Maxwell
Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Gerald Maxwell Rivera
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: May 23, 1973
Ethnicity:
*Puerto Rican (father)
*Haitian (mother)
Maxwell is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is also known as Musze, Muze, X’Mosque, and Mennard. Maxwell, along with D’Angelo and Erykah Badu, founded the neo soul movement in the 1990s.
Maxwell has stated:
I’m from Brooklyn, New York… My family is from the West Indies: My mother is from Haiti and my father is Puerto Rican.
Yes , all should be proud of their ancestry & accomplishments!
100% sexy.
I don’t understand when you say someone is Cuban or Puerto-Rican descent. These are not races or ethnicities, these are either the country of their ancestral origin or their birthplace. Someone from Cuba or Puerto Rico can either be white, black or asian, what is so hard for Americans to understand. Someone cannot be Scottish, Irish,Italian and German – this means that they are Caucasian but that their ancestors came from these places. People are either black, white, asian or variants of these races. Please !
Not everyone subscribes to ‘black, white’ etc. For example, some in Dominican Republic don’t even classify themselves under race. If I say ‘Black’ in Australia, you’ll have Aboriginals and Australasian claiming they are. If I go to some North African country they don’t see themselves as ‘White’ but whatever their country is. Again, the same with Hawaiians – they’re not Asians, and may even refer to themselves as native, Polynesian – not a colour.
Also, South Asians are Caucasian (the clue is in the word Cauc-ASIAN), as are:
North Africans
Western Asians
South Europeans
Honestly, I think racial politics are for a certain type of people that seem determinant to either create division or remove themselves from human convention. All humans are made of genetic material, and what their colour is of little significance in the grand scheme of things.
This comment is very true. “Race” is a social construct and in the end, were are all humans. As you mentioned, not everyone subscribes to (for example), the United States ideas of “race”. Look at how Australia has a different definition of “blackness”. And yes, as someone who knows people form all over the world, many people usually identify first and foremost with their ethnic or national background.
To add to your points on the arbitrariness of these “labels”, if you ask a British person what an “Asian” person is, they’ll likely mention someone of South Asian descent, typically one who has darker skin. In contrast, if you ask an American what an “Asian” person is, they’ll likely mention someone of East Asian descent, and they’d probably picture them with a light skin tone. Western Asians are also part of Asia, but if someone only associates “Asians” with East Asian appearance, then they won’t really consider them as being “Asian” (even if they are).
Your comment is delusional. Race does not exist beyond social-political contexts.
I know that Hawaiians/Polynesians are descendants of Southeast Asians. Their languages are part of the Austronesian branch. The same way Native Americans came from East Asia. But “race” and other labels are a social construct. In modern times, they are not considered “Asian”. Though, the USA has used the term “Asian American-Pacific Islander”.
You also need to read a textbook or even the sources/books cited on the Wikipedia page. Historically, “Caucasian” referred to people of a certain skull shape. That is why people of South Asian, West Asian and North African descent were classified as part of them. BUT, in modern times, the term only encompasses people of European descent.
Also, fun fact: did you know that in the 16th century, European explorers called East Asians “white people” because of their pale skin tones? Classifying East Asians as part of a “yellow race” or “mongoloids” did not become a “widely accepted” idea until later centuries. The term “black” in Australia was applied to the Aboriginal people. Read a history book. I’m sure even the Wikipedia page has some sources on that. And the term “negrito”, used to describe some people from parts of Southeast Asia and South Asia literally means “Little Black Person”.
All of this shows that race is just an arbitrary concept. Furthermore, in the United States, the census has categories like “Asian” or “Native American” or “Pacific Islander”. None of which denote skin colour but rather geographical/cultural regions. Kind of the Latino label. I guess this is because in modern times, using terms like “yellow” or “red-skinned” or “mongoloid” are now considered offensive in the U.S.A.
As I’ve already mentioned, the idea of “race” is just silly to me. Most people in my own life identify first and foremost with their ethnicity or nationality. And it seems to be the case with many famous people as well. Look at how many will call themselves by their ethnic background first even if they were born in the U.S.A or elsewhere and spent their entire lives there.
Also, pardon my double reply, but I’m done with this conversation. It looks like you’ve been commenting on a lot of profiles with pseudo-science or racist messages. So I don’t think I want to engage with you anymore.
Most of the points made by the user “Kimmel” are not wrong and even highlight examples of how arbitrary all these “racial” labels are. But this site is used to document the ethnic backgrounds of famous people. I don’t see any harm in that.
I wouldn’t bother getting worked up by this user. It’s an obvious troll.
I am Haitian proud of my people and we are fighters never give up. The Europeans and the Americans think there have won there will neve we came from so many tribes in Africa our cultures shows this. I think that is great he is proud of his Haitian roots so many people are not.
@ Jane im not haitian as far as i know but i just wanted give props to all haitians out there i just found out recently that the africans in your country was the first to revolt and fight for your freedom and was successful in doing so me being an african decendant (African American) even though im not Haitian it makes me proud still….