In France they love them some black women. And they are all convinced that I must mixed. Not because I am or because there is something ostensibly P.R. about me.
Academically I know that mulatre/mulatresse, cuarteronne, griffe were all 18th and 19th century outre-mer terms (colonial, department, French empire--basically anything not "metropole" specific although they were applied to people of color who lived in and migrated to France in the same years) used to describe people of African descent and the various mixtures.
And academically I know that those mixtures came with certain privileges and semi-corporate benefits: higher rank in colonial militias, sexual stereotypes, free status and the opportunity to accumulate wealth in property, slaves, goods.
And I know French people all tout the "we are one race" assimilation bit on the surface and then used and still use these gradations to full discriminate the next (a contradiction that isn't going to make much sense to one-drop Anglophones. And it is all a very crafty lie...kinda like our A.O. post-racial society? Yeah.)
But it is still interesting to be in a place where if you are lighter than average (average being dark African, at least in Aix) you are immediately marked as mixed=métis.....
...with all of the accompanying mating rituals (See #7)...
...which amuses me further because didn't I write a post about a year ago about the hyper-excited-foolishness that rains down on my big bootie after certain mainstream-minded black men find out I'm half Puerto Rican? Because clearly being "just black" wasn't enough to capture their attention.
This above applies exclusively to white men. The African men aren't bothered with the métis thing. They just like what they see and aren't afraid to holla. And the white (French) women here have not given me the time of day yet.
The Closet House
4 years ago
2 comments:
"But it is still interesting to be in a place where if you are lighter than average (average being dark African, at least in Aix) you are immediately marked as mixed=métis....."
What's even more interesting is that everyone who is lighter than dark African (and even a lot of people who are dark) ARE mixed. Just in America we don't recognize the mixes we have in us because one drop of black blood makes you black. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but the same way you think their way of thinking is interesting, I'm sure the whole rest of the world thinks the same about us. For example in most countries all of the "black" women in the white house wouldn't even be considered black because they're so light-skinned (which may or may not indicate a large percentage of their make-up is not African).
Can't wait to have these talks in person!!!
u know... Kismet... have so much to say... And Ive had this conversation at least 5 times in the past 3 days... that I cant even comment coherently... (Thats a norm... but whatever.. :))
I just have a couple of questions...
why is it so often everything but black?
how can we find the balance... recognizing our different cultures but still acknowledging the physical race?
Why is it that when it comes to race, religion, culture, and heritage... complexity becomes a Bad thing???
When will the scholarship completed on the history of African heritage, culture and lineage step up and actually evaluate the race issue... Cause the Hutus and the Tutsis identify themselves as different races?
When will it actually come of value? And when will the world stop running from Africa... and stop creating with it means to be African?
Will Africa ever be considered a Continent?
Africans are in all colors... Surprise!!!
Africans have mixed heritages too... Another Surprise!!!
Oh and they also have a complex history... Surprise #3.
Again... I apologize for the incoherent commentary... But I will have to blog about the comments I heard while travelling this past week.... HOT MESS!
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