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Topic subjectSorry about that, you're right. I definitely stopped short.
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=18&topic_id=208012&mesg_id=208465
208465, Sorry about that, you're right. I definitely stopped short.
Posted by kfine, Sun Jun-21-15 08:31 AM
I don't believe that one's racial identity would dissolve in a racially homogenous society. I place substantial weight on how a person identifies out of respect, but not to the point of rendering biological indicators of race and imposed classifications negligible. I think waking up everyday and looking down at one's body reaffirms ones racial identity, looking in the mirror at one's skin tone, hair texture, nose, eyes, performing certain grooming practices, etc.

I also think that, in many cases, racially homogenous societies can place even greater weight on physical features than would typically be observed in multiracial ones. Divisions are not restricted to ethnicity. For example in many African, Asian and Latin-American societies colorism is alive and well even intra-ethnically, influencing things like marriage, social mobility, and discrimination.

I asked the 'feeling black' question because as I worked my way through your perspective, I realized that I don't think I would place 'feeling black' as an entirely individual experience. I do agree with you that it is context-dependent, but to me this means that the individual would not be alone in experiencing the effects since context is shaped by current and historical political, cultural and socio-economic factors. That 'feeling black' could change depending on what environment the person of black race is in indicates, to me at least, that it is a feeling that could be shared with other blacks that fit the same 'profile' (so to speak), not that it would erode. Similarly, I think 'feeling black' may change if the person's 'profile' changed (eg. a traveling student vs. a wealthy Head of State). I would consider this to be true whether the environment is racially homogenous or multiracial.

We seem to have concordant views on ethnicity though.