Eartha Kitt: I've never felt I belonged to a race or a color
Legendary 81 year old actress/singer/entertainer Eartha Kitt was recently in Chicago an intimate evening with guests for the HistoryMakers, the Chicago-based program which archives the African-American experience, and the Chicago Sun Times interviewed her.
A couple of weeks ago, Eartha Kitt reflected on her mixed racial heritage and the prospects of Barack Obama becoming president. She stressed Obama would be good for the country in general. An interesting tidbit was her statement of how her biracial makeup caused her to be sort of race neutral or not have a sense of ownership to black or white.
It's strikingly ironic, because years ago, Tiger Woods said similar things on Oprah when he unveiled his self-proclaimed "cablinasian" term and he took much flack for it from black people. Eartha Kitt says it and there is no backlash. Could it be because the presidential race has dominated the news cycle or because Kitt is a senior member of our society and has lived through enough to be able to declare herself as she sees fit without anyone questioning it?
Eartha Kitt:
''If he does go through that door into the White House, he's not carrying one race of people with him, but all races of people with him.
Because I have always felt that due to the biracial blood I have inside my body, everybody belongs to me, and I belong to all people.
I have never identified myself as black, white, pink or green. I'm an entertainer and thank goodness that has allowed me to pass through the boundaries of many worlds and many cultures.
''If Obama becomes president he become president of all colors or all worlds. ... I've never felt I belonged to a race or a color. I belong to the race of people and that's the way I identify myself -- and hope Obama does too.
Reference:
Chicago Sun Times
Hey Pat!! I hope that all is well and that you're studying hard.
Interesting article on Eartha Kitt. I guess I'm terribly late, but I never knew that she was biracial...strange, but not biracial, lol.
I love her though. She's her own person, and that took her far.
I am like, Sheila, I am late too. I never knew she was biracial. Since her passing on Thursday, all the news reports are identifying her as biracial. I honestly had no clue. I never questioned her identity for I thought she was African American like me. But, it is interesting to know now that I find out that she is biracial.
It does not really make a difference to me because overall I enjoyed her work as an entertainer. And, I will always be grateful that because of her, that was one of the reasons why I watched Batman as a child because she looked like me.
Thank you for your informative post.