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    AssFault on the Highway to HellJason Parham
    6/12/15 11:48am

    If there was a quiz like that for gender though?

    Ugh, this whole situation is making my head spin. My mind is completely incapable of passing judgment, and I’m inclined to believe that’s ok based on my moral compass always pointing to “don’t judge.”

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      The Alvin Greene DreamAssFault on the Highway to Hell
      6/12/15 11:50am

      Ethnic heritage is a geneaological fact. Gender is a psycho-social construction. I don’t get why people are having such a hard time with this. There is no contradiction.

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      Ginger Is A ConstructAssFault on the Highway to Hell
      6/12/15 11:52am

      Sex is biological, gender is cultural.

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    gramercypoliceJason Parham
    6/12/15 12:02pm

    I’ve never encountered this kind of identity assertion (that I know of, maybe I have and I was just too naive to recognize it and just took everyone’s word for it). But on some of my other social media apps I see comments and posts from several black bloggers who say they’ve seen this kind of thing before, especially in the activist community. Most of the time they say they just let the person stumble their way into revealing their true ancestry and then gave them some shit about it but let it go after that, and sometimes stayed friends or colleagues with the person in question. They just think of it as an identity crisis or a need for a certain type of attention. Of course, most of the people in question were not the public face of an NAACP chapter, either.

    I just wonder, is this something other people have encountered with any frequency at all? Conversely, is this really so rare and unheard of that it warrants so much attention (not talking about Gawker here specifically, but across the Internet in general)? Or is it mostly a matter of her being caught on-camera, fumbling for an answer, when if it happened in private, among people who knew her personally, it probably wouldn’t have been blown up like this?

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      LadyDiegramercypolice
      6/12/15 12:46pm

      I’ve encountered a pathological liar, although not to the level of lying about her race. She seemed to really need the attention and to need people around her to think she was interesting, loved, and sometimes persecuted. People could tell really fast that she was full of shit but no one would call her on it - we would either avoid her or humor her. I think no one wanted to step into the shitpile that was her neurosis.

      So I can see what you write of happening.

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      ThrumbolioLadyDie
      6/12/15 12:49pm

      I think no one wanted to step into the shitpile that was her neurosis.

      Yep, this. I’ve known two people so afflicted, and “smile and nod” is usually the correct reponse, give or take the occasional “Word, man.”

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    opiumsmabytchJason Parham
    6/12/15 11:52am

    Twin sisters:

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/03/liv…

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      whatseriouslywhatopiumsmabytch
      6/12/15 11:58am

      Maury had several of these types of twins on his show over the years and they were always really good looking people. It seems to be part of it, lol

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      alphashadowopiumsmabytch
      6/12/15 11:59am

      Yeah, but they’re not lying though. The point is she’s been lying, not that she could/could not possibly be black.

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    2DollarzJason Parham
    6/12/15 11:47am

    Does Black Irish count?

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      eggplantcalzonezone2Dollarz
      6/12/15 11:49am

      no

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      whatseriouslywhat2Dollarz
      6/12/15 11:50am

      Not unless you’re the dude from Thin Lizzy.

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    The Alvin Greene DreamJason Parham
    6/12/15 11:47am

    Maeby.

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      JonezBeechyThe Alvin Greene Dream
      6/12/15 12:12pm

      Was Maeby adopted? I always had a hard time believing her parents were the super super white chick and the super super white dumbass.

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      MuscatoJonezBeechy
      6/12/15 12:18pm

      Was Maeby adopted? I always had a hard time believing her parents were the super super white chick and the super super white dumbass.

      She’s probably a dead ringer for Lucille at the same age, before the bitterness, vodka, and cosmetic work...

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    deathvalleyqueenJason Parham
    6/12/15 11:52am

    My boyfriend is a mixed-race South African. And, he’s been texting me today that he’s getting “Are you sure you’re black? I mean, really sure?” comments all morning. One of the other doctors, who is also black, apparently rubbed his cheek and said, “Your self-tanner is excellent.” He’s no longer amused.

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      alphashadowdeathvalleyqueen
      6/12/15 12:02pm

      We get it, you have a cool black doctor boyfriend, you don’t have to brag about it.

      (I kid, I kid. Actually I’ve gotten that a little bit myself this morning, and I’m not even lightskinned).

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      BaggyTrousers3deathvalleyqueen
      6/12/15 12:03pm

      Yeah, they should probably lay off that shit. It’s funny the first time only. Maybe not even then...

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    Miss Chanandler BongJason Parham
    6/12/15 12:06pm

    This is me. I am black. Blonde haired, freckled me has TWO black parents. I’ve also had a lifetime of “are you black,” sometimes offensive and sometimes not.

    Thanks to this lady I have a feeling that for the rest of this news cycle I’m going to get even MORE thinly veiled skepticism when people ask me what I am :-/

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      ThrumbolioMiss Chanandler Bong
      6/12/15 12:52pm

      I’m going to get even MORE thinly veiled skepticism when people ask me what I am

      “A person. Got legs n’ arms n’ everything. It’s pretty awesome.”

      Joking aside, I get you. That’d irritate me, particularly since I hate small talk (as well as, in this case, personal questions that some categorize as small talk).

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      Miss Chanandler BongThrumbolio
      6/12/15 1:00pm

      Small talk is the worst. And it’s super galling to get the “C’mon, you know what I mean!” when I respond like you mentioned above, or play dumb to mess with them. I get treated like a wiseacre when they’re asking the invasive questions!

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    stacyinbeanJason Parham
    6/12/15 11:51am

    Why do the real black people get a picture of the President + fam and the rest of us just get this liar pants face? The world is SO UNFAIR GUYS.

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      ComeAtMeHostacyinbean
      6/12/15 12:41pm

      Somebody had to say it -

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      topaztoaststacyinbean
      6/12/15 12:58pm

      Let’s focus on how hard white people have it. It’s about time someone did that, right?

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    ThrumbolioJason Parham
    6/12/15 11:49am

    Well, racial identity is just...like...a thing, man.

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      ThrumbolioThrumbolio
      6/12/15 11:50am

      Though to answer the question, in accordance with the ever-changing and label-centric (because of course it is) parlance of our times, I’m a Herculoid Male Vanilla Thundarian.

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      The KinkslayerThrumbolio
      6/12/15 11:52am

      Well, that’s just like your opinion man.

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    stuckonrewindJason Parham
    6/12/15 1:35pm

    Ok. Let me ask this here because I am struggling. My 6-year-old has been identifying people by skin color: tan skin, blonde skin (to her it’s a thing), brown skin. She says this with the same interest she would say “pink shirt” as nothing other than a way to let me know who she is talking about if she doesn’t know someone’s name. She doesn’t have an idea that race is an issue. She sees skin color as cool and something beautiful. But she sometimes talks loudly about it in public - like when she was super excited about her new dance class and the “brown skin teacher who has awesome hair!” But I get dirty looks from all factions of society - only I don’t want to necessarily teach her any different - why does she need to know anything other? She isn’t saying anything mean or bad - she is describing people the way she would describe herself - and the way she does describe herself. Am I wrong? Do I need to tell her differently? Other than learning inside voice, which is a constant struggle.

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      theangryeaglestuckonrewind
      6/12/15 1:39pm

      Fuck those people. Let your 6 year old have a couple years before she discovers the shit show that is American racial and identity politics. If people can’t accept a kid being a kid they should just fuck right off.

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      stuckonrewindtheangryeagle
      6/12/15 2:14pm

      That’s kind of how I feel, too. She also doesn’t care about gender politics, so isn’t this all GOOD? Aren’t we moving in the right direction?

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