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Colored kids aren't beautiful unless mixed with white?

Posted by James, 27 Aug

Recently, the NewYork Times blog explored “The Multiracial Beauty Complex”. And according to a comment from MiasAwesome, she says: "I think when people state how 'beautiful' or 'pretty' mixed children are they are acting with the best intentions however it perpetuate a stereotype that black children are not pretty unless they are mixed with white."

There has always been this fixation with mixed race individuals. It’s like people always feel the need to play the “Guess-what-race” game; it’s like people feel the need to make remarks constantly. Is it because it’s a face they can’t racially pin down? Are the remarks made out of ignorance, curiosity or just being uncomfortable? The thing I have realized is that people tend to get superficial. Remarks like “You look so exotic” or “Mixed race kids are so beautiful” tend to come up.

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In her article "Mixed Kids Are Always So Beautiful.", Nicole Soojung Callahan, talks about the experiences of having mixed race kids. “Korean, Irish and Lebanese is such a unique combination,” said a friend of hers about her eldest daughter. “She’s like a poster baby for the U.N.!” Some people have asked her if she has ever considered having her girls as models. A friend went to the extent of listing her 5-year-old’s assets: "wavy brown hair, light coloring and, of course, double eyelids." Callahan points out that the friend only mentions "...her more stereotypically Western features, the ones associated with her white half." She continues: "We’ve heard similar compliments from others who, for whatever reason, seem enthralled by our children’s “ambiguously ethnic” looks: just a shade “exotic,” thanks to me, but lightened – and whitened – by their father’s genes."

When it comes to talking about how beautiful her kids are and people trying to wonder what they really are, they only mention their white-looking features: light hair or rounder eyes… kinda like saying: They don’t look Korean.

“It is so painful to imagine my daughters ever wishing away their Korean heritage as I once did. I don’t want them to believe it is their white half that makes them attractive…”

Is the white in mixed race kids what makes people say they are beautiful? Why do you think people feel the need to comment on how they look?

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29 responses to "Colored kids aren't beautiful unless mixed with white?"

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  1.   prettygirl46 says:
    Posted: 21 Feb 14

    In High School I went through this phase where I wanted to have blue eyes. I mentioned to a few of my friends that I wondered what I would look like if I had blue eyes, and one of them actually laughed and said,"Huh that would look funny." As if to say no black person should have blue eyes unless they are half white. I was totally insulted by her ignorant comment. But as I got older I grew to learned that others would appreciate my beauty and my brown eyes. She was just jealous cause she was tall had long hair and looked like a dike.

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  2.   Authorgirl says:
    Posted: 19 Dec 13

    Sigh... what a trite thought! That is not what they are saying. I think people are expressing something other than the basic " this child is pretty" the very act of them, the very fact of them is "beautiful" by those that know some people view them as different.

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  3.   GoldieChina says:
    Posted: 29 Sep 13

    i am mixed mom is rican and italian dad is black and asian and idk . i embrace it all

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  4.   MsNicole18 says:
    Posted: 13 Sep 13

    I am mixed.. My mom is white and my dads black. I don't feel that my "white half" makes me feel prettier. I feel both do because I have a nice complexion from the two mixes , nice brown curly hair, and brown eyes which none of that would of been possible without my Farthers side. Regardless what color you are, your beautiful! :-)

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  5.   goldwater says:
    Posted: 09 Sep 13

    Whether black, brown, pink, white, mixed all are beautiful.

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  6.   1blackangel says:
    Posted: 07 Sep 13

    deragotory, & racist. I'm Black & very, very, beautiful; so are many of us. That may be what some Black men say, but look at their status as a whole, so what they got to say?

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    • arlandf says:
      Posted: 08 Sep 13

      Well the person that made that article isn't a black man, it was an Asian woman. An Asian woman wrote this and you chose to put it on black men, pathetic. As for status, black women isn't looking good either status wise either.

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  7.   Agirlygirl says:
    Posted: 02 Sep 13

    Can anyone tell me where the "well-loved" comment comes from? It is next to dislike or like. Thank you :).

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    • dont_know says:
      Posted: 03 Sep 13

      I believe "well-loved" simply accompanies any comment or reply with rating of 4 or more or perhaps even as little as +3, automatically. :)

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      • dave_74 says:
        Posted: 03 Sep 13

        I think it's more like a percentage of likes to dislikes, not just the number of likes. For example I have seen some comments with around 17 likes "Hidden due to low rating" because they have around 50 dislikes. But I'm sure the automatically part happens somewhere along whether it becomes a "well-loved" or "Hidden"

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  8.   dont_know says:
    Posted: 02 Sep 13

    What a ridiculous headline?! It has nothing to do with "white" - that's just a cheap provocative headline. First of all, I don't believe in "race" we are, and always have been one race. The concept of race is just that, a concept of feeble minds. But the truth is that mixed "race" children are more beautiful because that's God's intention for us to be the most we can be. Consider that God programmed us to mate with a partner that is most divergent from ourself. You've heard of "blue bloods" and other unfortunate consequences of fearful, xenophobic inbreeders? Well maybe you need to understand the science behind God's plan for us to date "outside our race" As recently as 1995, an experiment was done where men of all different "races" wore a shirt for two days and then women of all different "races" were asked to smell the shirts to determine which were the "sexiest" the ones that most activated their God-given urges to mate and produce offspring. TO A ONE, THEY ALL PICKED A MATE FURTHEST FROM THEMSELVES, NATURALLY! See this brief description of the study: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Wedekind Bottom line: MIXED CHILDREN ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL, STRONGER AND MORE INTELLIGENT IN EVERY WAY! We know this intrinsically, which is why we recognize it instantly and mention it. Anything other is just learned fear and hatred that prevents us from following our natural tendencies and god's plan. But then, isn't it, and hasn't it always been, fear that prevents humans from following God's plan?

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  9.   balfour says:
    Posted: 01 Sep 13

    Mixed race kids are beautiful because beauty traits from BOTH races are necessary , not just from the white race. There are plenty of ugly white people out there and plenty of beautiful black people also. People need to learn what true beauty is both outward physical beauty and internal beauty and embody values, not a race, color or heritage

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  10.   Agirlygirl says:
    Posted: 31 Aug 13

    Colored.....we are all colored. Just look in a box of crayons. Last time I looked, there was brown, black, red, yellow, beige, and white crayons. How foolish to headline a story with "colored" children. People are people and thank God we have something different to look at throughout the day, on television, on film. All children are beautiful in their own way. I am a dark person and I love me and think I look pretty darn good. My color has never stopped me from anything. The darker the skin, the smoother it is, the less wrinkles it has. Go see The Butler and get an education. "Colored" folks as you say made this country of ours what it is today, a real backbone so don't get it twisted. And the land of America was taken from whom......the Indians as some would call red, by whom.... hmmmm. So shutup or put up. Can't we all just get along and play nice in this big world of a sandbox. Most of us will end up sharing the dirt six feet under anyway.

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  11.   Chris2ann says:
    Posted: 31 Aug 13

    When will this black,white, purple, pink, brown,orange thing end?Colour co-ordination is fine with me, especially with human beings. This might be hard to take in but most of us black folks think the white man owes us some life changing apology when even if some of them are still dumb enough to repeat the mistakes if the idiots who treated "people" like animals, but we all need to let it go already . I don't know about you but I love all race, fast or slow ..... Lol. On a more serious note... Why can't we all just get along?

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  12.   Phoebe40 says:
    Posted: 30 Aug 13

    I like kids mixed they look so beautiful always.

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    • sxybrwnsuga says:
      Posted: 02 Sep 13

      That's so not true. I have seen many mixed kids that were ugly.

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    • honeyluv77 says:
      Posted: 16 Sep 13

      Speak for yourself. You obviously are insecure about the color of your skin to make such a dumb comment. I have 4 children, 2 are dark and 2 are light like me but guess what? My oldest was the darkest of them all and also the most beautiful. The Guineas Book of World Records holds a woman as black as coal as the most beautiful w. Yoo

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      • dave_74 says:
        Posted: 20 Sep 13

        @Honeyluv77, Good for you! I am glad that you are embracing the darker spectrum of beauty, we should all do so! but lets not forget the lighter ones nor anyone for that matter(especially if they are your own offspring) as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. That said while I doubt the validity of a Guiness book of World Records for a women as black as coal as being the most beautiful.(or anyone else for that matter) , I acknowledge a fairly recent Miss World/ Universe being African as well as Alek Wek, my personal favorite super model from Sudan who is like you said as black as coal and is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

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  13.   DefArticle says:
    Posted: 30 Aug 13

    Sorry, but we will all be once race eventually. If the planet exists long enough. Funny thing I have noticed over my tiny life span, is that ugly parents have beautiful children! Anyone is beautiful, its all in your perspective. I think that black woman underestimate how beautiful they are. Just sayin.

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  14.   jimtwobees says:
    Posted: 30 Aug 13

    I have been fortunate enough to have visited forty-eight different countries and I can assure everyone - - children are beautiful, whatever their race or origin. And, I never had to travel out of the state of my birth [California] to know that women are beautiful no matter the nuances of skin color, hair texture or shape of their eyes. I don't understand why we get so spun up over the ignorant (sometimes innocent) remarks of other people. Perhaps an hypersensitivity to "all" things racial will continue to breed extreme response and continually build upon, propagate and self-perpetuate the lies of "racial superiority" and "racial inferiority". Maybe...just maybe...we should accept a compliment in the spirit of a people who have a deep respect, reverence and appreciation of the beauty reflected in being "not the same as everybody else". Then perhaps we could finally put to rest the race-baiting politics, practices and belief systems of "you don't look like me". Ladies...from the darkest chocolate to the lightest cream and every color inbetween, from the most oval to the roundest eye, from the straight to the curliest hair...You are all beautiful. Husbands, fathers and brothers - - tell the women in your lives EVERY DAY just how beautiful they really are. The earth trembles at a woman who is unloved.

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  15.   dave_74 says:
    Posted: 29 Aug 13

    It's both halves , both parents that are responsible for the looks of their children. While I hate to think that anyone today would date, marry inter-racially and have children because of "shame of their heritage" and/or ethnic traits. If you marry inter racially, your kids will be mixed with a combination of both of your traits. If those combinations are rare and/or you are blessed enough to have beautiful children chances are someone is going to compliment that. Some people may compliment more on the genetic side of one parent and less of the other. What are you to do? Well as a person , you need to respect yourself and your ethnicity/heritage , even if you dislike it the fact that you are in an IR relationship means that at least one person the one closest to you appreciates your heritage. As a parent, you should instill the pride of the heritage of both parents into your children.

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    • rooferdog says:
      Posted: 24 Feb 14

      I WAS MARRIED TO BEAUTIFUL DARKSKIN WOMAN SHE RECENTLY PASSED JULY 1 2011 WE WERE TOGETHER FOR 35YRS MARRIED FOR 26YRS 4 BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN SHE WAS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE 2 BOYS AND 2 GIRLS TO BAD SHE DID NOT LIVE TO HEAR JOHN LEGEND ALL OF ME

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  16.   arlandf says:
    Posted: 28 Aug 13

    James, I am really disappointed on this thread. I would expect Christelyn Karazin to write this. This is what cause people to be color struck. People of color, especially women are the ones battling with insecurity issues because they are told through the media, friends, and family that they are not beautiful enough because they are not white or have white in them. This sends a dangerous message. I believe that people are beautiful no matter what color they are. There are some pure Africans, Asians, Indians that can beat out white any day in the looks department. My things for people dating white, especially if you are African, black, what ever you call yourself must not buy into the agenda of white supremacy. White is not always better, no offense.

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    • sxybrwnsuga says:
      Posted: 02 Sep 13

      Maybe this is true of the black women you know but I love my skin color and my blackness. If anything it's the black man that is shameful of his blackness because they date & marry non black women more so thanthe black womn. So your theory is wrong!!!

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      • arlandf says:
        Posted: 04 Sep 13

        I didn't say this to bash black women. This is actually fact about women on color. When I say women of color, I mean African, Asian, and Indian. I didn't say Latino/Hispanic because they can fall between black, white or they can just put other. Women of color battle with insecurities because they are told through the media, through family, through friends that they are not beautiful because they are not white or have white in them. Because they internalize their insecurity, they would go out of their way to look more European like bleach their skin, get these nose and lip jobs, or pay top dollars for hair that don't look like theirs. This is the dangerous message that is being sent. Also, black men marrying other races of women don't have insecurity issues, however that is another topic.

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        • sxybrwnsuga says:
          Posted: 06 Sep 13

          You put down black women to justify your own insecurities. This is why you couldn't pay me to date or marry a black man. You say we have insecurities but don't think you have any lol. We know that's a lie.

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          • arlandf says:
            Posted: 08 Sep 13

            Now you are arguing for the sake of it. I am much offended by this thread like other that disagree with the post. I wondering if any Asian or Indian women is offended by what I said because I was talking about them too. My point is just because a person is white or mixed with white doesn't means that they are beautiful or better than people who are African, Asian, or dark Indian or Arab. When people say stuff like this, it makes people feel insecure about themselves. Because women of color (African, Indian, Asian, and Arab) are judged by beauty, this causes them to internalize their insecurities of their beauty. They feel that in order to look good, I must look more European than their regular self. Just like men of color, especially black men, internalizes things like they are no good, criminals, or gay because this is what they been told through the media, family, and friends. Because of this, they feel that they have to be extra good so people can accept them. That is dangerous because, if they make one mistake, they will internalize their failure. I don't feel this way, however this doesn't deny the fact that these stereotypes exist and people internalize these things. Like I said, this isn't bashing, this is true fact. If it don't apply to you, don't worry about it.

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  17.   Prettyblonde says:
    Posted: 27 Aug 13

    All children are beautiful regardless of the race of their parents.

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