Brown Sista

Everyone is talking about the interview from All Hip Hop but glossed over her ignorance and chose to only focus on her comments about her being able to sing better than Beyonce. I think her most telling thoughts are when she brings up the issue of color as if to say she is somehow above Beyonce because she feels she is lighter and has naturally blond hair. Now that I know her mama is White I can see why she felt the need to go there and though she tried to clean up her ish at the end I agree with your title, she ain’t no soul sista.

She said her mother called her and her brother n–gga so many times they thought that was their name. Her mother said n–igga meant ignorant so why not just call them ignorant rather than a word associated with so much negativity? No wonder Keke is crazy in the head. According to that interview her mammy was looney too.

I didn’t read the whole article but so far she sounds like a N-gga.

she is one of the most ignorant black celebrities. She needs a rep. she should no longer be able to talk for herself. I nkow year olds smater than her.

p.s sing better than beyonce . shes a

can we please love ourselves no matter what shade of black we are?

Prior to reading this article, and still now, I would agree that KeKe Wyatt is a better singer than Beyonce. HOWEVER, she don’t hold a candle to Beyonce’s stage presence and “It” factor, and I ain’t even a fan like that. Furthermore, the way she’s talking about being lighter and have light hair and the curvy body, makes her sound jealous of Bey. Also, I am sad to learn that she is so ignorant because previously I had liked her, and y’all are right, she ain’t no soul sister. And I too am tired of biracials hollaring about NOT being black. Do not say that you are NOT black, because you are black (in addition to maybe a few other things, but aint we all). Heck Black people are the only ones that will embrace you for being black; you won’t hear a Caucasian call you white, now will you? Embrace the blackness y’all, all of our shades are curl patterns. Furthermore, even though she says her best friends are Black Black Black, and she had kids with a black man to make black children, she contradicts herself and you understand how she really feels about us dark-skinned, wide nosed, kinky head-ed types, because she says “they can’t help it…” As if being dark-skinned, wide nosed, or kinky head-ed is less beautiful than her mixed, light self. I hope she and the other light skin, so-called good hair folks get a clue that they’re no beautiful than the rest because they may have “whiter” features. Black is beautiful.

I got linked to this site after reading Keke’s article in Essence. I honestly feel sorry for her and a lot of her type, who while proclaiming their love of their “partial” blackness and black people further display their ignorance and arrogance by listing the perceived negative physical attributes that go along with being black. Keke sweety if you can read(and I doubt you can) I pray that you can and will come across these comments. You are not to be blamed for your ignorance as you are clearly COUNTRY in the worst possible way. When will blacks stop glorifying light skin and long hair. Maybe when weaves, bleaching cremes, colored contact lenses are discontinued and hooking up with a light skinned brotha or sista with “good hair” so their kids can look mixed is forbidden which would be NEVER. Its sad but we all perpetrate what our future generations will carry as their belief system. Teach our kids to respect our differences now so that another ignorant KEKE Wyatt while blessed with musical talent wont get the chance to be yet another embarassment to our race.

ok. she didn’t speak anything other than the truth. black people feel that being mixed is superior, why else are people like beyonce and rihanna musical royalty while equaly talented kelly rowland and kelly price overlooked like last week’s stale pizza? i remember kelly being interviewed in essence saying that she came to terms with her dark beautiful skin and is loving it, and all you guys focused on was the fact that she used to wish she was lighter when she was younger. we get upset when someone dare speaks how WE personally feel. i love the fact that keke or whatever the hell her name is, is as politically incorrect as she is. personally i am tired of the fakeness of us blacks. we hate on a mixed person for now reason and try to tell them that they aren’t black enough, and hate on an educated black saying they are trying to be white. sheer ignorance. you know who made up the one drop rule? racist and supremecist whites who were hell bent on dividing and conquering and remaining “pure”. keke embraces all races but who are we to say she is black, white, or indian when she can identify with all three? she’s keke! and she obviously loves black people because she stated she wanted her children to be black, not because she wanted to “make nice”. get out of the gutter people! you guys can’t see past the things you think are racial bashing to see she is encouraging young people to embrace diversity, get educated, and be themselves. i think her problem was that she wasn’t very educated herself to begin with so she doesn’t know how to articulate herself very well. and as for her singing better than bee, yeah she does! but as someone said earlier, bee has more polish and stage presence than keke. am i think we should either drop the double standard with the n-word or cut it out all together. we as blacks need to examine ourselves and our insecurities before attacking someone else who speaks candidly about things we would rather bury under the rug. this woman obviously loves herself for all that she is, maybe us women and men of all races and ethnicities need to follow suit. thanks and have a nice day, and please take the time to read and assimilate my comment before you attack!

With Nameless…

She damn sure was not educated enough as a child by her own mother, that tells alot about her. I remember when I was younger watching the movie “Roots” in School.

I won’t stoop down to this average-looking ignorant b***** level, because what I would say might have me kicked off.

What’s going on here first Polow this heifer? We got to do better.

I am going to go out on a limb as a first time commenter on this site and add my two cents for what its worth.

I have never heard of KeKe Wyatt until this article. Some of the things that she said were laughable but in the end she spoke her own truth (and don’t we all). I have to agree with the person who’s post remained nameless. In my opinion we are too quick to attack people for being open about their race/ethnic background. That makes us no better than the racists when we in turn try to force a label upon someone (i.e., calling KeKe black). Taking KeKe’s comment about her dad’s racial background at face value and not going into US history just yet, he is half black and half Indian and her mom is caucasian so that does in fact make her 25% black. Where is the crime in that she identified herself in that manner? It’s the truth simply put. Many people (not just blacks) are of mixed heritage when you delve into their family history however, if it is not immediate (i.e., your mother and your father) some choose not to go into details about their background unless questioned.

Not allowing people to identify in the way that they see fit when they are of mixed race seems to me like racism upon racism upon racism. Remember there are more boxes to check for race than ever before and we have the freedom to choose “other” if we want.

Before complaining about her having a complex of superiority you should wake the **** up and smell the coffee
And how about we change this web’s name to Ligth sister? because if she would have “dissed” kelly rowland no one would bother to answer and make all of this drama but when she talks about beyonce there goes the slave mentality “Ligth is rigth” So automatically you feel dissed Give me a break
She does sing better then beyonce if she turnes to bee’s style of music she could easily compete with her because homegirl is gettng old Hell Litlle can’t sing rihanna is competition to her watcha talking about ???? Get a diet pepsi max and breathe alrigth

Second:Since its the first interview i read from her i can’t prononce myself but Like someone said its the way she been raised her mother is white so she migth have taught her that white,ligth skin is superior but **** Even today black people are perpetuating [(======= Spellcheck ] this idea don’t be mad at her she is just saying out loud what everybody think deep down i bet even beyonce feel superior to her dark skinned camarades at least keke is saying it out loud and we know what to expect from her and we know wassup

All I can say is I have gained insight by reading and trying to understand everyone’s comments but I guess at the end of the day (and being a 30something woman) it took a while but I have learned to shrug off things that do not directly effect me. The next president of the US will effect me not KeKe Wyatt and her views on being black (or not). It’s always interesting to read another’s point of view on race among other things. One thing will never change; we are a nation who becomes passionate, angry, excited, etc. when discussing race. My family is so mixed and we truly live as such. I feel very blessed in hindsight to have grown up like that. There were no subliminal teachings about race or shades of black. No one was ever made to feel better than the other so in turn no one acted as if they were better than the other. My sister is the lightest light with green eyes because our grandfather was half Irish and I am of a medium brown complexion. We never viewed one another as superior or inferior. We didn’t live in a bubble but it was purely leading by example. My friends whom I have known for over 20 years are all of different racial backgrounds. It gives me a better understanding of the world and other peoples feelings. No one can speak for an entire race. It’s all about the individual experience and trying to understand one another.

lol! thanks to all the people who took time to read my post or delve into the issue at hand instead of making it about beyonce. and really who is to say that keke shouldn’t be upset at being forced to define herself as black? who gives a man to right to define another? you define yourself, and this girl obviously has a love for all races! take time to READ her interview!

I’m not even tripping off of her talking about her skin color and all that. I’m trippin off the fact that she wants me to believe that she is 25 Years old. lol Yeah right and I’m an infant!

Yes i think so and the simple minded in this entire matter is half of this website
If that woman would have said that she sings better then kelly wich is true yall wouldnt be worked up like you are rigth now
i’m just saying the truth and dont your *** tell me where to go or not okay? you dont know me breathe and pass
I remenber an article saying “should beyonce be punish for being a pretty ligth skin girl”
That already spell “ligth is superiority” to me

Second:Yeah i’ll be jealous if i was prettier [YES SHE GORGEOUS ](compare to beyonce 32 years old washed up face) sang better
then a girl that gets all the atention for being the first official video Heiffa i’ll be hatin because the ho placed the bar so low that i need to imitate her to be successful
and take the risk to be called a “wannabe” she is rigth to be mad say she dont sing better then beyonce
Give me a mofo break

Third: altough like i said some part of the interview didnt make sens to me (beyonce’s interview are dumb and boring) she just saying it out loud and since she did we all know wassup
intead of being hypocrite whit a fake smile talking about “maybe i’m ligth skin that’s why pople hate on me” that statement is not more ignorant than keke’s

Fourth and final: Yeak keke is not 26 beyonce aint neither but do we complain? no! So shut it up and stop crying

Sit around trying to act like she is the only ligth skin woman that feel superior because of her white features You gotta be drunk or some
Tchrr heifas

It is so sad that some black people still feel superior because of their mixed heritage. Even though I am not a fan of Beyonce, mostly because of her professional ethics, she is and will always be one of the most beautiful(with or without make-up) women in the world. Keke does seem to be jealous and ignornant. I’m sure she was raise to think that she is prettier than an all black girl because of her white mother and heritage. It probably makes her sick to her stomach that someone like Beyonce who has a black mother and a black(darkskinned) father could be considered and seen has more beautiful than her.

Just a FYI, I live in Phoenix, Az and there are a lot of unattractive biracial people living in this city. Being biracial don’t automatically make you cute.

Not even gonna address the issue, but do want to say that most of you have made valid points.

A question though: Back in the day, were women singers (on the verge of coming out with a new record) always so catty and petty to say the type things Keke has said here? I mean, is THIS how you generate news about yourself, so that fans will welcome you back into the fold? Ridiculous! Sad. Shake my head at this. I’ve commented elsewhere, but all I said has been said here by most of you. No need to be redundant. She should just chill…let her music speak for itself.

Creole = a person of french descent = Beyonce’s maternal grandmother (named for House of Dereon).

As I mentioned in a previous post many of us who are writing in are “mixed” but most of us choose not to advertise it unless it is directly our mother or father who is of a different race and if someone asks us about it.

I think that most of us know that society judges who we are based on perception (skin color). Unless you’re part of a celebrity’s inner circle/family OR have read a personal interview with them discussing their background then how would any of us know who is of mixed descent and who cares?! Why are we always trying to box people into a category? And why do we want to call these people liars if that is what they claim to be? Tracy Ross identifies with her black mother and her Jewish father and no one ever picks on her. She is of mixed descent. I love her. No one has a right to tell these people to pick a color. That is being racist in itself.
They have the right to embrace all sides even if they look as black as a crayon. Who cares!? And why does it effect some people to such anger?

I think we’re all trying to prove a point. What’s with all of the profanity and anger? can’t we express ourselves without it? And people wonder why we’re judged.

It’s come the day when people are no longer afraid to talk about that ancestry, in it’s totality - even if the general public views it in conflict with how the person is perceived or known to identify racially. I applaud her for doing so and for embracing every bit of who she is. That’s what you call self love; and the fact that she’s PROUD to be Black as well, her family included - mom, dad and all. No other culture or identity would produce such a talent and perspective. It’s raw and genuine. Keke Wyatt should ATLEAST be appreciated for being a genuine force/influence within Black music. It’s all her.

It should be recognized that she fought back in an abusive relationship. None of us were there, so we shouldn’t judge her. The situation could have been that if she didn’t do what she did, we would TODAY know of Keke Wyatt as a dead woman. She could have very well been fighting for her life. But we weren’t there. I’ve know too many women in abusive relationships, and even if at the abusers expense (injury, imprisonment, or death), it’s always good to see someone get out of that kind of misery.

The woman has been conscientious and generous enough to lend us her life experiences and lessons via her music lyrics and videos. She’s has been gradually revealing to us what has been going on in her life - but YALL ain’t listening. In her latest single she has something significant to say pertinent to how men treat women within the Black cultural landscape. It’s serious, and I hope that a lot of people, women, are inspired by this song. I know I have been.

She’s a very strong person and you all need to recognize strength, an open mind, and being forthright.

Consider the values representative in the media images of Beyonce and Keke Wyatt. In all Wyatt’s videos and performances, she is never over sexualized. Her music has always emphasized family, commitment, love and sacrifice. Maybe the woman just sacrificed too much for this man that was not only beating on her, but cheating on her (probably in her face) and spending her money. This whiles she’s bearing his children and trying to maintain a household and a career at ages 18-21. Most people that age aren’t even doing that. Beyonce wasn’t, and still hasn’t.

Keke Wyatt deserves some respect.

Thank you Stephanie

Wow! That “one-drop” rule has everyone confused and turning against each other.

“Only in America can a White woman have a “Black” child (poignant statement, but I can’t remember where I read it).

Actresses Victoria Rowell and Persia White both have lily white (for lack of a better term) daughters. But only in America would these girls be forced to identify as Black. God forbid a Black woman has a White baby - oh heck to the naw!

But I digress…

Keke sounds like she is filled with pain and needs some serious counseling. Her mother is obviously a child abuser who will reep the negative effects of her abuse (karma is never too far away). Keke does not identify with being Black - she indetifies with being “a woman” That’s cool, I just hope she doesn’t flip flop when it’s convenient. That would just crush her self-identity even more. She claims that she doesn’t know what her mother put on her birth certificate - if she was born in America, I bet it says Black. She suffered verbal and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother, so I wonder if she repeated this abuse on her Black husband. Did she ever call him n**** and berate him constatntly to make sure he didn’t forget he was married to a “prize” I don’t know the whole story - but somehow I doubt she was a victim.

Lastly, she’s not drop dead gorgeous and I don’t believe for a second that her “natural hair is blonde” She can’t touch Ms. Beyonce with a ten foot pole and she knows it :dance2:

Hearing her speak reminds me of my cousin, who is biracial. We are a month apart, we have always been best friends, until 8th grade. I always had to where ponytails, finally in 8th grade my mom let me wear my hair in a bun. I was a tomboy so i didn’t care. Anyway my cousin moved to TX for 4yrs. When she came back she looked so much older than me. We were walking down the street and she was just stopping traffic.So many guys were trying to talk to her, no 1 tried to talk to me i thought it was because she had a big chest. Any way she told me i need to dress like a girl or she would not hang out w/me. I went to my older sisters house and put on some of her clothes and she flat ironed my hair which was almost to my waist. I caught the bus to my cousins house and on the way i began to stop traffic, honestly it scarred me. Any way when i saw my cousin she told me a looked like a black idian MAN, she began to tell me how i was ugly and no one would ever try and talk to me over her because she was a redbone, and i was a blacky, she hurt my feelings so bad, neither of us had ever brought up color b4, we went to the store and more men tried to talk to me than they did her. she then told me in TX they would laugh @ me because my hair didn’t belong on my body. I think its a TX thing its sad because we used to be so close, but i guess she thought she was better than me.

q:

but Keke Wyatt didn’t ridicule anyone in her interview. Sure, she displayed evidence of LSGH (Light Skin Good Hair) arrogance, but usually that comes up when people respond to being attacked about their physical appearance in regards to their racial identity.

Fine-N-Mellow

[QUOTE]
“She damn sure was not educated enough as a child by her own mother, that tells alot about her. I remember when I was younger watching the movie “Roots” in School.”
[/QUOTE]

She was well educated. The purpose of her mother not allowing her children not to watch roots was to prevent them from developing resentment towards White people and White culture. It would have been easy for them to do since they’re mother was culturally BLACK. Her mother was trying to prevent them from developing hypocrite attitudes towards White because that was part of their direct bloodline. She did the best she knew how and only meant well.

If Keke Wyatt’s mother didn’t intend for her children to be educated about their African-American/Black ancestry and people she would have removed them, and herself, from the culture/social disposition early on. But that would have been hard for her to do since Keke’s mothers was raised in African-American/Black culture and was probably all she knew.

Shia,

Ok? :confused: I hope you personally know Keke Wyatt and are getting paaaaaaaid really well for writing a thesis defending her comments and her CHILD ABUSING mother!

Your comment about Keke’s mother calling her a n***** was “socially accepted in the 80’s and 90’s” is STUPID!

ANYONE who REGULARLY calls their child a DERAGATORY name is verbally and emotionally ABUSING that child - as we can well see from this interview! I don’t care anything about anyone being a “product of their environment” We all KNOW right from wrong, so don’t give me that!

Her saying shes mixed is fine. i dont care what she claims to be or if she claims both or w/e. But her thinking it was alright for her mother to call her a n—a but didnt let her watch roots is ridiculous. And I hate the fact that they put n—a in the dictionary. Putting it in the dictionary is basically telling people that it is alright to say it.I have actually had white kids call me a n—a, cuz i didnt know the answer to a question or something. But when i get mad they say im out of line because its in the dictionary.

Madame Zenobia: (read this)

Reconstructing Race
Fall 2005

A teacher introduces his students to the slippery concept of race
By Nathaniel W. Smith

“I really just think it’s so terrible that people judge other people for their race. I don’t see how they can be so stupid! I don’t care if you’re black, yellow, or green. I only see people as people.”

When one of my students made this comment, his classmates applauded. Yet he was the same student who, not a day later, noticed that one of our classroom windows had a broken handle. He laughed, saying the school was “so damn ghetto.” And he openly talked about rap music as “complete crap. It’s not even music—even I can get on a microphone and just talk!”

I wondered how I would even begin to get at the contradictions in this student’s mind.

Yes, we should “all get along,” as another student once earnestly implored. But before we can, we must first understand the degree to which we don’t get along. This seemed especially difficult considering the population I was working with. I taught in Central Bucks School District in Bucks County, Penn., which is approximately 98 percent white, and 95 percent middle class or higher. There was not much in the way of racial and socioeconomic diversity among my 10th and 12th-grade students, who were tracked into honors, standard, and basic classes.

Comments like the ones above were not those of a few idiosyncratic individuals, they were refrains, repeated again and again, often in the exact same wording. I wanted to develop a curriculum that made race enormous, difficult, and personal, when many students defined it as stupid, simple, and external.

As a white teacher in a predominantly white school I wanted to help students see their own whiteness and the ways it has shaped their lives. I wanted to confront my students’ perceptions that “I don’t think it has anything to do with me—I don’t even have a race. I’m just normal.” I thought I would begin by helping them understand race as a specifically social construct.

The Breakthrough

“Mr. Smith, why are you teaching us history in our English class?” Students wondered why, in a course on American Literature, I would devote multiple days to discussions of race. I explained to the students the interrelation of literature and the societies in which the authors lived, often pointing out that one couldn’t understand modern music without understanding modern times.

As my course contained a unit on slave narratives and another on the Harlem Renaissance, I justified race discussion as requisite to understanding the context of the literature. So by the time our semester together had come and gone, I had taught several lessons that addressed the concepts of race, the historical development of race, and the challenges to race presented by the constant creation of multiracial people.

I had found readings and role plays, personal accounts, and documentary films. We acted out and discussed Twain’s controversial Pudd’n-Head Wilson, created graphic novels representing the autobiographies of Fred-erick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, and even watched samples of the PBS film Race: The Power of an Illusion. Like many teachers with a passion, I bent the rules of the district curriculum requirements in favor of lessons I thought more pressing. But with all these lessons I ran into the same problem.

Constructing race, the daily practice of ascribing roles and identities to physical features, is a matter of active perception. If race affects the way you are treated by others in the world, it necessarily depends upon what race they suppose you to be. My curricular premise is that individuals can discover and address their own racism more effectively when they understand that all race categories are political lines drawn in the sands of cultural and genetic diffusion and evolution.

I can say it clearly enough, but lectures never bring the result I’m really after. If race is perceptual, it must be challenged on the level of perception. My lessons based on reading and discussion failed to produce activities that revealed to students how they construct race through their own vision and sense of identity.

Then in February 2002, I was doing some background research on Frederick Douglass, and I stumbled across Gregory Fried’s article “True Pictures.” [It's available on the web at http://www.common-place.org/vol-02/no-02/fried/ The pictures he had found were the perfect starting point.
Before we began, I told the students we were going to start working with slave narratives soon, and I thought this would be a good exercise for laying the groundwork. As I handed each student one of two photographs, I explained that these were taken around the time of emancipation (1863, to be precise), and that Frederick Douglass had hoped to use them to educate people against slavery.

Then I gave them three minutes to write a description of the photo. "Describe it, explain what's happening and who the characters are. Then explain how you think it might have been used in an anti-slavery campaign. If this were an anti-slavery campaign ad, what might be the slogan?" I avoided mentioning the race of the people in the photographs. The students spent the next few minutes reacting to these pictures. Though I cut off the original captions, I included the names for ease of discussion after.

Afterward, I asked them to share what they wrote. Students guessed that the picture of Isaac and Rosa arm in arm is symbolic of an interracial harmony campaign, a Benetton-style depiction of black and white together in youthful innocence. "The white girl and the black boy together arm in arm is a sort of vision for the future—there's hope for us to all live together," wrote one student.

Someone else suggested that Isaac and Rosa show that "the little white girl is safe playing with the little black boy."
For the second picture, students had a range of explanations, though often again the idea of safety emerges: "It shows that a black man can know more than a white person—he can teach them to read. And it sort of says, these white kids are safe with this black man."

Alternatively, some students argued, "the white kids are teaching the black man to read, kind of saying that he can learn just as well as white people and should be given a chance."

In addition to using this activity with my own classes of predominantly white students, I've also used it with classes of adults. Every time groups of people have debated these photos, they have described the pictures as photos of black and white people together.

Once students aired their reactions, I revealed to them that every person pictured was an emancipated slave. They had all been socially known as black, made to live as slaves. They were unable to own property, unable to vote, unable to pursue their rights through legal institutions. So, I asked my students: Were they in fact black, or were they white?

Though the debate was a stuttering one at this point, students began to engage in some disagreement. Before moving on, I tried to point out one constant in this exercise: When we're not thinking about race, we guess race and attach significance to it. Though I never asked anyone the race of the people pictured, all respondents (without exception) included it in their descriptions. Their interpretations of the meaning of the photos were all completely dependent on the assumed racial identities of the subjects. This point makes it much harder for students later to claim they don't see race at all.

"Is Mr. Smith a White Guy?"

I then changed the topic, volunteering to be a contemporary example. "OK, so the next question is: Is Mr. Smith a white man? Yes or no?" I asked. "Raise your hand if you think Mr. Smith is a white guy."
Across all the groups I've worked with, only one person has ever suggested that they thought I might have been mixed—because I have curly hair. "So, without asking, and without knowing my parents or how I might identify, everyone here has quietly agreed that I'm white. So how do you know?"

On the board I made a list of the things that made me white to them. Kids had a lot of fun with this (though it was tough to avoid reacting to the descriptions, as some were quite unflattering); it's a rare opportunity to pick apart their teacher's appearance. "You have a thin nose! White skin! Thin lips! Blonde hair! Blue eyes! You talk white! You walk like a white man! You wear khakis and a button-up shirt! European ancestors!" The list of evidence was long, and the students threw out comments faster than I could write them on the board.

Once the list was up, I turned it around. "So, of all these things, which ones are indispensable? Which ones make me absolutely white?" I challenged each one. "If I had fuller lips, would I still be white? Are there white people with brown or black hair? Are there white people with brown eyes? White people who speak 'ebonics'—are they still white? If a black man wears a button-up shirt, is it harder to tell that he's black?" We went down the list until the students were unable to defend my whiteness. Still, they vehemently argued: "You just know."

Again I asked, "But what about Isaac and Rosa? Why didn't we 'just know' with them?"

Following this exercise, the ensuing debate has always been deep and often heated, tightly focused on what qualifies people for their race. No one tried to claim they didn't "see" the race of the teacher or the people pictured—they had already revealed assumptions about race in their answers. All the students assumed and interpreted race, regardless of whether they considered themselves prejudiced, regardless of whether they were looking at an emancipated slave in an old photograph or a white teacher standing in front of the classroom.

With the rug pulled out from under the categories, we then moved on to discussing how, with all this uncertainty, we ever decide that a person is of a specific race. Using the traits students listed for categorizing my race, I suggested that all the qualities fit under one of three headings: color, culture, or ancestry. I then asked them, which of these provides the key? Is one category more important than the others? Students break down along unpredictable lines and bring forth some very interesting answers. One of the most strongly defended criteria is color.

A few questions quickly defeated the color argument. Students said I was white because of my white skin, so I held up a piece of blank paper. "So if I'm not exactly white in color, how white do I have to be to fit?" If students reversed it and claimed that "black people are people with black skin," I asked them to define the exact range of tones. What about darkly tanned white people? Thanks to tanning salons, there's often someone who identifies as being white in the room with skin darker than that of Malcolm X, who they all agreed was black. And what of the emancipated slaves in the pictures? Most came to accept that people with darker skin may be white, and people with very light skin may be black. Inevitably, the kids argued about Michael Jackson, and the conversation took on a life of its own.

I offered similar challenges to those who would ground race in culture. My students often mocked white students who "wish they were black." I had students explain to me how a person "acts black." What are the behaviors? "They try to talk ebonics. They're always blasting DMX in the parking lot! They wear low baggy pants with their boxers hanging out. I know someone like that who's always trying to convince people she is black!"

If a person has adopted black culture, would we say that person is acting black? Wouldn't he or she just become black? What if this black-acting person had a black great grandparent they didn't even know about? Who would argue that a "black-acting" person with African ancestry is not in fact black?

In the face of these ambiguities, students often drew the line at the most "scientific" seeming category—genetics. "You can look like whatever, but you either have African ancestors or you don't," is a typical student remark.

I asked about adoptees. Imagine I was adopted and didn't know my ancestry. Imagine that tomorrow I meet my real parents and one of them is black. Is it possible for a person to be black and not even know it? If this happened, would I be right to come to school tomorrow and say I am black? If not, does that mean black is something other than having African ancestry? If yes, then how could everyone have assumed I was white? I find students often split right down the middle as to whether I would be legitimately black or white in that scenario.

Another response to the ancestry argument revolved around historic black figures. I asked students if Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass were black men, and they said yes. Then I revealed to them that both men had European ancestry. If ancestry is the key to race, why doesn't that ancestry make them white? Why is it that in the game of race, even the slightest African ancestry trumps European ancestry? And in my case, students say they know I'm white because I have European ancestry—but how does one "see" ancestry?

In fact, one sees only physical traits—not the familial lines or genes from which they might be derived. Here students came full circle to the point of admitting that ancestry does not clearly correlate with race—skin tone and culture matter a lot too. So the argument is circular: A person is black because we decide they are black enough, and there is no single defining quality one must possess.

My purpose wasn't to clarify race, but to blow it apart. To do that I had to bring out the complex challenges that exist on all sides of the race definition. The point was to raise questions and make a mess rather than let students off with neat and easy answers. No more raising your hand just to say, "Racism is bad."

But at this point I needed to be aware of a real danger. Students, particularly those white students who feel excluded in race discussions, may try to run with the principle that "race isn't real."

As one student said, "This just proves that all this race stuff is a bunch of people worked up about nothing." Obviously, this was not my intended result. So we got into a conversation about the word "real."

I said to the students, "Many people will say that God is not real. As with race, there is no 'scientific' evidence. Let's imagine for a moment those people are right, that there isn't a god. Even if that's true, think of the role the idea of God has played in world history. Think of all the huge religious organizations in almost every country, and the influence those religions have had in the world. Think of how many people refer to God every morning in the Pledge of Allegiance, how God is written on every coin and bill in the United States. Even if God is just something people made up—does that mean it hasn't affected us?" Even the most irreligious of students agreed that the idea of God affected them; in fact I've found the atheist-identified students to be quite upset about how often they are reminded of their status as outsiders. There is a parallel to those who would rather not see race, those who wish it would go away—wishing doesn't make it so. No matter whether race is grounded in science or ideology, it has a long and powerful history, one that has determined the shape of our society in ways no individual can escape.

Bringing It Home, Literally

Once students had some time to soak in these ideas, I ended with an exercise that literally brought the lesson home. Before doing so, I gave some words of introduction, as this piece could serve to alienate some students if not handled delicately. I explained to students that often we think only of certain populations as not knowing their heritage. It is a widely acknowledged tragedy of slavery that so many family lines were severed and cannot be retraced. This is likewise the case with many populations who may have fled oppressive circumstances in their countries of origin. When one thinks of people not knowing their heritage, one might think of adoptees first. But the truth of the matter is, few if any of us truly know our heritage in the way we imagine it. Think of all the people who describe themselves as "Irish and German" or some other two or three part combination. Can this really capture the genetic history of any individual?

For this exercise, I produced a simple blank diagram of the family tree, reaching back five generations. I then ask students to fill in the names of every relative they can. If one looks at the spreading numbers of ancestors—32 great great great grandparents, 16 great great grandparents, eight great grandparents, four grandparents, and two parents—there are 62 progenitors to name. I have yet to meet a student who could name them all. If one could, it still wouldn't identify the race of those individuals, even if there were pictures of them all.

I tried to minimize the discomfort for students who may have hesitations about revealing this kind of information by emphasizing that we are all on the same ground when it comes to our ancestry. None of us knows "where we come from," even if we know our parents and grandparents. I didn't ask students to share their trees, or even to feel compelled to fill them in there and then. The point was simply to visualize the vast numbers of people that came before us, and the inadequacy of the simplified descriptions most of us inherit.

I grew up being told I was Scots-Irish and a little bit of Native American, but when I started to examine this tree and ask my family members, I discovered many countries of origin that had not been told to me (Hessian, German, and British), several branches of the tree for which there was no information, and absolutely no confirmation of the "bit of Native American" that I had always been told of.

As a group we then discussed the significance of the holes in all our knowledge. If being African American means having African ancestry, how many of us know whether we are African American? How do any of us know we are any specific race at all? Some students will begin insisting on their whiteness, but most quickly realize they have no evidence to stand on. As one student said, "I don't know—maybe I am black—or African American, or whatever, for all I know."

Another of my students, the same one who said he didn't see race, came back to me a week after the lesson. "Mr. Smith, I went home and asked my grandmother how we know we're white. I asked her if she knew if we had any black ancestors. She got really angry and started yelling that 'of course we don't have any n– –s in the family!' I didn't expect her to care so much about it. I quit asking about it after a while, but she never did say she had any evidence. When I showed her that [ancestry chart], she couldn’t fill it out either. She tore it up.” I worried I might have caused a family rift, or that I might be explaining myself to the principal soon, but at the same time I couldn’t help but be happy that my student had taken it upon himself to seek answers—and he was sharp enough to recognize that no answer satisfies.

Of course, there are dangers. In my experience, no single lesson is received and applied the same way across all students, or even any two students. Some students will shut down in the face of this mess making—others will select from the many potential implications the one they most want to hear, “race isn’t real.” It’s a danger, though I would argue all educational practice is fraught with danger.

I believe it is promising to bring high school students to this level of thinking about race. If it is not an immutable, biological fact, then race must be a changing social fact. And if it has changed in the past, it can be changed now. Whatever dissatisfies us about the issue does not have to be accepted, looked at with resignation, and considered an inevitable part of our lives. Though it hardly guarantees that all students adopt a conscious, activist, anti-racist stance, it arms them against simple and reductive thinking about race, which is always dangerous regardless of the intent.

Nathaniel Smith (nws@pobox.upenn.edu) teaches courses in pedagogy, cultural foundations, and the history of education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Ashort version of this piece also appeared in Radical Teacher.

I happened to come across KeKe Wyatt’s interview because I loved her music and wondered where she’d been. To say the least, I was appalled after reading the Essence article and wanted to know what others felt about her comments about race. To look at KeKe I would never have guessed that she was bi-racial. Subsequently, I found the other interview with AHHA and that article was even more repulsive. I am not a fan of Beyonce by a long shot and anyone who knows me can tell you that I am not. The comments that were made about Beyonce’s singing ability, and physical attributes were completely uncalled for. Even KeKe’s comments about Cash Money being “Country” and don’t mess with her because she comes from at “White Woman” What does all this mean? I think it means that KeKe has some very serious issues that need to be addressed. I think that both KeKe and Beyonce are two very beautiful women, In my opinion KeKe is a better vocalist, but I won’t be spending one red cent to purchase her new cd based on those ignorant comments that were made about so many people on such a grand scale. Both articles were quite offensive.

Beyonce is no different than Keke. Has anyone here ever wondered why Beyonce chose to all of a sudden put so much focus on her White so called Creole side? Why did she have to bring this up and make such an issue of it? Oh and let’s not forget that silly Creole songs about redbones, brownbones and blackbones? Like what the hell was that all about? Why no focus on her dark roots or father’s side of the family? Beyonce isn’t biracial. She has two Black parents. Her mother isn’t biracial either and neither is her dad, but for some reason they chose to focus on this