Tragic Mulatto: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Mulatto,''' ''n.'' A child of two races, ashamed of both.|''~[[The Devil's Dictionary~]]'' (1911)}}

A multiethnic character not accepted by either side. The [[Trope Namer]] is a 1908 article, ''The Tragedy of the Mulatto'', but the trope is [[Older Than Radio]] at least. For more information, [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_mulatto:Tragic mulatto|see the entry]] on [[The Other Wiki]].

See also [[Pass Fail]]. Compare [[Halfbreed]]. [[Her Child, but Not His]] can be a lighting rod for this trope.

{{examples|Examples:}}

* [[Warrior Prince|Conrad Weller]] from ''[[Kyou Kara Maou]]'' appears to have had fine individual relationships with each of his parents, but be unable to really connect with humans or fit in with Mazoku. His [[Royal Brat|favorite brother]] rejected him completely as a child after learning he was [[Half -Human Hybrid|half-human]], and his entire racial sub-group of 'half-Mazoku' are [[Fantastic Racism|systematically persecuted]] throughout the world.

* ''[[Skip Beat (Manga)|Skip Beat!]]'' has recently officially brokenwent into this with chapter 184, which opens with a flashback to young {{spoiler|Hizuri Kuon, later known as Tsuruga Ren}} being told even God must find his existence problematic, being a Japanese, Russian, and 'American' cross, and then ramps it up to 'damned unfamiliar' and then'' 'not even human'''. Which, given he spent almost his entire childhood ''in America'' probably says more about the issues the Japanese have with the concept of ''minzoku'' than anything else.<ref>Among other things, they are so attached to the idea of being a nation with only one race-group and therefore no racism problems that they didn't acknowledge the existence of the Ainu until they'd colonized them to the edge of extinction, Okinawans are never going to be recognized as ethnically distinct despite the stereotype of dark skin and the fact that the islands have their own traditional language, even if these days they mostly speak Japananese...the Korean minority also had their citizenship revoked back in '45, so they don't count.</ref>

== ComicsComic Books ==

* Namor the [[Sub -Mariner]]'s cousin Namorita, of ''[[The New Warriors]]''. She had major angst over being half Atlantean and half Human. She's also has the [[Cloning Blues]] on top of that.

* Some versions of [[Aquaman]] have also had this problem; i.e. when he's half-human. Man doesn't even have a consistent first name, and he's been retconned so many times he's hit [[Mutliple Choice Past]] territory.

* The [[Cloning Blues]] version of [[Superboy]], Conner, turned out to have this problem. Although since the human genetic donor was retconned into being ''[[Lex Luthor]]'', there were much better things to worry about than mere race.

* Many half-breed Indians in the old Westerns. Especially the post-[[The Lone Ranger|Tonto]] Westerns where tragic mulattos were common.

* ''Imitation Ofof Life'', both versions, but emphasized heavily in the Douglas Sirk version.

* Senator John Ambrose Fauntroy in ''[[CSA: Confederate States of America]]'' is finally [[Driven to Suicide]] when it is suspected he has black blood. But he was a [[Complete Monster]] in life, and it's revealed {{spoiler|after his death that he was 100% Caucasian. His black slave made up that rumor to get revenge on his master. It's [[An Aesop]] that racism harms the perpetrators as well as the victims.}}

* Dutch movie ''Sonny Boy'' (2011) is an example of this set in [[WW 2]].

* The film ''[[Australia (2008 film)|Australia]]'' explores the plight of half-Aboriginal children.

* Discussed in ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]''. Jem explains this to his sister. "They don't belong anywhere. Colored folks won't have 'em because they're half white; white folks won't have 'em 'cause they're colored, so they're just in-betweens, don't belong anywhere."

* Tanis Half-Elven in ''[[Dragonlance]]'', whose Elven mother was raped by a human soldier. To hide his Elven side he grows a [[Badass Beard]], which elves can't in this setting, but his eyes and ears still give him away at times.

* This turns out to hide in the backstory of Faulkner's ''[[Absalom, Absalom!]]'' Well, more like Tragic Octoroon, actually. One drop is still too much.

* The setting of [[Robin McKinley]]'s novel ''[[Sunshine (Literaturenovel)|Sunshine]]'' includes the fantasy version of these, with emphasis on passing for all part-demons. Miscegenation is illegal, so if passing fails you just blame it on a dead ancestor no one told you about till now, register as partblood, and cope with severe prejudice the rest of your life. Mentioned are:

* ''[[The Autobiography Of An Ex Colored Man]]'' by James Weldon Johnson ([[Literary Agent Hypothesis|actually a novel]]) tells the story of a man (he remains unnamed) who is 1/4 or 1/8 black and can thus pass for white fairly easily. Raised in the North sometime after the Civil War among upper-class blacks and mostly-benevolent whites, he learns and excels at classical piano. He eventually ends up living in Atlanta and then Harlem, where he acclimates easily enough to both upper- and working-class black life, at first teaching and then performing piano. He picks up [[Ragtime]], combines it with his Classical chops, and gets quite a reputation--evenreputation—even touring turn-of-the-century Europe as a black man as part of the entourage of a businessman. And then he has a [[Eureka Moment]] regarding music, goes to the [[Deep South]] to connect to his black roots...and then sees a lynching. He quickly returns to New York, takes a job at an office, and marries and has children with a white woman, never telling wife or children about his heritage, and feeling awful about it. Hence the title.

** In the 2009 movie, he gets in a particularly note-worthy barb after some racist comments by a Vulcan on his maternal heritage, throwing it back in their faces by (unprecedentedly) rejecting their acceptance of his application for a coveted position. He points out their perfect Vulcan acceptance record stands intact, as by their own definition, [[What Measure Is a Non -Human?|he is not a Vulcan, but a half-Human]].

** Played very straight in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' with B'lanna Torres, who denies her Klingon heritage because she believes her father left their family because of it. The children of the human colony she lived on tormented her, and Klingons meeting her would refer to her as a 'mongrel'. When she became pregnant, she attempted to genetically alter her child to remove all traces of Klingon DNA because she believed the child would suffer for it as she did.

** Also played straight with [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Tora Ziyal]], the half-Bajoran daughter of Dukat, shunned on Cardassia and Bajor; the only place she ever truly found a home (other than at her father's side briefly) was the titular station.

** But averted with [[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation|Deanna Troi]], who was embraced by both her parent cultures. It helps when neither comes from a [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]] species.

* Sherman Alexie's character Zits in ''[[Flight (Literaturenovel)|Flight]]''.

* Doyle in ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', who manages to really screw his life up this way. Given he's introduced as a shady, alcoholic failure of a gambler and conman, it is fascinating to discover that five years ago he was a stable, successful ''kindergarten teacher'' called by his first name, Francis, who'd met his fiancee while they were volunteering at a soup kitchen. Then the demon blood showed... He did it to himself, though. He could have kept everything, even the hot fiancee, he just freaked out and bolted.

* Cher's song "Halfbreed", about a half white half Cherokee child rejected by both societies.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and& Dragons]]'': Depending on the campaign and the individual in question, [[Half -Human Hybrid|half-races]] in D&D are either shunned by both sides of their heritage or they end up becoming liasons between the two.

** The two most common half-races--Halfraces—Half-Elves and Half-Orcs--respectivelyOrcs—respectively play up the positive and negative aspects of being mixed. In general, Half-Elves are seen as beautiful and socially accepted by both sides (if a little condescended by full elves), while Half-Orcs are considered brutes by humans and weaklings by full orcs...and are often products of [[Child Byby Rape|war atrocities]].

* In ''[[Miss Saigon]]'', one of many reasons Kim is so determinedetermined to reunite with Chris and forge a better life for her son is to prevent her son from becoming this--she —she knows he will be shunned as the half-Vietnamese, half-white, illegitimate son of an American GI--indeed. Indeed, her cousin tries to KILL''kill HIMhim'' to avoid the shame that will be brought upon the family because of this.

* The Branded in ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius (Video Game)|Fire Emblem]]'', while theoretically [[Half -Human Hybrid|Half Human Hybrids]]s, share more than a passing resemblance to this.

* ''[[Family Guy]]'': Parodied in "The Griffin Family History" which contains a ''[[Roots]]'' spoof.

{{quote| Stewie: "You know the best part of being half white and half black. When I grow up I'll be accepted by everyone."}}

* The very famous Brazilian writer [[Machado De Assis (Creator)|Machado Dede Assis]] was a victim of this. It fueled his angst and feelings of displacement, and is probably one of the reasons why he even decided to write in the first place.

* For various reasons<ref>such as preserving a minority culture undiluted, keeping a community together, the number of White or Black identified Americans who have or believe they have some kind of Native ancestry, trying to figure out who has certain rights like voting in tribal elections or owning an eagle feather under US laws which make exceptions for tribally enrolled Natives, ad nauseum</ref> it can be very difficult for urban Natives and Natives of mixed descent to claim indigenous identity in the United States. The legal status of tribal enrollment has requirements that have been criticized for being rigid, arbitrary, and sometimes arcane - This Troper knows of one example in his tribe where one man got on the rolls but his brother was rejected - and if you can't produce your papers sometimes that means you can't fully participate in some aspects of your religion and culture, like being able to legally use controlled substances like peyote which belong to your tradition, be able to take classes in your language which are enrolled-only, or be allowed to attend some ceremoniescere monies (depending on tribe, etc.) Even culturally, socially some hardline Natives don't want anything to do with you if you aren't tribally enrolled and didn't grow up on the reservation. There's generally a pecking order depending on your blood quantum and where and how you grew up, and you can find racism, against especially people of mixed Native/Black descent who appear Black. There are arguments for and against all this, but it can be hard on you if you aren't a status Indian legally and are socially rejected by your tribe, especially since you still might not appear White and can't [[Pass Fail|assimilate totally into the majority culture]], and you might have grown up being taught traditions, values, and things about your history and identity that mean you don't necessarily think or behave like a culturally White person either. So where do you stand? Where are your children and grandchildren going to stand? Tricky question.