I missed quiet a bit of the beginning, and want to know why Peola is white but her mother is black. I black myself and am quiet confused. Is she bi racial but just played by a Caucasian woman?
share"Is she bi racial but just played by a Caucasian woman?"
Not in the 1934 version. Peola is played by "light skinned" African American Fredi Washington and what I take from the movie Peola's father was a very light African American.
And Peola isn't White
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CinnamonEyes
That's an ignorant comment. Do you even know what African slaves looked like? Of Course all light skin African Americans (even non-Light skin AA) are light skin because they are mixed with White.
Im sure if someone DNA tested Fredi Washington we would indeed find out that she has a substantial amount of Caucasian blood in her but she is Multi-generationally mixed (aka African American) and we Americans don't refer to multigenerationally mixed race people as "biracial" or "multiracial"... we call them Black. We call people who have one "Black" parent and one non-"Black" parent biracial or mixed.
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If a black person is light skin that usally means they have cacausion somewhere in thier backround. Maybe there not aware becasue thier parent's, grandparents are all black. But somewhere down the road from way way back there was a mix of white.
For example, My family did not know that we had North American indian in us till many many years later.
I haven't seen this version, (Iv'e only seen the remake) but in the remake Annie mentions that Sarah Jane's father was white, which is why she looked white.
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Jodi
In the remake Annie said the father was light skinned and was "passing". She never said he was white. He most likely was the son of a black slave woman and white slave owner.
This is my signature and I'm sticking to it. lol
While generally most African Americans who are light-skinned have some Caucasian ancestry in their background, it is indeed possible as you say for "black" people with no known Caucasian heritidge to give birth to a very "white" looking child. Here's a famous case in the UK quite recently:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1387468/Black-couple-Francis -Arlette-Tshibangu-white-baby-blond-hair.html
Back to the OP's question, Peola's father was African-American but "very light-skinned" but he probably had someone in his family tree that was Caucasian but then again he may not have; neither the book nor movie addresses the issue.
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While Peola is portrayed by a black actress, Sarah Jane is portrayed by a white one.
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Well it's not just about the skin color though, it's got to do with the features. Like I said I haven't seen this version but I know in the 50s version the girl who played her had very cacausion features. Her mother states in the beginning that her father was part white. It was rare for a black women and white guy to mix back then I know, but it did happen behind clothes doors. Or who knows maybe the mother was raped by a white guy.
The daughter defently had white blood in her, even if it was from many many years ago, she had some white blood in her.
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I beleive that white-skinned African Americans are part white, even if it was from like 200 years ago. You can't tell me that they know everyone in thier backround from the beggining of time. It can be one of thier great-great-great-great grandparents. Do you know what the girl's Ancestors were? It's possible that one of them could have been white.
As for the features, maybe that came out wrong. Every race has certian features, nothing do do with hair colour. Italians have certain features , spanish people have different features, chinese people have different features and Africans have certain features. Do see what i'm saying? The daughter did not have any africian features, she looked cacaussian.
I still think her father was at least part white, and if not then somewhere down the line, there was a mix of white.
Just so you know I don't mean any of this to be racist or was I making fun of any races features. I didn't mean to offend anyone of that's what I did.
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In the book, it says Peola's father was a black man with light skin.
In the remake, Annie makes a remark that Sarah Jane's father was "almost white" meaning he was mixed.
Well as I said before I haven't seen the old one but in the remake I'm sure the father was part white.
"Not all light-skinned African Americans are mixed and that remains my belief."
Then continue living in blissful ignorance 'cause like several people pointed out, a lot of African-Americans (light-skinned or otherwise) have a trace of caucasian in their bloodline -- likewise, white Americans. I once knew this kid who was white/blond and his grandfather was black.
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You have to be one of the most ignorant people I've ever heard. Did you know that albinos in Africa are murdered and sold for body parts as good luck charms? There ARE light-skinned Africans, even if they are anomalies. There ARE light skinned Africans who haven't had *god's blessing* of being part white. Have you ever thought that other bloods, other creeds could make them lighter? Or perhaps, NOT ALL BLACK PEOPLE ARE BLACK.
I'm half Asian, half white and even I know that there is a range of shades from white to almost black, but there is no such thing as black.
If you knew anything about genetics you would also know that certain traits don't take hold in generations. It can take years to pass down; she may have had a skin disease--who knows! She may have had a small nose because her ancestors mated with Asians. WHO CARES. Stop saying stupid things, especially if you're white.
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I don't know what white or black features mean. I've seen black people of all hues come out with various facial features. I've seen blacks with thin noses, larger noses, thin lips, and larger lips. I've seen blacks of all hues come out with straight hair. So don't just associate thin nose and thin lips with white people. I've seen white people who have larger noses, full lips, I even seen some with kinky hair, are they mixed with black? I bet they won't admit it.
In Africa, there's different tribes, where some Africans are dark, brown, light. Don't assume all blacks have big noses and big lips and if they do, their mixed, that's not all true. I have relatives who are dark and have what you would call "white features" and I've seen light-skinned blacks who have more so-called black features.
The actress Fredi Washington to me had black features. She looked ethnic to me. She had fuller lips. I guess if she was darker, she would be viewed as more black looking. But if I saw her amongst whites, I would think she was mixed with something, I wouldn't think she was all white. I've seen "blacks" who look more whiter then she does.
There are black families who have children that come out with various hues from dark to light and have the same parents, would you go through that whole famiy and call some mixed and call the others black?
You whites surely have changed in the last few decades. It use to be if you had a drop of black in you, you were black, but now whites will acknowledge mixed race people now...interesting!
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Tiresome race troll.
shareI never read the book, but I believe in the 1959 remake they actually say Delilah's husband was a caucasian man. In 1934, I'm sure the fast approaching Hayes Code told the producers Peola's father could never be white.
shareTo answer the first post on this thread Peola, as an adult, was played by Fredi Washington who was black, but could easily have passed for white in real life. She was once offered a chance to go to Europe and change her identity but she refused. Her parents are listed as "mulattoes" on old census records.
In the Novel and the first film version of "Imitation of Life" Peola's father is described as light enough to be taken as white or something like that. In the 59' remake he is described as "practically white".
The Hayes Code, or to be more exact the Breen Censorship office, was in operation in 1934. Aside from making sure it was clear Peola's father was not described as white they insisted a reference to a near lynching she had witnessed, explaining her dislike for being black, be removed from the script, and she couldn't be shown, as an adult, associating with white men. Above all the novel's ending, where Peola married a white man and moved to South America never to return, was changed to her showing up at her mother funeral without a hint of what she was doing while passing for white.
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
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Peola's father is said to be a very fair-skinned black man (a mulatto, I am assuming), "and he fought against it all his life".
That's what Delilah tells Bea.
Deliah said that her daughter was light skinned,in the movie.Fredi was not a mix,but light skinned also.She could of played White,Mixed,Foreign,or Hispanic roles.Its just too bad,that she couldn't move ahead,in those days to be the actress,she was meant to be...
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