Apparently it has to be said again. U guys are missing the point-- why even bring up the racial stuff?

Quote from: Matthew

Quote from: Anna1959

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A very sinful, IMO, thing to do to a child.

I wouldn't go so far as to say sinful, though it does cause problems for the child as far as identity goes.

I think it's best to have an identity -- where you came from, your people, your family, etc. or else some one is going to give you a new identity.
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You can't even replace nationality with the Catholic Faith -- because it's nice to be a certain KIND of Catholic, not just a generic "Catholic". There are lots of different personalities, etc.  A choleric Spaniard is going to happier being a Spanish Catholic -- complete with Spanish Catholic saints just like him who overcame their faults, etc. to become saints. It's sort of like a brand name -- what KIND of Catholic. God meant for it to be that way. He didn't create us all the same. He wants us all to serve Him as baptized Catholics, but He very much wants us to do it in a different way.

If God didn't think that way, he wouldn't have created so many different kinds of men and animals.

Even when you had the Holy Roman Empire, and a united Christendom, people still had identity based on their people, and where they were from. It didn't lead to hatreds or anything, but it was still there. Having a national identity in itself isn't a bad thing. It tends to be a bulwark against the designs of the Enemy.

I don't know about over there, but having a mixed heritage (nationality-wise at least) is incredibly common in my experience.

I can't think of many, if any, people who do not have different nationalities in their ancestry.

How many people can you think of who can say of themselves, "Both my parents were English, and both their sets of parents were English.... etc"

What? No Irish?

I know of marriages between English/Australian, English/Austrian, English/French, English/Irish, English/African, English/New Zealand, English/German.

I can't think of many English/English marriages! Except my own, and even I'm not completely English (being partly Irish).

And you'd think an English/Irish marriage would be problematic, given our history. Yet, somehow there are an awful lot of English/Irish marriages.

And I don't see why being a product of two different races should be any more of an identity crisis than being a product of people of two different languages.

God confused our tongues for a reason! And yet, we marry foreigners all the time. And with the Church's blessing.

Quote from: CathMomof7

:surprised:

Wow.  I am really bothered by the direction that this has gone.

Advertising is about selling products.  Products sell when people identify with them.  Since more than half of the U.S. is not white, it makes sense from an advertising perspective to use a not-white person.  Just saying.

Currently, I live in lily-white rural Pennsylvania.  I went to highschool in two different states--one with a majority of blacks, another with a majority of Hispanics, particularly Mexicans.  I lived in a state where a large portion of its residents were Laotian and Vietnamese refugees.  Racial diversity, in my personal experience, is primarily due to where one lives in the U.S.  

IMO, skin color doesn't seem to be a big issue at all.  But what I have found in the U.S. among some ethnic groups in a refusal to assimilate.  Instead of learning the language of the country or the customs, these groups remain isolated and have their own little Mexico or little Vietnam right in the middle of where they are.  

It seems to me, and I may be wrong, but from a Catholic perspective we are all members of the Kingdom of God.  If we have to move from the home of our birth for economic or social reasons, then we should be grateful to the "host" country and we should do everything in our power to assimilate and make that country our own.

We should be identifying with other Catholics, which, IMO, wouldn't be so hard if we still had Mass, universally, in Latin.  We might continue to have churches in neighborhoods that were predominantly Mexican or Cuban or Japanese, but other people could certainly go there and not feel out of place.

For what it's worth, people tend to flock to familiarity.  If I had grown up in Vietnam, I would certainly be drawn to a neighborhood with other people from Vietnam because it would be familiar.  KWIM?

We also have children, especially sons who are coming of age.  We have repeatedly reminded them that whoever they choose for a spouse should be a Traditional Catholic or at least willing to convert.  We are  perfectly aware that our sons or daughters may find themselves marrying a person who is not white.  So what?  If we are united by our Catholicism, we should be able to adjust to cultural practices as long as they are not in direct opposition to God.

I would much rather go to the Baptism of my Phillipino/Mexican/Irish/German grandbaby than worry about the salvation of my grandbaby whose Mama or Daddy was pagan/Protestant.

My apologies to Cmom  of 7 as it was a mistake to giver her post a thumbs down.

People also don't like to admit there is bias amongst some groups as well. As I'd pointed out the American/English view against all things Spanish. I think you'll also find definite bias/ racism against blacks in the states, that doesn't exist in the same way in Europe. Think of the 'ghetto' that a black child is raised in here in LA. Now, this child may be born with both of his good and bad traits, but when it comes down to it, his enviornment of drugs, sex, abusive elders, gangs, rape, etc will, unfortunately most of the time, get the best of him. That has nothing to do w/ genetics, but enviornment.

Don't get me wrong, there are people of all race's who have bad traits. And you also have to think of the socio-economic influence placed upon different people.

As I've said before, I myself am Mexican/ Lebanese. That means I get angry quickly (Lebanese), am louder than anyone I work with when I talk (Lebanese), am entrepreneurial(Lebanese), work hard physically (Mexican), and love and family and close friends (Mexican). I attribute these traits to my parents, and the racial/ethnic traits they've passed down to me. But if I were to have grown up without good parents, and in an environment as described above, I fear what the outcome may have been. Its another reason to meditate on  the mystery of grace which God in His goodness has decided I be given.  :soapbox: