Race/racism and the late Prof. Frederic G. Cassidy

[Laurence Horn]

>sThanks, guys. A really weird aspect of the American variety of racism
>is that *anyone* can become black merely by saying, "I'm black," and
>be believed, regardless of what he looks like. A case in point is the
>late, great, rhythm-&-blues musician and bandleader, Johnny Otis, born
>to Greek-American parents as Yannis Veliotis, who lived nearly his
>entire life, from the 'teens on, as a black man. Those who are fans of
>obscure jazz musicians may be aware of his son, the guitarist, Johnny,
>Jr., better known as "Shug" Otis, though I can remember when he was
>still an infant nicknamed "Sugar Boy."
>
>As my "friend," M's, blow-up - you'd have that I had asked whether it
>was true that Prof. Cassidy was pimping out his wife and daughters and
>hustling his own butt as a gay pross - demonstrated, there is
>sufficient latent racism that, basically, only an insane person or
>someone actually of black ancestry would be damned fool enough not to
>go for white, if he could, despite how things look from the other side
>of the color bar.
>
>Remember Jennifer Beals, of "Flashdance" fame? In an interview
>published in the Boston Globe, she was quoted to the effect that, were
>her father still alive, he would want her to call herself black, but
>her mother preferred the term, "mixed."
>
>While browsing through Google, I came acrosss the claim that there are
>about 7,000,000 people of multiracial ancestry and this number, which
>includes people of mixed Asian, South-Asian,  Native American, and
>Hispanic-American and European ancestry, as well as people of mixed
>African and European ancestry is growing. This is a statement that is
>beyond silly, given that there is no doubt that there have been people
>of mixed European, African. and / or Native-American ancestry since
>colonial times. The number of people of mixed European and African
>ancestry alone probably tops 7,000,000. Indeed, your humble
>correspondent, the darkest-skinned member of his own immediate family,
>descends from a white great-grandfather.
>
>BTW, Fred, have you ever seen the movie, _The Harder They Come_? If
>not, you should rent it. It'll give you a clearer picture of how race
>and skin tone work in Jamaica than the UW faculty's memorial
>resolution does.
>

and with a much better soundtrack.

LH

>On 11/1/06, Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: Race/racism and the late Prof. Frederic G. Cassidy
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>On the web I find a memorial resolution of the University of Wisconsin
>>faculty containing the following information:
>>
>>"Cassidy's interest in Creole English came naturally enough -- he was born
>>in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1907, to a Canadian father and a Jamaican mother.
>>He grew up hearing their two varieties of standard British English and the
>>Creole variety of the Black majority as well."
>>
>>I'm not certain how to interpret this, but it sounds like his mother was
>>Jamaican but not a member of the Black majority.
>>
>>Fred Shapiro
>>
>>
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>
>
>--
>Everybody says, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange
>complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-----
>Whoever has lived long enough to find out what life is knows how deep
>a debt of gratitude we owe to Adam, the first great benefactor of our
>race. He brought death into the world.
>
>--Sam Clemens
>
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