Talk:Mulatto

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Subjective in nature?

"the latter definition of which makes the term highly subjective in nature"

I've removed phrase this from the article lead. It seems to be trying to make an important point, imo; I would guess about the fact that we are all the same species whatever our melanin level, or even the further point that especially in America, many so-called blacks have white ancestors, and likewise, there are plenty of American people who pass for "lily" white who have black ancestor, etc. (Please note, for the record, that I don't even agree with this whole framework of racial bias, but the one drop rule has historical currency, and the mulatto designation is at least somewhat inherently related to that). Per WP:PRESERVE I bring this here for discussion. -- 209.6.238.201 (talk) 05:04, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, this is completely out of place in the brief introductory paragraph. Perhaps it could be addressed deeper in the article. Jaydiem (talk) 07:53, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

Can we get into the mulatto people?

OK this is kind of ridiculous, I mean it would be nice to hear about the actual Mulatto people and their significance in history instead of hearing people go back and forth on whether the word means "mule" or not. Words change meanings all the time but we still use them. I mean by this logic we shouldn't use the word "kid" or "kids" when referring to children because the word "kid" is used to describe a baby goat. How many people have used the word "kid" or "kids" when referring to children in the general sense or when even referring to their own children? When a mother says "I'm going to go put the kids to bed" I'm sure the first thing you picture is not a human mother putting her baby goats to bed now is it?

I mean come on,instead of bickering you could be listing more facts about the lives of mulatto/Biracial slaves during and after slavery, or the many civil rights leaders that were of mulatto ancestry how about listing Mulatto achievements because there were many.

furthermore, there are many Mulattoes I've met that were not offended by the word Mulatto although not all knew the origins of the word the ones that did were still not offended by the term because they also knew that the meanings of words can change with the times.

From what I've noticed the people that were offended by the term have been Blacks that were from two black parents to some it's taken as anyone who identifies as mulatto is trying to distance themselves from their black side.

Note: I'm also not implying that all Black people feel a certain way. nor am i implying that all mulatto, biracial, mixed race, multiracial feel a certain way I'm just stating what I've seen and heard.

• In Brazil the black comunists sophism mestizos with mulattoes via the vague and pseudocientific term "pardo", because "pardo" not only "mullatoes"; "pardos" are mulatos, zambos/cafuzos and mamelucos/mestizos!and mamelucos not have black blood.; only mongoloid and caucasoid origins..!!(not negroids)!!

Including the United States, mulattoes have had more success and have had a higher status than darker-skinned contemporaries for a variety of reasons. This is particularly true in Haiti where they ran the country often and constitute or constituted a "ruling class." This article seems construed around American sensitivities and NAACP pressure to ignore skin color. While this is good for the future, it tends to ignore past reality and present reality in much of the world.

As a result, this article has limited usefulness. Ignoring the elephant in the living room may make some people feel better, but it doesn't help advance our knowledge of the world very much. Student7 (talk) 02:30, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Etymology

I don't know where did you get these sources from, but - no matter how well reputed they may be - the word "mulatto" most certainly comes from the Portuguese term "mulato", first spread in Northeastern Brazil. Popotão (talk) 23:04, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Considering that there existed sub-Saharan descendants in Portugal and the rest of Iberian Peninsula BEFORE colonization and slave trade began in Brazil, the term likely evolved in Europe. Bab-a-lot (talk) 14:01, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Gallery illustrating aesthetic range

In response to User talk:Tarc

The gallery does not illustrate any racist terms. I used no racist terms in my submissions. Unless you're indicating the entire article is racist. Please explain. You're accusing me without explanation. Please cite the terms of which I am violating. The gallery illustrates, not only the various physical results of mulatto offspring, but the various types of mulatto ancestry, from ambiguous to specific, to recent (or first generation). Unless there is a unanimous consensus, I see this objection as coming from you only, as in your opinion. It's subjective. Please view the bios of each person. With the exception of Cornell West and Vanessa Williams, who are African-American descendants of slaves, all bios indicate specific European and sub-Saharan African recent ancestry or parentage. I'm putting the gallery back up until I'm notified of an official Wikipedia violation, not one based on personal opinion. Please explain to me how that is racist.

The gallery is placed between the 'Colonial Era' and 'Contemporary Era' sub-sections to illustrated the type of mulatto posterity produced by both, regardless of social race labels/classifications applied during these eras. It doesn't matter, they're all American, whether they look white, black, or in between, who are born of mulatto ancestry, or of sub-Saharan/European (Caucasian) parentage. I wanted to included more, because I know there are more, but didn't want to make the gallery to long. I think it's pertinent that people read the article and understand that mulatto isn't just pertinent to a specific range of looks, but it's very broad. I wanted to add more range, using someone like Boris Kodjoe but that individual has no American ancestry. Will likely use him for Germany.

There should be a subsection somewhere discussing the trend of European and continental African dating, offspring and unions that started in the mid-1900s. It's significant, and a huge sub-topic to explore. I came across a thesis about the resulting population in Germany written by a graduate student a couple years ago. The article also doesn't discuss the initiatives taken by the British government to induce mixed race communities in Britian during the mid-1900s, and that the same sort of initiatives to taken by other European governments. People such as Poly Styrene were born from such initiatives.

There is information about 'mulatto' populations in parts of Europe born to these types of unions that should be included. There is a huge population in Switzerland, for example. There is also mulatto 'legacy' ancestry in places like Tanzania where there is a population cognizant and accepting of it. I just hope that you don't work to 'narrow' the perimeters of this topic, because it's not narrow in the least bit.

There needs to be expansion about the mulatto colonial populations of Africa as well as these people were very influential in those societies and contributed immensely in modernizing those regions (Sherbro clans).

I am working on a gallery for Brazil, and will be putting images and information together for other sections of this article.

Unless an individual self-identifies as "Mulatto" according to a reliable source, we cannot use them as examples of Mulattoes or any other racial or ethnic category. Simply knowing their ancestry is not enough.·Maunus·ƛ· 14:16, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Bab-a-lot (talk) 13:54, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Historical populations in Europe and their posterity

Shouldn't this article mention the 'Moorish Empire' as this coincides perfectly with the etymology of the term? Also, what about the historical Iberian Peninsula populations, as well as places like Italy, Iraq, Oman and Yemen where the populations still display genetic evidence of the once dominant 'mulatto' populations. Bab-a-lot (talk) 14:08, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

White/Black vs. European/African

I reverted an edit changing white to European and black to African because that's not what the citation says. If that change is appropriate, perhaps a different citation should be used. Victor Engel (talk) 20:18, 11 July 2011 (UTC)