And this past week, the Spokane NAACP chapter president who claims to be "black" (she said she didn't like the term African-American, even though they are not the only people on earth with black skin) was exposed as someone with no African-American ancestry at all. Both her biological parents are of European-American ancestry, though they did adapt 2 African-American kids when she was growing up!
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Gender Identity
Joe Biden was ridiculed when he said that transgender rights was the next civil rights revolution! Joe Biden was right!
Two decades ago, the only transgendered celebrity that I knew of was RuPaul, who had a comedic presence, which while not totally a bad thing, gave the impression that any man dressing like a woman was to be laughed at.
Now we have actress Laverne Cox, activist Janet Mock, and the former best male Olympic athlete in the world -- Bruce Jenner now known as Caitlyn Jenner.
They were all born male, but felt like women on the inside! There's nothing wrong or sinister about that!
But now we have this movement that gets all offended about the Vagina Monologues being too focused on you know.............................women with vaginas...... claiming that it excludes transgendered women!
Look, there's nothing wrong with being a male who feels feminine. But that's still not really a woman! In other cultures, they have a different label. For example, Native Hawaiians call them "mahu", Samoans call them faafafine. They are seen as different from a male or female.
Or you can see this meme showing the Navajo gender classifications
https://curiosity.com/memes/two-spirits-in-traditional-navajo-culture/#meme-independent-lens-two-spirits-clip-1-pbs-pbs
But whatever a person's gender identification is, he/she/etc should never be victimized by hate crimes or any discrimination related to job, housing, etc.
As for the bathrooms, I do think we need more of those "family bathrooms" (for mothers with sons, or for fathers with daughters) that those who are transgendered can also use, so that they won't feel awkward when they have use the restroom.
Racial Identity
Rachel Dolezal was born to European-American parents who also adopted 2 African-American children. She was fascinated with African-American culture and wanted to fit in to that world. She went to Howard University, a historically black college (meaning it was formed when other colleges didn't accept African-Americans) and later taught Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University!
That in itself is not a problem. It is good when people immerse themselves in cultures of different ethnicities.
Where Dolezal went off the deep end was claiming she was "black", claimed that an unrelated African-American man was her "father" and not even wanting her biological parents to show up, which will prove that she's not some part-white, part-black woman, but an European-American who just happened to have a tan and some braids.
Well, her parents got tired of her public lies, and when contacted by the media, they told the truth -- she wasn't African-American and her ancestries were German and Czech and Native American. Yes, they adapted African-American children, but she wasn't one of them!
Also, there is also an ironic situation when Dolezal was a professor. When Dolezal was teaching about racial identity, she asked if there's any Hispanic students around? A white Latina who grew up in a Spanish-speaking country spoke up!
https://curiosity.com/memes/two-spirits-in-traditional-navajo-culture/#meme-independent-lens-two-spirits-clip-1-pbs-pbs
“Rachel said I didn’t look Hispanic,” she said, and that her instructor “doubted that I could share experiences of racial or ethnic discrimination because I didn’t have the appearance of looking Hispanic.”Now, Rachel Dolezal is experiencing karma big time!
Dolezal instead selected another Hispanic-identified student to sit before the class.
“I didn’t think much of it at the time,” the student said, “but now I wish I had said something, especially now that her race is the one people are questioning.”
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And you know what all this reminds me of?
My grandfather (on my mom's side) was of Portuguese-German ancestry and was adapted by a Native Hawaiian family. In other words, a white boy raised in a Hawaiian home.
(SIDE NOTE: that grandfather died before I was born, so I obviously never had the chance to ask him about his background)
Well, because my grandfather was adapted by Native Hawaiians, I had relatives who tried to get their children into Kamehameha Schools, which is a private school for Native Hawaiian children. That school is currently exempt from discrimination laws as long as they
- state their admission policy has a preference (not a requirement) for Native Hawaiian applicants
- have to accept non-native applicants IF there's still room after the schools accepted all Native Hawaiian applicants who fit the academic qualifications
One of my uncles did marry a Native Hawaiian, but the children went to Waiʻanae High School. But yes, they would be eligible to gain admission to Kamehameha Schools.
As for me, I did have people encourage me to apply to Kamehameha Schools just based on my Portuguese-German grandfather being adapted by Native Hawaiians. I even had a relative (I won't mention names) admitted to Kamehameha Schools just based on my Portuguese-German grandfather being adapted by Native Hawaiians.
I know some activists might be very angry about that previous sentence! Which is why I'm not mentioning names!
As far as I'm concerned, Kamehameha Schools admission policy is a relic of a time when Punahou was a school for European-American missionaries, and when sugar plantation camps had separate housing for different ethnic groups. The admissions policy is also a relic of a time before publicly-funded charter schools have been set up around Hawaii with an emphasis on Native Hawaiian cultures. Those charter schools have an open admission policy, with no racial preferences, though most applicants are Native Hawaiian.
I might piss off a few people here, but I'll just say this: Kamehameha Schools changing their admissions policy to all academically qualified children, regardless of race, would be a good thing. Unlike what the fear-mongerers say, it will NOT be the "destruction of the culture" but the enhancement of Native Hawaiian culture. Most of their students are mixed-race anyways, some of whom don't even look Native Hawaiian. Having a few pure-blooded Asians and Europeans at Kamehameha Schools would great in that we have some non-native students learning in a Hawaiian cultural environment. Plus, if it means a few Native Hawaiian can't get in --- ALL of the other private schools in Hawaii already have Native Hawaiian students too! Of all the private schools I have subbed at, ALL of them have some Native Hawaiian students! Some even have at least 1/4 of their students being Native Hawaiian (ie Damien, Saint Francis).
As for me, I'm glad I didn't go to Kamehameha Schools, NOT because I'm against it, it's because I'm glad I went to McKinley High School instead! Go Tigers!
I know, my school's name is controversial! Nobody at that school worships that McKinley guy anyways, we worship the Tiger Stripes instead!
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So yeah, even though my Portuguese-German grandfather was adapted by a Native Hawaiian, I don't consider myself a Native Hawaiian, though I am a proud life-long resident of Hawaii!
But as I said earlier, some members of my extended family are Native Hawaiians.
Which was why I was very angry when an Asian-American guy told me he didn't like Polynesians. He thought there was a chance I might agree! SCREW THAT, I told him my cousins are Hawaiians and so are some of the kids I grew up with! That guy later apologized but I still get angry thinking abut it! This is the same person who complained about streets in Hawaii having Hawaiian names and about the old bus passes listing month's Hawaiian name! I told that guy to go see a psychiatrist!
Well, like Rodney King said "Can't we all just get along?"
