no worries: Since someone inquired.

dumbthingswhitepplsay:

eshusplayground:

athinkinganimal:

curiouslycool:

brandos:

racismschool:

brandos:

dumbthingswhitepplsay:

I say the phrase “tragick mulatto” a lot here. No, it’s not me having a problem with mixed race people as a whole.

A tragick mulatto is (generally) a person mixed with white and some non-passing PoC who either:

…

I’d have to disagree. It’s down right insensitive from the getgo for a mixed race individual, who looks what is deemed as exotic by white society, to act as if they are not deemed the acceptable POC in society. “Tragic mulatto” is a term that encompasses the problematic ideas of some “exotic looking” POC who claim their hardships surpass monoracial looking POC. I myself am deemed “exotic” and would, in no way, take offense to someone calling me on my light skinned privilege and using that term in reference to me. I don’t think we should skirt around words and phrases such as those. Of course I know that isn’t the case for others but I don’t think that POC should refrain from using offensive terms deeply rooted in racial history. The power and decision lies within each individual POC and this is the argument that I make for the slur “nigger”.

First of all, what don’t you understand about that not being the correct definition of tragic mulatto?

Secondly, just because you don’t have a problem with someone calling you something, doesn’t mean it’s not problematic. That’s just an extremely self-centered view of the world.

Thirdly, why am I even bothering with a response, because it’s clear that it is just a wasted effort.

There have been at least 2 people who brought up the idea of the “correct” definition of tragic mulatto. Something about this train of thought is rubbing me the wrong way. Maybe because there’s a sort of sly condescension going on there, wherein the reason why Riley doesn’t use the term “properly” is because they are ignorant and/or uneducated, and not because they are trying to reconstruct or re-envision language in ways that center the POC experience in a different way.

But that might just be my HBCU graduate English major over-analysis thinking.

It’s not even particularly incorrect! It’s just not the precise literary usage. It’s people who ACT like the literary version despite their privilege.

I just don’t even.

Yeah, I didn’t get how it was incorrect, either. Just because it’s not the absolute literary definition doesn’t mean the term was used incorrectly. Just glancing through this thread, it looks like people are just slathering on the condescension to derail.

^Reading my mind. When one embodies a literary trope in your actual life the literary definition no longer fully applies. A real life definition is then made to fit what you are enacting. How is this hard to understand?

(Source: crackerhell)