman in horrible (like the most horrible, tacky, clownish) blackface but then thought Megan Markle was just straight up white.

[@noemyemma9035]

She couldve just converted to Islam? I’m not muslim but from what I see most Muslims don’t care if a white person converts. Plus, there are many white Muslims in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Russia so its not like being Muslim and White are mutually exclusive. I think its an American problem, Americans really do not understand that race, religion and nationality are not synonyms. Case in point: this Raquel lady really thought being South American added to her ‘poc’ identity.

[@abenagyampo]

Right? I was just about to comment this. Just convert to Islam and be quiet! What was the point of her pretending to be MENA and Latina? 😭

[@gabriellemay8491]

She worked in diversity and inclusion so these claims were helpful to her career in a way being a white revert wouldn't have been. One of the people who hired even said he valued her background over candidates who just had education in diversity and inclusion because she must "get it" because of being from all these groups. I also think there's a mental health component involved. Not liking yourself so you pretend to be someone different while searching out acclaim and media attention.

[@kant.68]

@@abenagyampo Convert? Literally lie to God so at least you won’t get the heat? That sounds sinful and disrespectful as well

[@annamaria9073]

She didn't do this because she wanted to be Muslim. She did it because she wanted attention.

[@mspaint93]

It happens all over the place where northern/southern turks who are both muslim will consider the other less muslim, or my god, the worst is (some) Eastern European guys talking about pakistanis. I definitly think in some parts of the Anglo-sphere white reverts dont have a good time, as xenophonia isnt intrinsically free from literally any religion, but still regarding what you said it still makes no sense what she did. If they didnt like you white, they're gonna like you whole lot less when they inevitably found out you were pretending to be brown

[@Experimentalpeach]

I think it's important to point out that Michael Jackson had a skin condition (vitiligo), lost his hair in a major accident that resulted. in him wearing wigs, and (allegedly) had a bunch of nose surgeries that resulted from that accident. I'm not sure if he ever claimed to be white. This might not have been what you meant by using him as an example, but I'm just sensitive to this as someone with lighter skin patches that might be vitiligo and was accused of bleaching my skin.

[@youtubename7819]

Yeah, there are lots of interviews in which Michael expressed his extreme frustration and offense at the accusation that he was pretending to be white.

[@kittykatz4001]

You can find pictures of Blk ppl with vitiligo on the internet. Fun fact: there are also Blk ppl with Albanism (albino).

[@mirisparkleslikewhoa]

I'm glad I found this comment. I saw his picture there, and I was like hold up!

[@sanx189]

Yup Michael never faked his race

[@abiola33]

Thank you for this comment!

[@liliqua1293]

It's interesting how she claimed "Arab" and "Latino" decent when there's no such thing as "Latino" or "Arab" ancestry (less so for South Asian, but this is still a huge grouping of differing populations). Arab and Latino are pan-ethnic cultures that can be of any race. They choose these cultures specifically because they are ambiguous. It'll be a lot easier for a White brunette to claim she's mixed from a hodge podge of fuzzy categories then for her to say, she's full blooded Indian from Hyderabad, or full Sudanese, or Honduran. She will be scrutinized a lot more closely if that were the case.

[@neurodivergentpixi6736]

She could have said she was North Arab as most of us DO look European in the Northern Middle East....but she needed those extra scoops.

[@lamoskgr]

This 👏🏾👏🏾

[@minuishaq631]

@Neurodivergent Pixi I doubt she even had any knowledge of how various populations of the middle East look. She seems to be going for a vague "exotic" look.

[@kant.68]

African muslims aren’t considered arabs. Arabs referes to all the people who speaks and looks “arab-like” . Birmanians arent arabs either. There’s a look to it. Also to “latinos” (mexican-like)

[@kant.68]

@@neurodivergentpixi6736 Well, moroccans and egyptians dont look that european. Argelians and tunisians are straight up white, but we still call them POC in US 😂😂

[@aisham7535]

Facts sis, as an african black woman I'm all for sharing our culture and community. But I draw the line at them taking opportunities from already underpromoted groups. Keep it up, love your vids mashAllah ❤

[@Shyknit]

Yeah I would argue that's the main problem with a lot of these people such as Rachel Dolezal and Oli London. They don't love that culture or race, they want to use its resources, and they don't help that group they're pretending to be they usually end up hurting them or insulting them. Oli London claimed to also be a trans woman at one point and now he's on Fox news insulting trans people and saying that they're grooming kids, he's a grifter and will just jump to whatever thing he feels will benefit him and then when it doesn't anymore he'll jump in on tearing them down

[@Memento_Mori_Morals]

I have Cherokee ancestry and this is kinda how I feel. ...I'm glad my mom showed me some of my roots before she passed. 😊 it makes me feel close to her, so when I hear about people faking native ancestry it hurts... also I have no idea how much either of my great grandmas wanted to be in their marriages tbh. My family history is super dark.

[@naelyneurkopfen9741]

@@Memento_Mori_Morals oh stop! It doesn't " hurt" you, you just want to be on the victim wagon.

[@naelyneurkopfen9741]

Blacks are the most protected, most privileged people in the U.S., while they victimize literally every other group in the country! They're 13% of the population, but they commit over 50% of ALL violent crime, they murder whites at a rate of almost 10 to 1,( Source;FBI, DOJ and CDC), they rape whites in astronomical numbers, while white on black rape is virtually non-existent. (The same sources apply).

[@kordei-7839]

@@naelyneurkopfen9741 Be quiet and let her express herself she has every right.

[@worshipthecomedygodseoeunk4010]

I became interested in sociology solely because of my experiences growing up as a transracial korean adoptee (yes, the word exists. people like oli london stole the term) I grew up so confused about the concept of race, to the point where I was actually terrified of martin luther king jr. day because thats when tv shows would premiere episodes showing protestors getting hosed down by the fire department and when I would be reminded that my white parents don't look like me. I actually thought that if time travel was real, my parents would kick me out and I would be sent back to korea. And this is why now I do not take lightly when people fake being korean. You can imitate my face all you want, but you will never actually have any of the experiences that come with it. Racism is about power, it's about history and its about politics. People don't understand because they don't know what it's like to be ethnically and racially othered by your own family. I studied religiously in order to understand things about my race, because when kids pull their eyes back at you and tell your sister shes an ugly flat faced b*tch, then you have no choice but to confront that the image your family curated of a perfect multicolored harmonious society doesn't exist. Some people say I should just assimilate and blend in with my white family. Not understanding that I literally did that my entire life and without fail, people wouldn't accept it. The only thing I could do was acknowledge my race. So even though I am a transracial adoptee, it doesn't mean "I am white". It means, being white for me was the only thing I could do to exist in my family without conflict, but doing so was denying the reality of the world around me, it was living in a tiny bubble where I only thought about the image I myself saw in the mirror. It was being completely delusional. And that's what these people are. No matter how "white" I grew up, I will always be asian and korean. It will never stop being true. I cannot escape it. You cannot change races. Everyone sees through the lie you live but you. Just accept who you are and learn to love yourself.

[@Jessicacarrielee]

❤❤❤ well said. thank you for sharing

[@DawnSTyler]

Thank you for sharing your experience in such clarity and detail. You gave some really good food for thought. I had not considered that perspective before and now I am. Appreciate the growth.

[@starylize]

thank you for sharing your experience. this should be the pinned comment for sure.

[@seaturtleninjagaming4602]

Something i think is really fascinating about race is how its informed by your culture. I'm half-croat, half Ukrainian by ancestry, but here in America im just tall white boy with long nose. Back in Europe Russians are killing Ukrainians for being different, and Serbs and Croats kill each other on a weekly basis, but here I have Serb and Russian friends and we're all just white.

[@kria9119]

Um, in what Europe do Croats and Serbs kill each other on a weekly basis? Are you high or just an average uneducated American? Yes, we had a war and some tensions linger, but to claim we kill each other every week is hilarious and stupid

[@hoshi4042]

Russians are not killing ukrainians for being different , tons of russian citizens have ukrainian ancestry.

[@hayati6374]

@@hoshi4042 it’s still the official propaganda. Putin created a more defined us vs. them, that most likely wasn’t previously so relevant for most Russians’ day to day. In Ukraine there are many Ukrainians, Russian speaking ppl (who live in the areas most affected by the war btw) and many people who used to not have a clear identity. I think a professor on this topic from Greifswald Uni called them creoles? It’s more complex but if they didn’t create the us vs them difference/narrative they couldn’t justify their actions, even if they keep calling it a special operation.

[@Amal-ku9xq]

Yes, and the Serbs were involved in a genocide against the Bosnians.

[@seaturtleninjagaming4602]

@@hoshi4042 tell that to the russian TV pundits gloating about wiping out the inferior Ukrainian people. We're all human, there's almost no meaningful difference in people no matter where they're from, even less so in regionally linked areas. Ethnic hatred isn't based off of anything real, it's entirely made up to excuse hateful behavior.

[@user-il5iv6hj1b]

Normally I would look the other way and just shake my head but the thing that really upset me with “Raquel” is all the interviews she did on public television pushing narratives that the American Muslim community is full of extremists and misogynists. She was seen over and over again sympathetic with very far right narratives and figures that actually harm our communities here instead of help. Not saying we don’t have our issues ofc, but if you go back and watch her interviews she uses her platform to talk over and berate Muslim women and women of color and ally herself with people who hate us. That’s the part I found most frustrating. May Allah guide her, and may the people who were hurt through her actions be given justice.

[@tutu3909]

She only wants to be 'different' but she doesn't actually like us, her internalized racism showed in her answers in the interviews. If she actually knew what it is like to be any of the races/ethnic groups she mentioned, it would be easy for her to speak about the facts of who we are, culture, how she grew up, what is the media stereotypes etc. but she has no clue and doesn't even come close. She is just repeating western narrative and I think that's part of the reason she was given a platform, because she bought into the bullshit in the first place.

[@gateauxq4604]

Sounds like she was far right before deciding to weasel her way into the American Muslim community. Ugh

[@KhadaJhin04]

​@@gateauxq4604 kinda like christians who pretend they're ex Muslim just to spread the most outlandish nonsense about Islam.

[@sayyestolife333]

Is it a "narrative" to say there are lot of extremists and misogyny? Look at how so many women are treated in Muslim countries? Is it those women's reality or it simply a narrative?

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

​@@gateauxq4604 I feel like you would have to be to have such little respect for another culture and people

[@wheresmyeyebrow1608]

Transracialism IS actually real, but only really applies to cases of children adopted from countries racially categorised as different from that of the parents and surrounding environment. They inherit this new culture completely and no (and feel) nothing of the 'old' one. Some have described feeling something strange every time they look in the mirror and get reminded they don't look like everyone else. It's kinda like 'cultural appropiation' in that a very specific concept is taken and then used in every single context except the one it was made for.

[@enemyac130aboveT_T]

that's Milk74-he won the Jubilee blindfolded "find the hidden white guy" challenge

[@UnDefinedLegacy]

There are people who identify as black due to the area they grew up in being predominantly black.

[@justacutepieceofshit]

@@UnDefinedLegacy no.

[@UnDefinedLegacy]

@@justacutepieceofshit yes those people exist and its a growing area of study.

[@allahputin510]

Yet they’re still not black

[@caramazzola2399]

I saw Rachel Dolezal in real life once. She had the gall to attend a legislative conference held by the indigenous Khoisan leaders. It's incredible the spaces she inhabits.

[@minuishaq631]

What?!! How did she even get invited to such events? Why was she even there?

[@caramazzola2399]

@@minuishaq631 without speaking on behalf of the Khoi community since I don't belong to it, I'll share what one of the aunties at the conference told me over some biscuits. She was completely unaware of Dolezal's identity and how she had used her deceit to take opportunities intended for black people, even becoming the president of the NAACP. Many of the elders are subsistence farmers who live off the land, and aren't necessarily exposed to the conversation that takes place largely online. Khoisan descendents have historically been racially miscatergorized under apartheid and came to understand her as sharing somehow sharing common ground with their struggle. There were rumours about her being invited by a rival party to deliberately sabotage the event. My friend had arranged a boycott in addition to the protest, so the few remaining people attending likely couldn't have known better.

[@bluegreen686]

Lol

[@be.A.b]

I’m from Spokane, so I know people that knew her personally. She worked at a Black hair salon and barber shop. From what I hear, she was pretty nice and even “cool.” The people here don’t necessarily see her as evil. More like just a “only in Spokane” type novelty.

[@minuishaq631]

@@caramazzola2399 thanks for the explanation. I can understand that it's all a very online thing. That's pretty messed up if it was all deliberate sabotage to discredit others.

[@knowitnone]

it’s instructive that they’re not just identifying with a different race and then going about their lives. They’re taking up positions (community leadership and/or academia) that have some level of power/influence attached to them, and also access to funding. Any sociological explanations aside, there’s a basic pursuit of personal advancement and material interest.

[@julphines]

I find it interesting that a lot of these people are white and are claiming a minority status. I think you're right and a lot of it is wanting to belong to a community, meaning a lot of them probably don't feel like they fit in their own cultural communities. I think there is something to having your (white Anglo-American) culture be so dominant that you lack that sense of tight-knit community. I think that's why so many white Americans turn to genealogy. It's all very interesting and mixed with the history of race as a concept but at the end of the day, I don't think people should be claiming a different culture or race to make themselves feel special or win oppression points or whatever. You can still appreciate and support those communities without changing your name or getting surgery.

[@Financiallyfreeauthor]

Yes I think a lot of us white people feel disconnected from culture. My grandparents and parents were older and even though my grandparents were immigrants, I never learned anything about their culture

[@Memento_Mori_Morals]

@@Financiallyfreeauthor yeah I only recently as an adult learned about my dad's European roots. My mom didnt seem to know much of hers but she knew about her Cherokee ancestry/relatives currently on the rez. Aside from growing up a little in that I didnt get to learn anything about my culture unless I got to do a school project or something hehe. Thankfully now my dad has a DNA test so we know for sure we're german/Scottish on his father's side. Cool to know as an adult with the era of Google and AI in 2023. 2003 was much harder to research this stuff and often would lead to white supremacy sites. (Google bombing I assume, look it up if you dont know about this.)

[@Ksahdia]

It's strange how people get a certain benefit by pretending to belong to a minority race. Coloured people often deal with racism at some point in their life, it isn't easy being a minority. Yet, some white person comes along, pretends to be from a coloured race and enjoys some sort of benefit, attention? Something else? In some cases I can understand why someone would want to belong to a different country or race. A personal example: I remember wanting to forget I was south Asian, when I was 23-24. I was struggling with identity after running away from abusive family members. I wanted to forget my children and I were south Asian. I wanted to have a white Dutch name even and stopped speaking Urdu. After about a year or 2 I realized that this isn't the solution (Dutch culture has problems too and south Asian culture does have many amazing sides which my family didn't show me when I was still living with them). Nowadays I have a balance of both Dutch and south Asian culture in my life. So trauma might cause this kind of behaviour. Other than trauma, I don't understand why someone would want to belong to other people.

[@sparklemotion8377]

To profit?

[@ibot2157]

It's self loathing, plain and simple, all this people work in some sort of diversity studies type job.

[@stjohnssoup]

They would get the job if they were white

[@nitashajohnson4767]

I gotta agree with this. Not only are they the only ones that can get away with this but they always put themselves in places and spaces where they talk on behalf of those people. Often, they are able to make it in those spaces because they appear white, closer in proximity to white but they claim to be these races and cultures. I have a problem with that because only one group is able to do this.

[@Memento_Mori_Morals]

Sometimes it can also be a fetish... I've met people with racial fetishes and omg it is creepy.

[@namitabhopal8763]

So I think a major reason why we’re seeing this happen with white people pretending to be individuals of other races has a lot to do with racial and colorist hierarchies in our society. Unfortunately because of white colonialism, cultures that have been colonized in the past will subconsciously (and oftentimes explicitly as well) value white physical features and white aesthetics over their more ethnic counterparts. And in white communities today as well, the “whiter” you look (blonde hair, blue eyes, etc) the more attractive you’re considered to be. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both Rachel dolezal and Raquel Saraswati are white women that have physical features that could be misconstrued as ethnic; Rachel with her curly hair and tan skin, and Raquel with her ethnically ambiguous facial features. I’m pretty sure they felt less attractive in their own white circles because they didn’t fit into the perfect standard of white beauty. But they were likely to be considered more attractive in ethnic circles because they are, after all, still white women pretending to be ethnic. They have skin that’s tan but not “too” dark, and they still have some white looking features. This is the same mechanism that’s behind colorism: the closer you look to the colonizer, the higher your place in society. These women knew what they were doing. In their eyes, they were just moving from a lower social standing among white people to a higher social standing among people of color.

[@XantheChed]

This you've hit the nail on the head

[@annieahmed4946]

Uh what are you talking about? On what planet is Rachel and Raquel “ethnically ambiguous?” Rachel permed her hair so she wasn’t exactly naturally curly. And Raquel? I’m sorry but you need to get your eyes checked if you thought those women are anything but white women with a tan. Wearing a tan doesn’t make anyone look ethnically ambiguous. Sorry white women. 💁🏻‍♀️ “Rachel” fooled many black people, but “Raquel” didn’t fool many Muslims. Many muslims posted about her going as far back as 2010. I’ve only known about her since 2019 and I knew. Seemed to me the only people she fooled were white people. These two wanted attention and they did so by posing as POC. Ironically, in the end they behaved exactly like white people who take away space from POC.

[@AB-by8xu]

Not even close

[@lordtette]

Yes!!

[@h.f.8432]

I’m a white woman with the kind of features you describe. The temptation to want to appear as another “race” definitely doesn’t come from having a “low social status” among white people- it comes from the high social cache other races have in white circles. It’s much easier to be liked and move forward in life if you are not white. Most white people are more inclined to want to be friends and respect the opinions of someone of another race. Having features that look more like another race just makes it easier to feasibly capitalize on a self-serving deception. White women are uniquely self-loathing also. Yes, there is some sense in which “unusual” features do make one feel a bit confused about how to present yourself, but on the whole my experience was generally positive- people would compliment my very curly hair all the time because it was different. Being unique in background or appearance is often a social bonus point among American white people. It’s so funny to me that people misunderstand American white culture so much because of media narratives. We’re usually very interested in and deferential to other cultures compared to the rest of the world (if sometimes ignorant of them).

[@urujsarwar4195]

Hey Tazzy! Long time fan, really love your content as always! One thing about Michael Jackson, I think his situation was different because of his medical condition. He had vitiligo where there are patches on skin and it loses pigment and color.

[@Myladyinred999]

Trank you so much for mentioning that 👍 I also think we shouldn’t bring medical issues into that 💕

[@f.helenesoltendieck935]

I had the same thought although, he did try to reduce his most proeminent "black" facial features such as his larger nose and his bigger lips to match his skin "decolourisation" by vitiligo. So in a sense, he didin't officially (from what I understand) said he identified as another "race" or "ethnic group" but he did voluntarily attempt to minimize his "natural born ethnic physical appearance". The exact reason why is unknown but I think it's safe tu assume there was some internalised racism and a desire to distance himself from said "race" or "ethnic group".

[@Kaylan0713]

I haven’t finished the video yet, so im not sure what she’s said about Michael Jackson. However, while he was “white” not once did he refer to himself as white. He actually told Oprah that he would not want a white actor to play him in a movie because he’s a black man.

[@Thearrowstrikes]

Thank you for mentioning this, I was going to mention this myself. There are also conditions like albinism that can affect things such as skin colour, hair colour, and eye colour. Something that people can genuinely not help. I know that’s not what she was referring to and it’s probably not her intention but vitiligo is definitely a condition that can affect anybody No matter their background.

[@cocobrowny]

Hmph, let’s not go there. Even if he had vitiligo, there’s no excuse for all the surgery he had to look more European. Plus, vitiligo affects your skin in patches, it doesn’t make your overall skin tone fade shade-by-shade over time. He was clearly using skin lightening products/medications. So were Janet (less so) and Latoya. Okay, I know - I went there after saying ‘don’t go there’…

[@danielsykes7558]

It's important to talk about *real* transracial people. People who have been raised by and adopted into a culture different from their "real" culture. Some transracial people identify more with the culture in which they were raised, some resent the culture that was pressed upon them. That is the real phenomenon that parallels transgender folks and their experiences. That's because the person has been raised in a culture they may or may not feel an affinity for.

[@secretlybees]

Yesss!!! I hate that "transracial" has been used for this ridiculousness when it is already used for a very serious lived experience. And with all this nonsense, real transracial people may be uncomfortable talking about it for fear of looking like an Oli London or something

[@rinaberisha4613]

Selam Aleykum sister! It is morning here in my country. I watch your videos for years now, and I enjoy every single one of them. I'm a "white" born Muslim, Albanian from Kosova ( a tiny little country in South East of Europe). We Albanians, probably by being a really small nation, have an amazing sense of community and take pride in our culture and traditions. Even when we migrate outside of our country, you can see Albanians being pretty proud & patriotic. We are called immigrants wherever we go, regardless of our skin color, and not "ex-pats". Do I hate myself and my skin color? Audhubillah! This is how Allah wanted us to be, and I'm grateful for everything He granted me with. When I started to pray, my non-religious father said to me: Pray how much you want, you will never be an Arab. 😂 He thought being religious, means "converting" to another race or nationality. It's so sad there's still ignorance in this era where you can educate yourself in everything you want to. May Allah bless you with the best things sister! Lots of LOVE & Respect from you Albanian sister. 🤗🥰

[@jamila7544]

May Allah grant you firmness on the deen sis and guide your father 💕

[@rinaberisha4613]

@@jamila7544 Allahumma Amin! Jazak Allahu Khairan sister. 🤲🏻

[@jamila7544]

@@rinaberisha4613 wa iyakki khairan dear sis hope o meet you in Jannah 💕💕

[@deadliestcholo]

I think it depends on where these white people are, like politically. If they're in a more conservative white majority area, then your theory might be closer to the reasons. If they're in a liberal area, then it's likley cause they gain more sympathy and positive attention for being non white, also they likley have racial guilt and want to escape the white identity cause of it's negative connotations in those areas. I say this as a mix raced white passing person from liberal Los Angeles, who grew up in a mixed family that embraced a culture of distancing us from the "whites" and how us whites were different. It's a bit uncle tom(ish) but from a mixed white perspective.

[@anisa2273]

Omg same also a Muslim from Kosova! I'd say we Albanians are pretty diverse too, many are tanner, have curly hair, ethnic noses, Asian looking eyes, it's pretty cool and further shows that race is a stupid concept anyways, but you CAN'T change your ethnicity!

[@secretlybees]

I'm white and always wanted to be Korean and Japanese. Growing up, my mom's closest friends were my aunts and uncles, and I didn't know we weren't blood related. So, I had aunts of several races, and my Korean/Japanese aunt was my favorite and I just wanted to be her so so much. I also hoped that, since she was my aunt, maybe I'd grow into looking like her. I loved the food she made, I loved the art she showed me. Now, I've always been told to be proud of my Sicilian heritage (and I am), but I wanted to be both. I was also hoping to inherit my other aunt's afrotextured hair because I was OBSESSED with her box braids. Fast forward to puberty, I'm getting hips, my chest is growing, and my anorexia fetishist dad fed my body dysmorphia and self hatred. Then, hearing about being a colonizer for being white and all (my family came here in 1930 and my grandpa was a dark sicilian and DEFINITELY not white when he came here, but Italians gained whiteness after WWII). Anyway, being told all this when my heritage was being colonized and all? It fed a lot of self hatred and confusion for myself, my heritage, and my body. And I'm autistic, so it just... there was a lot of confusion and trying to understand. As an adult, I've learned better, I understand things better. I think part of me will always want to be like my aunt Jina, But, I'm finally accepting myself. I hope this comment doesn't anger anyone. I'm still incredibly interested in learning about Japan and Korea, but that also sparked a love for learning about other cultures in general. I hope this is like, worthwhile insight rather than a ramble.

[@Thearrowstrikes]

Thanks for sharing :-)

[@Red_Ryan_Red]

Interesting

[@secretlybees]

@@elissa8242 I am so bad knowing names, but I wonder if I've come across his research... Thank you! I looked it up and look forward to watching!! C:

[@erossore8500]

I’m also autistic and grew up in a multi racial household / country so I also had a hard time understanding race! Interesting someone else relates. I’m an Indian who was adopted by an Indian woman and a white man, and my Indian mother herself was adopted into a Fijian family. So I thought I was 1/3 white, Indian and Fijian until I was around 7-8 years old. Especially because I spoke all three languages. Race is a confusing concept that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Especially to ND folks. I wish you well as you grow into your own racial identity.

[@queeniegreengrass3513]

If he was legally categorized as white I don't think you can really say he wasn't white outright. It may be that he didn't have all the priveleges that being white gets you.

[@strangertobluewater]

It’s mainly harmful in the sense that people like Rachel and Raquel took away scholarship money and employment opportunities which were earmarked for people from groups considered more marginalized and underrepresented. If she were truly authentic, she would call herself transracial and express her preference for an alternative physical aesthetic and apply for the position giving full disclosure of her background.

[@Memento_Mori_Morals]

Not just scholarship money but she also scammed food stamps and welfare a lot of money, too. That affects every freaking race and mostly the poorest people like me, wth lady?

[@HyphenatedHistoryUK]

I just want to say that Michael Jackson probably shouldn't be compared to the others, his skin was the result of severe vitiligo + evening the tone out to match, he wasn't trying to be perceived as white. The mainstream media at the time were unbelievably unkind, which is obviously still influencing perceptions of him even more than a decade after he passed away. Additionally, transracialism as a concept has been hijacked by those who want to be read as a different race. It originally (and still) applied to those adopted by people of a different race - almost always white people adopting POC, and the associated traumas and experiences those adoptees go through. They are a group who are often silenced, and the fact that the term has been stolen from them and applied to the Rachel Dolezals of this world is just another example of that silencing tbh, because now ppl associate the term with her and not with them.

[@f.helenesoltendieck935]

I had the same thought about Michael Jackson although, he did try to reduce his most proeminent "black" facial features such as his larger nose and his bigger lips to match his skin "decolourisation" by vitiligo. So in a sense, he didin't officially (from what I understand) said he identified as another "race" or "ethnic group" but he did voluntarily attempt to minimize his "natural born ethnic physical appearance". The exact reason why is unknown but I think it's safe tu assume there was some internalised racism and a desire to distance himself from said "race" or "ethnic group" whether it is from unkind social pressure related to the mainstream media or a internal identity crisis.

[@f.helenesoltendieck935]

That being said, I totally agree with what you said about the concept of transracialism being hijacked and as a whole, it brings me to actually question myself as to if this concept can also be applied in a way to "second generation immigrant" such as @Tazzy Phe. Althought the Merriam-Webster's definition of race as stated in @Tazzy Phe's video ("a group of people sharing a common cultural, geographical, linguistic, or religious origin or background") is identified as "dated" and the most recent definition states that : "any one of the groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits regarded as common among people of shared ancestry". History shows that words in any language change meaning over time giving the social use of it so I guess it's okay to go with the flow without forgetting to aknowledge, and in some case, take responsability about the very real consequences on people's life experiences that their usage causes.

[@afib4968]

Yes he tried to minimise so much more of his other features. People always let him off with the vitiligo. I knew people with vitiligo and growing up we never even knew there was any skin lightener powerful enough to cover the condition.

[@ember9361]

@@afib4968 yes, but were they under the giant pressure of the media?

[@Memento_Mori_Morals]

@@f.helenesoltendieck935 he also began doing surgeries AFTER he was in a horrible accident and suffered wounds to his face. Plastic Surgery addiction is a real thing sadly. But fortunately vitiligo now has an actual treatment aside from skin bleaching.

[@fashiharz8584]

Girl give your editor a raise. I don't even know you but my attention was caught and I am still watching now. (If you edit this yourself, then pat yourself in the back, because well done!)

[@ryumitsurugi2088]

This topic is so important as globalization and social media becomes a bridge for cultures to mix and educate each other. But also for people who realize what it is that people value and how they feel can be deep rooted by the reasons you mentioned. And I think it's even more important that we have these open conversations and dialog about it to educate each other.

[@tstststst173]

Rachel dolziels story is actually really sad. Her parents were properly mad and abusive.She has been taking care of her black adopted siblings since she was 8. Not an excuse but her childhood was very messed up

[@queenofpunt]

damn, i had no idea

[@PossibleBat]

Tbh that kinda explains it. Maybe she wanted to be the good black influence her siblings needed, idk, I don’t judge anymore.

[@SpecialBlanket]

one fucking hundred.

[@miriamhavard7621]

No excuse for her deception.

[@annamaria9073]

That's what she said, but nobody could ever find prove of that. Journalists interviewed old neighbours and everything.

[@amyhatch3761]

Ethnicities are real, like Scottish, Croatian, Greek, Ashkenazi etc. Lumping ethnicities together and saying "these people are white" is the social construct. According to one of those DNA kits that I did, I'm 90% Irish/Scottish, 1% Nigerian and the rest was Mediterranean, including Greek, Spanish/Portuguese/Sephardic, and North African. So am I 90% white? Or 99% white? Or 0% white because I'm 0% anglo-saxon? Depends who you ask!

[@GBennet]

Ethnicities do come with unique biomarkers based on ancestral geography. So perhaps ethnicity is rooted in a biological reality. But race has always been a construct. If you were adopted by German parents a century and a half ago, you'd probably flee any of the Irish persecution if you entered the US simply on the basis that you'd have a different accent, religious background, and perhaps economic status.

[@psi9899]

@@GBennet That is what she said right

[@brianaa96]

But the thing is that Europeans created and chose to be white. When they colonized non European countries they lumped themselves into the category to make themselves elite. They did this gradually. In America specifically Europeans, even ppl that were once considered non-white and were discriminated against, voluntarily shed their ethnic identity and culture in order to participate in whiteness so they can have white privilege.

[@Elspm]

I'm a half scot, half irish woman living in Glasgow (Scotland), and I'll tell you what, anti irish sentiment is still alive and kicking here. Which is wild. Cause dna wise we're incredibly similar. The ways we see race and ethnic difference is always going to be defined by the culture we're living in. It rarely is about the underlying dna.

[@mirianakovachevic748]

You are more white than average American black is black. They have about 75- 80% of African DNA. Not all ethnicities are real. Look at Balkans where people who have identical DNA are divided into different ethnic groups because of religion. There are cases where Washington created entire nations and identity of people for it's political purposes etc. Race is more real.

[@mikaylaweber1882]

This was a very interesting video. I think it’s also interesting how ambiguous race can become especially in America. I’m a white American, even though I look really white non Muslims usually think I’m Arab because I where hijab (I’m a revert). I noticed ever since I started wearing hijab I get treated differently, usually in a negative way. I never say or pretend I’m anything but white when it comes to race, but people still act like I’m not white. It’s so weird. As for the Raquel lady, I think it’s nefarious when you pretend to be a race your not while being in positions in organizations meant to help the race your pretending to be. It comes across like she trying scam people.

[@liliqua1293]

Well I think it's important to understand that while "Arab" can be thought of as a race in the mind of most Americans, that's really not the experience of many Arabs. Arabs are like Latinos in that they represent a pan-ethnic culture wherein someone can be both White and Arab (specifically from some north African and Levantine countries), both Black and Arab (like Sudan, Mauritania, and some peninsular states), and even Asian (some Iraqis and the minority of Arabs in central Asia). When we think of someone who is "racially Arab", we usually are thinking of someone who doesn't neatly fit into our already preconceived racial categories (i.e. too dark to be White, features too robust to be Asian, hair too wavy/straight to be Black). It's also why Americans often racialize South Asians and Middle Easterners as "Islamic" when they phenotypically often differ and their racial experience reflects this (e.g. Arab racism towards South Asians). What their mind is doing is more or less "I don't know which box to put you in so I'll create this third box and put you there"; generally peninsular Arabs, Yemenis, most Iraqis and Persians, some north Africans, some Central Asians/West Asians and more or less all South Asians experience this. There are other groups of people that don't fit into these preconceived groups like Indigenous Australians for instance, but usually Americans and Westerners in general don't interact/are not exposed to these people much. So the racialization of someone being read as Arab/Middle Eastern (Persian, Turkish, etc.) in some cases is partly and in others entirely from the hijab and some other Islamic paraphernalia. Many Arab/Middle Eastern non-Muslims are read simply as White, more Mediterranean like Italians, Greeks, Armenians, etc. (60-70% of the Arab population in the US/Canada are non-Muslims/Christian with Muslims being a significant minority).

[@delusion5867]

I think people forget that while Islam, Judaism, Hinduism etc. are often ethnic religions, they aren't exclusively ethnic. Conversion exists, people change beliefs, and people regain beliefs or find a new belief. Most, if not all, religions are open to anyone.

[@liliqua1293]

@@delusion5867 I wouldn't necessarily say that religions other than Judaism are ethnic religions. Islam is definitely a universalizing religion; it began in Arabia but the largest populations of Muslims are in South Asia and the largest Muslim country in terms of population is Indonesia. And there are around 11 million Hui Muslims (descended from Han Chinese Muslims) who are nearly identical to Han Chinese non-Muslims except in religion and some minor cultural aspects. Hinduism is a dharmic religion, that is it stems from the dharmic traditions of the Indian subcontinent/South Asia. So while Hinduism is largely intertwined with South Asian culture and history (and even the concept of Hinduism can be scrutinized), it isn't really an ethnic religion either as it originates within multiple ethnic groups within India. The only religion of the ones you mentioned that began (mostly) as an ethnic religion and remains so today is Judaism and "conversion" is not very comparable to how one would convert to Christianity or Islam (the two largest universalizing religions). It isn't so much that you "convert" to Judaism, rather that you "become" a Jew.

[@delusion5867]

@@liliqua1293 Great points, it's also a case of generalisation and stereotyping of certain religions to specific ethnic groups. Sadly, it's more easy to convince people to hate something if you create a common enemy. People don't like (or understand) complex issues anymore which has deteriorated society's ability to empathise and bridge gaps in understanding. If there's anything people like to hate nowadays, it's things they don't understand. I think that over time Judaism and "being a jew" has diverged into separate identities. One a religion, and one an ethnic group that often collide but aren't always exclusive. There are certainly Jewish people who don't believe in Judaism and there are certainly non-Jewish people who believe in Judaism. Perhaps, it's because of the discrimination against Jewish people over history that Jewish people (as in those who believe in Judaism) have been singled out as a different ethnic group entirely when many are white/European, Arab, African etc.

[@liliqua1293]

@@delusion5867 yeah, totally agree on your first point. I wouldn't say they diverged into separate identities perse though. Something can be both an ethnic group and a religion (an ethnoreligious group) and still not be a race (evidenced by the Black and White Jews you mentioned). I think this phrase from Jewish poet Ahad Ha'am surmises both of our points well: "More than the Jews kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept the Jews."

[@EricaInTokyo]

I live in philly and the first woman runs in the same circles that I’m in. I’ve met her before at events and I had suspicion that she wasn’t actually what she claimed to be, but that’s not my place to judge someone’s race. What angers me is that she’s used her “race” to get awards and recognition as someone in her industry who’s POC (when she’s not). She’s taken these opportunities away from actual deserving people who happen to actually be POC.

[@justanotherhappyhumanist8832]

Well said. I really like that you mentioned how race isn’t a scientific construct, but rather, a social one - and how you actually looked at the science to make your argument. It’s so refreshing to see a Muslim who values science, because many Muslims (like many Christians) do not value science in the slightest, or have a poor misunderstanding of it, and only accept what helps confirms their biases and beliefs, rather than doing any research. First video I’ve seen of yours, and I’m subscribing! 😊

[@wellimeantosaywhat]

As an Austrian, I always find it strange when people lose their absolute minds over “my parents’ / grandparents’ generation did some horrible stuff” and make their cognitive dissonance everybody else’s problem. Like … clearly you still think you’re superior somehow or you wouldn’t be hurt by your ancestors’ actions getting called out by the descendants of their victims. You can’t accept being humbled so you paint yourself as a victim of ‘wokeness’ or lash out or cosplay as another race. Accept that human beings can be many things and the same person can be a loving grandfather to you but somebody else’s worst nightmare. And get over yourself jfc

[@Scrimmified]

this is another thing, but I think another reason why doing this sort of thing is harmful is because the "transracial" conversation has lead to a lot of transphobia as well. I watched that terrible rachael divide documentary on netflix and they spend a decent amount of time trying to excuse her behavior by saying 'well what's the difference between this and trans people deciding to be another gender??' hell, half the reviews I've seen of her story say the same thing. it just reinforces the idea that transgender people are fakers lurking in their communities, that we all hate ourselves or are all must be deeply traumatized. I'm now expected to explain why changing ones race and changing ones gender identity is different every time this conversation comes up... like damn! we're not involved with these people! we're minding our own business!!

[@vilukisu]

And Oli London, really appears to just be a grifter doing anything for attention, I believe his whole "I want to be korean" was just for attention and him "transitioning" definitely was because he was most certainly writing a book about being a detransitioner even before he claimed to be a trans woman. Now he has found out that he can get attention and money from transphobia, and probably more of than the transracial grift.

[@joeycrunch]

Not sure why the algorithm only just now brought me to your channel, but dang this was an instant subscribe! Such personality, fire editing, and great commentary 👏🏼 kudos

[@tinybullfrog1955]

The distinction between race being a societal construct and racism having so many insidious and wide-reaching symptoms is an important distinction! Thank you for being so clear in your explanations, as people new or ignorant to the conversation often follow that fallacy.

[@tavern2468]

Michael Jackson was very proud of his black heritage and would mention that , and I’m pretty sure even in his autopsy report it said that he had vitiligo.

[@salaltschul3604]

Ollie London is now....not identifying as Korean but is still a huge clusterfuck. I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with loving a particular culture, learning all about it, learning the language, engaging with the people, all that. I think that's lovely. But you can't claim what isn't yours, you know? You can convert to a religion but you can't convert to a race. The other thing I wanted to mention was Michael Jackson. He had vitiligo. It's visible in some (admittedly rare) photos and it's clearly on his death documentation. He never tried to become "white". He never wanted to be "white". He always identified as a black man. The issues around his appearance had nothing to do with his race and everything to do with how his father singled him out because of his broad nose to make an example of him...I always suspected that was because MJ was the talent in the Jackson Five and there was nothing else to bring him down a notch.

[@JeanPaulBeaubier]

I don't even think Ollie London gives that much of a fuck about Korea or Korean culture. He's just a narcissist troll.

[@brittany8815]

I agree @ Tazzy, I agree, I think they're getting some personal benefit from pretending to be another race. And those who act as a caricature of whichever group they are pretending to be......smh, no words. As a disabled person, it irks me when abled-bodied people wear a disabled costume in the entertainment realm.

[@Financiallyfreeauthor]

Such a great breakdown of a difficult topic. I’ve wrestled with this because I’m a white Hindu and while that’s no longer unheard of it’s still unusual. (I was raised Hindu, btw). When i was younger I felt a strong temptation to pretend to be Indian because I didn’t fit in in my community. But I’ve never been able to be deceptive anyway. I try very hard not to take away voices or opportunities from Indian Hindus but there are times I’ve been put in the spotlight because I’m a bit of a freak/rarity and other Hindus are fascinated.

[@Tzedakah263]

I loved hearing your balanced views! I'm biracial (white/latina), and it's frustrating filling out US forms because I can either be white (non-latino) or latino. Can't really win.

[@NYD666]

Latina is an ethnicity, not a race

[@Chi98]

​​@@NYD666 i'm mexican and even then, i know it's not an ethnicity but for a lot of us we are certainly not (fully) white so it's still difficult filling out forms.

[@Tzedakah263]

@@NYD666 I understand that, but not all forms seem to reflect that.

[@smooveayy]

I study social sciences in Uni, and the topic of race, ethnicity, culture is so fascinating bc you discover these are all social constructs, and humans share so much, but somehow find the smallest differences to identify with. I love your video, you're very well spoken and your thoughts are expressed so well. New sub hrer!

[@johannaliceaga5936]

What I don’t like is how they make themselves so tanned just to seem darker and more “ethnic” looking. I’m Mexican and I’m white as paper lol but anyways that’s besides the fact, it’s just not right I can’t explain why but it’s just weird and like whyyy why do that why not just own being white, there’s nothing wrong with it, I know being white isn’t seen as cool in America but don’t give into that, there’s nothing wrong with being white just as there’s nothing wrong with being any race you know at the end of the day who the heck cares what freakin race you are, I also hate people being so overly proud of their race it gets annoying sometimes, like I don’t care what race you are honestly, anyway you made good points as always Tazzy, keep up these video please

[@lordtette]

"Being white isn't seen as cool in America" wdym?

[@johannaliceaga5936]

@@lordtette well ya unfortunately that’s what I see here

[@MarshallLevin]

3:42 love that you took such care in pronouncing Svante Pääbo, but then pronounced Max Planck with a decidedly non-German accent.

[@aliyahh4088]

I literally know someone who’s doing this exact thing. She’s white from the US but pretending to be an Arab immigrant from a country in the Middle East. She’s built a respectable social media presence around this identity that’s totally fake. Idk what compels her, it’s very bizarre

[@sparklemotion8377]

You don't?

[@chayakapoor4859]

BTW Vijay Chokal-Ingam is actually Mindy Kaling's brother!

[@blazethealaskanmalamute4633]

One might think I’d be faking my race but in my defense…which race, my DNA test shows I have over 30 ethnicities. Dad said I was Scottish, mom said French & Swedish, I’m 37% German, 17% British isles & a smorgasbord Asian, Mexican, Iberian, African American & a bunch in between I could never guessed as I have red hair & green eyes! Most of us people are mutts & don’t truly know our family history 😢

[@indoora]

The reason why this is problematic is because of the racism faced by people of these ethnicities. We are all from the same race and this is why I personally feel using that word separates people into categories and gives rise to prejudice and hate based on ethnicity.

[@mutedroar]

I'm mixed latina and white. I remember as a kid when we where doing those standardized tests it asked me my race and I was super confused, and didn't know what to put. I asked my dad and he was like oh just pick whichever you feel like. Now, whenever that comes up on forms, they have this one "White, not hispanic/latino". Its very specific. I'm not sure when exactly it changed, but apparently its been changing all over histroy lol

[@user-vr2qp2hi8z]

same here. i know the pain. the worst part is when I get told that I'm not brown enough to be half latino by a full white.

[@denisegroce7135]

You’re a white Latina, but most of you identify as just Latino regardless of skin.

[@namedrop721]

@@user-vr2qp2hi8zI get asked if I’m part Chinese all the time but when I tell them it’s native features they’re seeing they freak tf out and call me a liar I can be chinese but not native, ok I didn’t say anything but they asked. 😂

[@commonomics]

You look so pretty in those shades of blue

[@claram5482]

I met a girl from Russia who went around telling people she was Italian. She spoke very bad Italian too. I guess it's the same as claiming that you're a different race since it's rooted in both fetishism and narcissism. The difference in this case is that Italians in our school were quick to call her out.

[@Grahamisthesword]

I wouldn’t say it rooted in. Narcissism. More like self hatred

[@halimomoremoney1292]

No different to Arabs claiming Italian and french and Spanish because they hate being Arabs and changing their names to Emma all over the uk 😂😂😂

[@dutyfree5192]

The way being italian/spanish/french is so fetichized is genuinely concerning, this coming from me, a spaniard with also some italian/french ethnical background. People only see the pretty buildings and the language and ignore the ugly side of our countries. We have problems too :(

[@annamaria9073]

No it's not. Italians and Russians are both white (unless you went to school pre 1930s)

[@FatKarma999]

@@Grahamisthesword Could be both? Maybe not a malicious sort of narcissism, per say-- i mean, if that is a thing. I grew up with a nice but real self-involved girl in school. Other than being a bit of a gossip, she didnt seem to have a mean bone in her body, she just got on everyones nerves because she was taking about herself, but in a negative, low self-esteem way like she was trying always to one up someone elses story or insecurities. She'd say stuff like she was distantly related to Hitler, etc.

[@Shoyren]

The idea you can just fake being a certain race is wild to me. I’m half white, half Korean, yeah race is freaking weird and arbitrary sometimes. I feel weird and uncomfortable trying to engage with my Koreaness because 1) I look almost entirely white and 2) I’ve gotten the impression I’d somehow be doing cultural appropriation if I tried to learn more about… my own culture. Also I’m not a con artist and liar.

[@namedrop721]

Race in America is about how close to black you are. Wasians can often look ‘white’ because the gene features and skin color are closer and aren’t questioned so then they just erase half your identity. Don’t let them. It’s a terribly fucked up system for everyone.

[@jerrimenard3092]

I have experienced the confusion myself. So, my mother is French Canadian and part Aboriginal Canadian. We have the birth and marriage records to prove that, but because I look very white, I get flack. I can't win. My Father was from Hungary, which as you know was ruled by the Turks, and even Persians for a hundreds of years. We are related to the Finns who were not seen as White in the USA until 1912. We were called Mongolian. If I let everyone else try to tell me what race or ethnicity I am, I would never get a straight answer. Depending where I am and who's around I am ether white or not white enough. I have to just pick the Other box and if asked explain. For some reason it's never an issue around North Africans. They tend to be super cool with folks who are mixed because so are they.

[@desertboy1162]

You actually can tell someone “race” by bone structure this how forensics can tell an African, or European or “Asian” but at times they have hard distinguishing Indian and ME because they look somewhat similar to Europeans.

[@dontyouworryaboutme]

Its just kind of weird that we dont distinguish within europe. Im eastern european and look nothing like scandinavians for example. Your mind sees similar features and can sort that but where does the sorting start/stop

[@DearBill]

@@dontyouworryaboutmeBulgarian and Romanian still White , no matter how they brown skinned.

[@SchwarzesSchaefle]

This is something I have thought about a lot in my life, because I am a white person who practises a form of Hinduism and has been doing so for most of her life. My faith is important to me, so I wear a bindi (alongside a more clearly religious tilak/forehead marking) daily. I am also in academia, studying Hinduism and South Asian cultures more broadly and over the almost two decades of being fascinated by, interested in but also involved in the wider South Asian and Hindu community, both in my native country as well as in India, I have often reflected critically on how my self-expression might be viewed by and affect others. I eventually started wearing Indian clothes most days, I cook a lot of Indian food and basically everything EXCEPT my ethnicity/race, is South Asian. I have dark hair, so sometimes people assume that I am half Indian, in which case I of course correct them. Within an academic context, I am also sometimes confronted by well-meaning, often very young students, who have heard about the concept of cultural appropriation and feel it is their duty to fight that evil. In India, I have rarely ever gotten negative reactions, except by people who themselves are not too fond of "Indian culture" and who simply do not understand why I would have the preferences that I have. I think "transracialism" is rubbish and if it goes hand in hand with physical mutilation or the desire to avail of opportunities reserved for members of a minority community, it should be critically commented upon. However, there are a lot of grey areas once one moves from "race" to "culture". How do we deal with religious conversion? How do we deal with the exchange that is unavoidable in multiethnic, multicultural societies? How do we deal with mixed race, mixed ethnicity etc. people, families and communities? Whose voices do we amplify, those in the diaspora? Those in the global south? Who speaks for an ethnic group? Ultimately, I have not found satisfying answers to the above questions, but have made the personal decision not to alter my self-expression to conform more closely to stereotypes reflective of my own ethnic background, because I live in a country, where the right to free self-expression is constitutionally guaranteed and because I think limiting people to cultural practices and items belonging to "their" culture, is essentially just racism in new garb.

[@aquasol333]

It's all good and fine as long as you support the culture you assimilate with and aren't racist towards South Asians.

[@vicky.sc.1549]

I loved your line about Race being made up but racism being real cause I had an education professor discuss how race is a social construct in class once. but something about the lesson just felt so off and I think it was because she didn’t acknowledge that racism was real. The whole lesson took a very „I don’t see color“ approach and just made the whole class uncomfortable because sure race is a social constructs but racism is still very real and my professor just like didn’t seem to acknowledge that. Idk for an Education class about teaching minorities it felt very „white saver“ at times.

[@MC-fw5vt]

I used to be deeply ashamed if my race, due to how ancestral people of the same race treated others. After a bit of traveling, I've realized that racism is everywhere so I don't feel as bad.

[@docfabz]

You shouldn't be ashamed of your race. I urge you to be aware if your race still benefits from privilege created by that racism.

[@Ben-kv7wr]

Omg wait your camera presence is amazing, I’m glad you came up on my rec’d I’m subscribed

[@naomitarot104]

I like big colorful hoop earrings and I happen to be very pale with dark hair naturally being Scottish and Irish. I have a naturally curvy body pear shape and I'm on the thick side. Because of this I get mistaken for Latino a lot. I consider it a compliment but I correct people proudly and say nope I'm pretty white I am Irish and Scottish predominantly. I have no desire to appropriated culture but from my influences having lived and mostly Hispanic and black neighborhoods some of my clothes have been influenced in the past although now I'm definitely in the Stevie nicks bohemian look most of the times now but I combine it with big huge hoop earrings and lots of jewelry. I have many influences but I do not desire to be another culture race. I don't understand why people just don't eclectically combine their experiences. They don't have to be copying race or culture.

[@HosCreates]

agreed

[@johaquila]

Thanks for this wonderful presentation of the problem. I have a feeling that a lot of research went into making it so complete yet short and focused. Very impressive. And I also loved the energy of the presentation. This video got me thinking: I think there is a wider 'trans' issue that is actually very real and not well researched yet. It's not just people who want to change their gender or their race. Here in Germany we had a lot of people switching to the opposite end of the political spectrum after the Second World War. This may not sound as if it is really the same thing, but if you look closer at some of these cases, it really seems there is a connection. For example, consider the case of Hans Schwerte, a scholar of German literature with a Wikipedia article in English: During the Second World War, under his real name Hans Schneider he was a Nazi officer (first in SA, then in SS, not the regular German army of the time) and procured medical instruments for two Mengele-style concentration camp doctors. At the end of the war in 1945 he used his German intelligence service contacts to obtain a new identity under the new surname Schneider, married his wife again under his new name, and obtained another PhD under his new name. Now here comes the interesting part: Having started as a Nazi, Hans Schwerte gradually became a left-wing professor and university rector who supported the student movement of the 1970s. While we can't rule out completely that he was spying on them for the government, there is no evidence for this. Rather, it appears that while playing the role of a progressive, anti-Nazi professor, at some point he became one. In a way, he _seems_ to have cured himself from Nazism through a highly effective form of behaviour therapy. The German post-war environment produced a lot of similar cases; this is just one of the more blatant ones. There was even an entire group of Nazi historians who set out to prove that Germans had been treated badly after the war and should get the eastern territories back, and instead ended up realizing that Germany absolutely deserved what it got, and got their project terminated because that's not what the government wanted to read. In their case they didn't switch to the opposite ideology so much as to immaculate scholarly precision (at first as a means to an end, convincing an international audience), but it's another stunning case and seems related. My point is that to a large extent, what we are and how we think and feel seems determined by the position we occupy in society. I'd suggest that 'trans' in the widest sense means that someone changes their position/role in society in a major and unexpected way. This can be motivated by a mismatch between what someone is/thinks/feels and their position in society. (Typical for modern transgender.) But sometimes it happens for other reasons. When this happens, it causes such a mismatch, which then gradually disappears as the faker really takes on the new identity. It seems to me that there may not be a bright line between faking another race/gender/political position and genuinely changing and fully embracing it. The former often seems to lead to the latter, slowly and gradually. This leads to hard questions. We may have to accept that a bad-faith faker may end up being the genuine thing after a couple of decades. Or maybe not. This really needs proper, open-ended research. Perhaps in a less politicized area, unrelated to race and gender, this is easier to achieve.

[@hayati6374]

I am German but whenever Slavs see me, they commonly ask me if I’m Russian or Ukrainian, sometimes polish. My family has lived in Germany for a looong time (long enough that all my gear-grandparents went through nazi vetting just fine). But a few of them come from former eastern states that were assimilated into the Prussian society. So it’s entirely possible that my face really is a of a Slavic flavor 😂 You can also notice, that the definition of race can get very fiddly in the way that there can be big apparent differences, and small ones but people still find a way to create their own identities for their groups to drive their agendas.

[@onlyfoes]

It is quite possible being of "slavic heritage" and still ethnically German. The Sorbs for example are an official German minority and were even considered as "Volksdeutsche" during the Nazi era. Of course they still tried to assimilate them, in hope they would finally leave their Slavic language and folklore completely behind.

[@DionysianLovecraftian]

@@onlyfoes Very true. Many Germans have Slavic last names and sometimes heritage which they don't even know about. Especially eastern Germany and the whole Prussian thing.

[@ayshaq580]

the insertion of the sorting hat scene from HP, after mentioning the uses of division and conquering for the aims of enslavement, colonization and imperialism, implying that the sorting hat was used for just those things in little old Hogwarts, was superb.

[@ayshaq580]

@GBH I never really looked at it like that, what other parts of HP did you notice to be ideological cues?

[@Jennifer-cl1cl]

Here's a way I have found to think about how race and genetics are different that helps me to visualize it: imagine that you have the genetic information from a person of African ancestry who is born in Africa. And you are going to compare the genetics of this African man to 2 other men you select randomly - one random person is another man from Africa of African descent, and the other man is from literally anywhere else in the world, and specifically NOT of immediate African descent. So this other man could be from Asia, Europe, North or South America - it doesn't matter. if you compare the genetic information of the original African man to the other two men to see which of the other two he is most similar to genetically, it's pretty much a coin toss if your original subject will be more genetically similar to the other African man, or if he will be more similar genetically to the other man who is from some random, non-African place on the globe. A man from Mali may look more similar to a man from Ghana, but he might have DNA that is more similar to a man from Austria, or Mexico. What we think of as "race" is completely social and cultural, and not in the slightest bit biological.

[@mirianakovachevic748]

Genetic information is pretty accurate. If you have someone's DNA you can identify that person, where he is from, down to his tribe and close relatives let alone country of origin.

[@mariegigot5129]

Hey! My name is Marie and I alway say that I'm half italien and half Belgium, when actually I'm more 1/4 Italian, and I say that I'm half because I learned not a long time ago that my nono, so my father's dad, wasn't actually Italian but also from Belgium, but I in my father' side of the family we always did Italian manners, cultural festivity, food way of living, when in my mother' side of the family we always did Belgium manners, for (...). And also I has for a good part of my childhood raised by my nonna (she's fully Italian) and so it bravely shaped my way of thinking and my way of caring myself through out my life. She also told my one day when I was talking to her about the facs that I consider myself 1/2 Italian and 1/2 Belgium, that she also felt like that, that Belgium adopted her and that she feels at home like she'd the same way in Italy, so for my you can concider yourself PART of an origin that you ain't related by blood, as long as you don't forget where you came from, that you feel like you're at home and that you relate to the culture and way of thinking of this country (but you can still disagree with some view of thinking like you'd in your own country), and also being aware of the historical and cultural impacte that this country had to go through! But I draw the line at physical prosiger, lying about you're origine and mimicking cultural stereotype, and that's what bother me about those 3 personne is that they lied about their origine, they alter their physical apparence and they mimic stereotypical way of bringing yourself. But someone that come up to me and tells my that their parents have immigrated to america and sins then even thou she loves her origin she consider herself also as an American. (sorry for my broken English :,) )

[@whatsthedeal2932]

I worked with a white girl who was like crazy and stole 300 dollars from the store along with merchandise and would like lay on the floor but she would say she was black and Asian w vitiligo but she was literally a white girl

[@kmariamv]

😮😂

[@denisegroce7135]

Dang! She is crazy as hell!

[@hfo1947]

If you do see this, I want to let you know I’m really happy I found your channel today, thank you for your content.

[@HumbleWordsmith]

hey tazzy just tolet you know you are totally underrated! appreciate your content

[@sisuka6505]

As a trans person I have to say some manifestations of this really get on my nerves (and not just because the guy who said he identified as Korean is a far-right anti-trans grifter). For one, the term transracial already has a use: for adoptions across race. And when these people are either found out or come forward themselves, even if they don't seek acceptance by comparing it to being transgender, it feeds into the most superficial "well why can't you identity as x then?" thinking. When these people pop up in the news, they don't go how race and gender are very different kinds of constructs (I don't think a lot of parents are out there having Race Reveal Parties), with different kinds of connections to biology, and different social dynamics. This relates mainly to the white examples you mentioned, who seem to approach it not as "I will be seen more positively if I...", but "This is my truth and I am entitled to it".

[@CHarlotte-ro4yi]

For me as a German and coming from an entirely European perspective this very American obsession with race is mind boggling. Europeans tend not to talk about race but rather ethnicity and culture. You could be ethnically of Turkish decent and still be German and you can be ethnically Finnish but Swedish. Also categories like "white" "caucasian" "Asian" or "black" are labels that are merely limiting you down to one single attribute that may not even cover who you are.

[@secretlybees]

Honestly, I think it has to do with most European countries being fairly homogenous, where in the US you see a lot more diversity. And, historically the differences were not met with great acceptance, so there's still some charged issues today. Also, from what I understand, most immigrants in Europe tend to assimilate to the culture more where Americans tend to keep their own cultures, languages, and communities. It's possible to live in an all Mexican community here and never have to learn English. This is all my theory based on some independent research and discussions with European friends. Just my thoughts, not fact

[@CHarlotte-ro4yi]

@@secretlybees It's certainly an interesting thought and perspective and I can only speak from my limited German perspective and observations I have had in France and Belgium, the countries I have lived in. Historically speaking there has been a lot of assimilation as you pointed out, that applies to the Bavarian with Czech roots or the Swede with Finnish heritage. But more recent (in historic terms) immigration to and in Europe such as Turkish and Italian immigration to Germany in the 1960s, has led to the development of large Italian and Turkish communities within the country with their own supermarkets, mosques etc. It is however true that, so far my understanding goes, ethnical and also income segregation in terms of housing is much more prevalent in the United States. Germans and most other Europeans don't know the concept of gated communities and while there are areas with higher fractions of immigrant families than others there still is a fairly strong mix of ethnicities and incomes living in the same community.

[@dontyouworryaboutme]

@no one its quite the opposite, all my family in america dont speak serbian anymore whereas 3rd gen in germany does

[@marielehleitner3643]

This is going to be really weird for people who aren't American to understand, but a frequent question in America among acquaintences is something along the lines of "Oh, where are you from?" Or "What's your background?" And when we're asking that question (aside from if we're asking about what part of the US lol), we are always referring to someone's ethnicity/where their ancestors came from. This is especially common among white people, but also more common if you have a more "ethnic" name. So it's not that ethnicity doesn't exist here, more that it has mostly ceased to matter except as a party anecdote or as a culture to feel connected to since many Americans (but not all) have assimilated and come a long way from that ethnic background. Ethnicity tends to matter more among recent immigrants and in those immigrant communities, but there's like no significant difference between a white person of German descent and a white person of Irish descent, for instance. Race has generally been more important in America because of, well, slavery and colonization, since it was a simple visual marker of a person's probable place in society. In a society with less class distinctions, race essentially functioned as a class or caste. This was important in a country where not everyone spoke the same language and allowed different groups to consolidate (i.e. Irish and Southern/Eastern Europeans became white over time, the ethnic differences among African-Americans and Native Americans diminished due to their shared experiences of racism/forced assimilation). Race in America has also changed significantly based on 1. Waves of immigration (who is immigrating and from where? Who are we trying to keep out, and who are we trying to attract?) and 2. Legal expansions of rights (African-Americans and Native Americans weren't considered citizens or able to vote until like the past 100 years).

[@onlyfoes]

In theory yes and of course also by law. German citizenship = being German. But in reality it still can be quite different especially for some people who let's say don't look typically European. I wouldn't name it racism but being born in second/third generation, speaking fluently etc. and still experience that folks sometimes look at you as some sort of foreigner/immigrant is a thing. It's getting better with younger generations but in my experience folks over 30 are 50/50 when it comes to the question who's a German and who isn't. In the US, Australia, Canada etc. I would be an actual immigrant but at least that would be a choice I made ^^

[@tonyaingram5336]

And yet we as black folks get told that we are too sensitive

[@RaeSp]

I agree with most of what you said. But to use Michael Jackson as an example was very far off. He had vitiligo and due to insecurities of having splotchy white patches on his skin. That he could no longer hide under his clothes or his famous one glove (which hid the vitiligo on his hand). So he bleached his skin to even it out. He didn’t change his skin color because he wanted to be white lol.

[@Lara-xu3yc]

That really irked me because it shows she didn't do proper research for this video.

[@appleciderr114]

Tazzy Phe: Asking all the important questions and making the best points (except for the brief Michael Jackson part)

[@mavmagick]

This is wild! I went to church with a partner of hers and had some conversations with Raquel and never would have guessed she was faking!!

[@chasingdharmaify]

I've been on panel conversations with and moved in the same circles in Philly as Rachel. She's creepily good at hiding her identity, and what she's done has truly hurt folks and the progressive movement.

[@Stinkydinkydo]

I think its mostly unsettling when its someone with privilege presenting as someone without. Logically it makes sense to try to present yourself as someone WITH privilege, and especially historically when being able to present as someone with said privilege afforded you like...basic human rights. But when someone changes their entire presentation, mannerisms, identity, etc to be percieved as someone who experienced descrimination, hardship, judgement, etc. BECAUSE of their identity....its just weird lol and it makes people angry because it feels like a mockery of the real life struggles that people wouldnt generally choose to have. Or at least thats what i think

[@readingdino711]

Loved the video. I feel bad for everyone who fakes their race, but I don't let these people use any excuses, since it's just stupid. Also, whenever I make an original character I just use nationality, exactly because race doesn't tell you anything about someone, not even what continent they're from (moving to another country exists after all).

[@saijanaswamy7210]

They are constantly desperate trying to be us yet we struggle with hardships because of who we are and our skin color. The irony always boggles me. Asian fetishism is very real. Do correct me on this if i'm wrong...I believe Michael had a skin condition..hence he had to "bleach" his skin.

[@sarahwatts7152]

Very quick google on MJ - he had vitiligo, so he had to decide if he wanted his skin to appear uniform. I do think that it was convenient for him, though - the way he changed his nose says to me that he did want to appear more like a white person, though I'm no Lorry Hill. Idk if the nose jobs were also about a health condition

[@saijanaswamy7210]

@@sarahwatts7152 oh shiz i didn't look into hiss nose job thing.

[@kant.68]

@@sarahwatts7152 He had a bad fall during a dance routine back in 1982 and he never liked his nose (because of his dad) and decided to changed it . He had more nose jobs for various reasons, Lupus being one of them(lupus distroys the cartilage of the nose, makes your eyebrows fall and fucks up your skin etc) . Plus he became vegan in the 80s so tons of weight loss. Plus the vitiligo plus the way he expressed his own self made him the perfect target for all rumors under the sun

[@sarahwatts7152]

@@kant.68 Oh that completely changes how I see that surgery. Thanks!

[@yunyunid981]

it's my first time hearing about raquel and it really took me a minute to understand that she's not rachel dolezal rebranded😭😭 it's wild how they look so alike and almost share a name (and delusions)

[@angelsoulnme]

I’m Italian American whose grandparents came through Ellis Island. We were classified as white but my grandfather’s passport says dark complexion lol

[@reba738]

What's really off to me, is when someone does this taking jobs from people from that community, talking on there behalf when not living their experience and profiting off it. It's sad, I feel for these people, it's something that's not healthy or right in the head (not to be mean) But doing it for financial gain, talking on other people's experience, etc is wrong.

[@HosCreates]

agreed . thats the worst part. its like a trans - women saying they know what it's like to be a woman but never having the reproductive organs and dealing with the periods etc and not growing up socialized as a girl doesn't mean you know truly whats its like.

[@reba738]

@@HosCreates I wish I could hit that like button on your comment again! Everyone is up for talking until this subject gets brought up and it gets real, we as women get shut down and out of the conversation. Your brave for that, and I respect it. I await the backlash and I'm not transphobic, I'm just being honest. Women have been through enough to get the equality we have today, and there's still progress and safety measures that are lacking immensely (And in many parts of the world, women still don't have a say, financial freedom, any freedom at all, no safety etc) I feel we're talking a huge step backwards and putting feelings over facts.

[@chloeorr9880]

Very informative video. One note: Michael Jackson suffered from Vitiligo. A condition that slowly breaks down the melanin in his skin, so he decided for aesthetic purposes to “finish the job” so his skin would be more uniform in color.

[@elissabrielle1]

In the specific instance of Arab, one can be white and Arab. The article said she discovered part of her ancestry that was, in fact, Latino, Arab, and south Asian descent. I think the difference in between the two women was that Rachel dolezal didn’t discover that she was of African descent and decided to dive into her ancestral culture practices. It seems that She chose to just say “I’m black”, change her appearance, and gain a lot of attention and money. That’s when you have to make the distinction of race vs ethnicity. Not to say that the “Raquel” girl is doing something right, but I think maybe there’s not enough information to judge the situation.

[@annieahmed4946]

“Raquel” doesn’t have any sort of ancestry from the Middle East or South Asia. The Intercept article quoted her mom saying they’re mostly Irish and a bit of Italian.

[@idi.h5460]

No actually Arabs aren’t considered white socially, they’re incorrectly placed as “white” on the census, having a percentage of a certain ethnicity doesn’t make you apart of that group, every African American today is estimated to have 10-20% of European ancestry but no one would accept them claiming that ancestry, be for real, this woman is delusional lol

[@francoisebielawski9610]

It is really interesting for me that world is sooo for changing your gender but offended with changing race. I think this topic are worth to be discussed side by side.

[@pamelaboden]

Personally, I like when people of different races reproduce. I think it's going to be the only way to truly make a society accepting of everyone. And you can still have your unique cultural differences you learned from your ancestors. I grew up on the theory that the United States was a melting pot from an early age. And I grew up in Washington DC where there truly was a mix of cultures. Not necessarily married integration but certainly social mixing. And I didn't know that anyone had a problem with that until I was much older (I'm 56 now and Lilly white, lol) But boy, when my family moved to Ohio when I was just going into my teen years the lack of acceptance of other cultures was smacked in my face. Crazy stuff. So I've lived in both worlds, and I prefer the world where we embrace our differences.

[@lordtette]

People have been of different races have been having babies. It still hasn't stopped racism, colourism, featurism, texturism.

[@allbutperfect]

It probably won't...The world will be more accepting if supremacist attitudes are eradicated and differences are preserved and embraced. It is okay to be different, we don't need to be one thing for the world to be more accepting, that would be devastating.

[@HosCreates]

I grew up in a very white northern Utah area. but my parents taught me to never be racist- my mom was almost bilingual in spanish at one point when we moved to the kansas city area my family were friends with a black family. when i learned about racism i was shocked and couldn't get my head around it. I'm trying to teach my children to be accepting of other people's cultures and skin tones.

[@pamelaboden]

@@lordtette It's gotten better in the United States. There was a time, not that long ago, when a white person could not marry a black person. And now we see so many beautiful offspring of mixed race couples. It's going to keep getting better. Gen Z is the most progressive and accepting generation we've ever had.

[@pamelaboden]

@@allbutperfect It would be devastating if we couldn't embrace that which makes us different. I'm not talking about every single race mixing in a way that old cultures are wiped away. A melting pot is made up of many cultures and those that mix their races.

[@Sheena000]

There’s been a bunch of these recently in Canada! Several university professors and some students claimed to be aboriginal Canadians to get jobs and scholarships.

[@femalesupremacistoverlord6800]

LMAO I have dego and kraut ancestry myself and I love how her mama said their family is “white as the driven snow” 😂

[@CLaw-tb5gg]

The way I look at it, how we view race is a bit like how we view colours (literal ones). We slice up the infinite hues of the rainbow into these discontinuous categories of red, blue and so on, but we're building it upon an underlying real phenomenon that we feel we have need to simplify to be able to discuss it at all. "Red" is a social construct ultimately. But nothing blue can ever be described as red, because there is actually something real underneath. Similarly, describing someone as "black" or "white" is a social construct, because quite who falls into each of those categories is something socially agreed upon - but there is an underlying biological phenomenon going on. Nobody described as "white" has the same average skin tone as someone in Kenya. It's just that the phenomenon is much, much more complex and subtle than the crass descriptors we place on it.

[@naseerahvj]

I think the idea is a poor mental health. It’s very easy and common to assimilate and integrate into a culture without claiming to be something you’re not. You can be a “white person”, and also identify with your closeness to another culture without claiming you’re something out, or denying your own true history

[@kate1618]

interesting case! in addition to the Kardashians I immediately thought about Ariana Grande, who grandually got "more tanned" over the years and flirts with being Latina (which she is not....) and clearly blackfishing. there is too little of an outcry about that whole phenomenon for me, as well

[@mcarolinarn]

The problem is that these people start speaking on issues and experiences that they have no part in. They want to be part of something that they cannot fully understand, and so their representation and embodiement of that race will always be flawed, stereotypical

[@hallievanoutryve3109]

The most lighthearted and amusing aspect of the Dolezal situation (which is certainly not lighthearted overall, ie. taking opportunities away from black ppl) was/is her braiding skills. Her hair was always on point! She made money braiding hair after she was exposed, and was still holding on to her supposed“blackness”- which made me sad for her children .

[@2ummis]

Mom is definitely the mvp 😂

[@Mixed_Activist]

So this is my area of expertise in sociology. And am doing my senior project on Transracialism to dive in and see. And in my research I’ve talked with several different people who identify as other races. One is a black man that identifies as white, one was actually Rachel Dolezal herself, and the other Martina Big and her husband. Of them all, Rachel actually seemed the most legit. Talking to her honestly we got a lot of similarities. I’m light skinned black/white mix. Born in Romania. Adopted to America, where despite being a 90s child, was called a nigger by teachers and others, and was literally segregated in my first elementary school. Despite usually looking more on the white side, the white folks outside of my family were cruel. The full black kids accepted me. So I obviously learned to identify with that side more. And when speaking with Rachel she mentioned a lot of the things I’d gone through. I think she genuinely identifies as black. The real test is if race trouble happens and you stay true to your identified race. If you don’t play your white card ever again than I’d say that legit. I know she has other legal issues but I like that she fought for Justice. Is it a bit sketchy as she was in power yes, but I truly believe her heart was there. Martina Big on the other hand is a fucking phony. She gets all these extreme alterations to her skin color and her butt and boobs in ways that are not realistic but stereotypical. With Rachel she just goes outside to tan and gets a curly weave. She doesn’t go into full out blackface. Which is also why I lean towards Rachel being legit, she does it with realism not over the top. Also the “Korean” is the palest wigga I ever seen. Why is he wearing black braids if he identifies as Asian? Pick one and stick to it. I’ve also polled people and most don’t believe in it, but do believe it’s possible under certain circumstances like interracial adoption, or who you hang around with very young or who your idols are etc. It’s certainly not like transgender, which is legit from birth, but rather occurs within the formative years in childhood, and it is fully a social construct. But if it feels anything like how I feel about not being/looking “black” enough, as that has always been my ideal beauty standard, then it truly sucks and would be proper body dysmorphia. It’s a very interesting topic. But when we can’t even talk about race itself, it’s no surprise that we can’t even begin to talk about racial identity politics.

[@rebeccaanne3083]

I have an odd story to share. Growing up as blonde, pale freckles and blue eyes with my mom and brother who have dark black hair, brown eyes and darker skin. My mom always told us growing up that her dad was First Nations and had been taken away from his family as a young boy (5) and put in a northern Alberta residential school. A huge part of my family narrative was that the reason my grandpa had been an alcoholic and abused my grandma and their kids and thus why I was abused as a kid was because of my grandpas ancestry and the racism he endured. It was also why he was illiterate and had had labour jobs his whole life. Fast forward 20 years and my brother gets a DNA test. 100% European. I was shook. I had always felt a strong affinity to Nehiyaw customs and the discussions of inter generational trauma. To be honest, I think all those things did happen to my grandpa becuase he looked Indigenous and that was what they went off of 70 years ago.

[@FunSizeSpamberguesa]

Those tests are actually really bad at identifying First Nations DNA. It's entirely possible you do in fact have First Nations ancestry. My friend's dad is half Tulalip (through his mother, so it's not like there was any potential for him to be a sneaky infidelity baby) and the DNA test he took said he was 90-something percent European, and I've known other people who are federally registered with assorted tribes who came back as supposedly not First Nations. If the database doesn't have enough samples of any given DNA group in it, it's not going recognize it.

[@enderwiggins8248]

Your vibes are immaculate, I need more scoops of video 😂

[@DionysianLovecraftian]

"White people's cultures have been watered down because of the immigration process" at around 7:30. I'm not American but I'm an ethnic German from Europe and I think this most certainly the case. I see that perhaps European and white people from America feel their cultures also have been watered down by modernity so they loose touch with it and it has been replaced by consumerism. Like some of us think we don't even have a real culture or cultures which is wrong but look what I mentioned previously.

[@anyanP]

I think there are two ways to see race. First one is more biologically based, it’s the way to distinguish groups of people based on their phenotype, genotype and ancestry. Kind of like the way we classify species or sex - there is natural variation and lines are blurry, but we can categorise it anyway. Second one is social, the way we as a society treat each other based on looks AND culture, and it doesn’t always perfectly map on those more biology-based categorisation

[@UhOhItsDorian]

I’m 1/4 Chinese and 3/4 white. I’ve always felt very close to my Chinese grandfather and connected to his heritage, and I really want to get more in touch with that culture (which he’s proud of and delighted about) but I’m always hesitating because I don’t want to be overstepping or infringing on community spaces that aren’t mine. I feel too white to “really” be Chinese but too Chinese to just be white. The last thing I want to do is behave like the fakers you’ve talked about in the video, even accidentally, and while I’m far from the most relevant demographic that racism affects, I think actions like theirs do a lot of subtle work to undermine activism and normalise cultural or racial appropriation, both blurring the line to those appropriating, and alienating the minority/minoritised groups from feeling confident in claiming and embracing the culture that is theirs by birthright.

[@prinxen1733]

*1/4 Filipino, 3/4 mostly white here. I can say go for it!! You'll always feel like you're faking being white as well if you don't claim it, so claim both sides. *Don't worry about how you appear from the outside, just be honest with who you are. *I think of it like this- you can't live without a quarter of your body (or maybe you could, but you would be extremely uncomfortable) so you shouldn't be expected to live without a quarter of your heritage *The more of us that are 1/4 and participating in both/all of our cultures, the more society will become aware of us anyway.

[@arcadecaptainYT]

We’re all brothers and sisters I just wish people would remember that more often

[@SpecialBlanket]

Anyone who blows up their kid's spot to the nation like that is mad suspect. I think abusive childhood is what's going on.

[@gingeralice3858]

Intergenerational internalized racism can cause this type of thing is what I figured. My parents are insistent on forms they are only white but pictures of their parents prove otherwise 🤔

[@gcooper642]

Michael Jackson had vitilligo and didn't want to be patchy, so embraced the less pigmented skin and blended the rest into it. That might be a good video subject. Because on the other hand we have the famous black model , Winnie Harlowe, who has embraced her vitilligo. And then there is my very pale white Mum who has obvious patches of vitilligo. I can imagine it must be different for people of different skin colours in how they accept this change in their skin, how they feel about it, how it links to their identity.

[@waji78611]

I know ur content has depth.. but lets get shallow.. youre looking so pretty masha allah .. the blue .. the glowy skin ..