----- Original Message -----
From: Dyske Suematsu <
dyske@dyske.com>
> The actress Halle Berry who won an Oscar last year is half black and half
> white. ... she used to resist being categorized as black or white. This is
rightly
> so. The circumstances of the situation calls for a neutrality which is
> reasonable. Last year, she gave in and
> identified herself as African American. This was disappointing to me.
>
> When reality presents a situation where it is only reasonable to be
neutral
... as in the case with Halle Berry, it is
> hard to stay neutral. It takes a great amount of effort to stand there,
> because the society wants you to decide.
Sorry, I don't get this. I don't understand why you are personally affronted
or feel it impacts on your when people make decisons about where they stand
and who they are.
Just because something takes a 'great deal of effort' does not mean it is
inherently a good thing.
I think you language about Halle Berry being 'half black and half white'
betrays a simplistic view of the world. No-one is 50% anything or 100%
anything. Halle Berry isn't some perfect shade of grey which allows her to
sit neatly in the middle of the colour chart. She is a human being. Skin
colour is a construct dependent on a range if issues. If Berry decides to
call herself African American, then that is her right and it is nor our
place to be 'disappointed', surely?
Ivan