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[PhoenixDark]

The mother in the photo clearly looks half-black half something else(my guess white).

I get the impression that you don't know many black people, huh. Her mom being light skinned doesn't mean she is mixed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRsgavuG4sg&t=1m28s

 

[Valhelm]

I think you need to read the last few pages. And she's not mixed, she's clearly black from the photo in the beginning of the damn thread.

Culturally, she's Black. But ethnically or genetically, she's obviously mixed. Her mother is probably around 50% African and 50% European. She's still a Black person! But she's lighter-skinned than her husband because of European admixture over the course of 400 years. It's possible that her mother could be half Black and half Asian, too. Most African Americans have something like 20% European heritage, so her father probably has some distant European ancestry as well.

Clementine is definitely a Black person, but she's certainly not 100% Sub-Saharan African.

 

[NewGame]

Also this is the photo you see in the game:

SPOILER PHOTO:

Spoiler

Here's them as zombies. They're pretty black looking zombies but I am no zombie expert sorry.

 

[hwalker84]

Culturally, she's Black. But ethnically or genetically, she's obviously mixed. Her mother is probably around 50% African and 50% European. She's still a Black person! But she's lighter-skinned than her husband because of European admixture over the course of 400 years. It's possible that her mother could be half Black and half Asian, too. Most African Americans have something like 20% European heritage, so her father probably has some distant European ancestry as well.

Clementine is definitely a Black person, but she's certainly not 100% Sub-Saharan African.

I can't do this anymore

 

[JustinBB7]

I think the guy who designed her was Asian and made her Asian like his daughter, but then Telltale wanted her to be black because they made Lee. So he had to change it. It's why she's a bit light/sorta Asian looking.

At least I think that's the story, but I'm not 100% sure. Don't remember where I read that.

Edit: Might have actually heard that on the Telltale stream they did a while ago, when they played the first season.

 

[Camp Lo]

I think the guy who designed her was Asian and made her Asian like his daughter, but then Telltale wanted her to be black because they made Lee. So he had to change it. It's why she's a bit light/sorta Asian looking.

At least I think that's the story, but I'm not 100% sure. Don't remember where I read that.

Yo you gotta find that source, that's a game changer.

Spoiler

as if this couldn't get any more ridiculous

 

[franknbeans]

Culturally, she's Black. But ethnically or genetically, she's obviously mixed. Her mother is probably around 50% African and 50% European. She's still a Black person! But she's lighter-skinned than her husband because of European admixture over the course of 400 years. It's possible that her mother could be half Black and half Asian, too. Most African Americans have something like 20% European heritage, so her father probably has some distant European ancestry as well.

Clementine is definitely a Black person, but she's certainly not 100% Sub-Saharan African.

In the next episode Clementine needs to find one of the DNA ancestry kits, and put an end to this discussion

 

[Kreunt]

I always just assumed she was some kind of outer-space potato man.

 

[malfcn]

She has black parents, looks asian and has a white voice actress.
Either way, she is a character that strikes such emotion into a player.

Why doesn't someone ask Telltale?
I can already see the Twitter/Facebook shit storm.
(Look at what happened with The Hunger Games)

Wonder if they made her lighter, to make people want to care about her more.
It'd be sad to hear, but I can see that possibly being a reason.

 

[JustinBB7]

Yo you gotta find that source, that's a game changer.

Spoiler

as if this couldn't get any more ridiculous

Wiki says this:

Telltale had considered other backgrounds for Clementine, such as being from a single-parent family, or being the younger sister of the player character, but found that the pre-established emotional bond between the characters did not fit well, and instead opted to make Lee Everett her father-figure. This led to changing Clementine's race from white to African-American and Hispanic, as to give her the appearance of possibly being Lee's daughter to other characters. [1]

Clementine's design was based on art director Derek Sakai's own daughter.

So seems about right what I said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine_(The_Walking_Dead)#Concept_and_creation
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/12/26/creating-clementine.aspx

 

[PhoenixDark]

Culturally, she's Black. But ethnically or genetically, she's obviously mixed. Her mother is probably around 50% African and 50% European. She's still a Black person! But she's lighter-skinned than her husband because of European admixture over the course of 400 years. It's possible that her mother could be half Black and half Asian, too. Most African Americans have something like 20% European heritage, so her father probably has some distant European ancestry as well.

Clementine is definitely a Black person, but she's certainly not 100% Sub-Saharan African.

You know this how? Go ask a random light skinned black person if one of her parents are white. I guarantee you the majority you ask will say no. Every light skinned black person does not have a white parent. They have white ancestors in most cases thanks to slavery though.

 

[Immaculate]

As a white person, I just want to say I love black people. I want more black protagonists in games, more black protagonists in tv shows, too much shit has been too white for too long.

why does this feel so forced. like you didn't even have to mention you were white you just put in to make it look like you aren't racist or some shit

 

[GraveHorizon]

I get the impression that you don't know many black people, huh. Her mom being light skinned doesn't mean she is mixed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRsgavuG4sg&t=1m28s

My friend still insists that Clementine has no black features at all other than her hair which is a maybe. He claims his experience as a white guy growing up only in a town with a handful of black people and a few Asians at the community college trumps mine as a half black half white guy growing up in the same town while also having lived for two years in California with my black aunt and cousins.

 

[Black-Wind]

This thread ...

I love how if you're not chocolate with a fro/ dreads/ shaved head you're "mixed?" or simply not black.

So apparently people look over the in-game context and such and assume she's "at least mixed with Asian" because ... they think slanted eyes are an Asian only feature?

 

[masizzai]

wow...the racial ignorance in this thread is so real.

 

[franknbeans]

This thread ...

I love how if you're not chocolate with a fro/ dreads/ shaved head you're "mixed?" or simply not black.

So apparently people look over the in-game context and such and assume she's "at least mixed with Asian" because ... they think slanted eyes are an Asian only feature?

If you don't look like Wesley Snipes you are obviously mixed according to this thread.

 

[Ace Harding]

Is it important to the game and its story at all?

Gotta say I never thought about it. But if you asked me before this thread I would have said white. But now, yeah I guess she was black.

I'm going back to the OT.

 

[ISOM]

Culturally, she's Black. But ethnically or genetically, she's obviously mixed. Her mother is probably around 50% African and 50% European. She's still a Black person! But she's lighter-skinned than her husband because of European admixture over the course of 400 years. It's possible that her mother could be half Black and half Asian, too. Most African Americans have something like 20% European heritage, so her father probably has some distant European ancestry as well.

Clementine is definitely a Black person, but she's certainly not 100% Sub-Saharan African.

Guy stop making up numbers. Stop with the qualifier but her mother is this and her father is that. Ignorance is ugly and you are showing it tenfold. She is black end of story.

 

[charsace]

People seriously thought she was Asian? There are black women with eyes shaped like hers.

 

[MormaPope]

why does this feel so forced. like you didn't even have to mention you were white you just put in to make it look like you aren't racist or some shit

Because I want cultural diversity in media, and my race is represented or championed way too much. It's boring to play as some white guy in the majority of games, why would I be defensive about racism if I want more diversity?

Just being honest and frank.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I always thought Clementine was black and asian. Imo, she certainly looks like it.

 

[GraveHorizon]

My friend's official stance is that he has never seen a black person with this skin tone.

By his admission, that is the skin tone exclusively of an Asian person.

This thread ...

I love how if you're not chocolate with a fro/ dreads/ shaved head you're "mixed?" or simply not black.

So apparently people look over the in-game context and such and assume she's "at least mixed with Asian" because ... they think slanted eyes are an Asian only feature?

And Clementine's skin tone. Asian only.

 

[breakfuss]

This thread ...

I love how if you're not chocolate with a fro/ dreads/ shaved head you're "mixed?" or simply not black.

So apparently people look over the in-game context and such and assume she's "at least mixed with Asian" because ... they think slanted eyes are an Asian only feature?

wow...the racial ignorance in this thread is so real.

Hmmmm. If she's Black, fine. Whatever. But I don't think it's "ignorant" that people didn't realize it. Even with all the so-called context clues. Certainly doesn't look like any of the Black people I know.

 

[Immaculate]

Because I want cultural diversity in media, and my race is represented or championed way too much. It's boring to play as some white guy in the majority of games, why would I be defensive about racism if I want more diversity?

Just being honest and frank.

nothing personal just an observation

more power to ya

 

[Roto13]

My friend's official stance is that he has never seen a black person with this skin tone.

http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2012/307/7/e/walking_dead__clementine_static__request_by_zakkensebern-d5jwd6o.jpg[IMG]

By his admission, that is the skin tone exclusively of an Asian person.



And Clementine's skin tone. Asian only.[/QUOTE]

You can stop calling him "my friend," we know who it is.

 

[Thorakai]

Culturally, she's Black. But ethnically or genetically, she's obviously mixed. Her mother is probably around 50% African and 50% European. She's still a Black person! But she's lighter-skinned than her husband because of European admixture over the course of 400 years. It's possible that her mother could be half Black and half Asian, too. Most African Americans have something like 20% European heritage, so her father probably has some distant European ancestry as well.

Clementine is definitely a Black person, but she's certainly not 100% Sub-Saharan African.

There is no such thing as 100% Sub-Saharan African because there is no generic criteria that defines that label, same thing for all other races. Bringing in mixtures and percentages just makes things ridiculous when trying to define labels that are socially constructed based on culture and physical appearance. People are just pointing out the black label has expanded to include lighter-skinned people as well, so Clementine falls under the category of black as it is used today.

 

[StoopKid]

My friend's official stance is that he has never seen a black person with this skin tone.

By his admission, that is the skin tone exclusively of an Asian person.



And Clementine's skin tone. Asian only.

Lol wtf your friend has never seem a light skin person before ?

 

[Valhelm]

You know this how? Go ask a random light skinned black person if one of her parents are white. I guarantee you the majority you ask will say no. Every light skinned black person does not have a white parent. They have white ancestors in most cases thanks to slavery though.

No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. Clementine is a Black person! Her race is Black. Her parents are Black. But even though her parents probably identify as Black people, they're not 100% Sub-Saharan African. Because rape of Black women was so common in the 18th and 19th centuries, most Black people are at least partially European. Some have a lot more European ancestry than others. This is why you have Idris Elba and you have Beyonce. Both of those people are still Black. Their race is Black. But Beyonce has some really old European ancestry, while Idris Elba probably does not. It's possible that somebody like Clementine's mother might be more European than SSA. But she's still Black.

Let's say that Clementine's father is 75% SSA and 25% European. Clementine's mother is 25% SSA and 75% European. This makes Clementine 50% SSA and 50% European. She's still a Black person, of course. But she's a Black person who happens to be about an equal mix of SSA and European. Race and ethnicity aren't the same thing at all. Race is a cultural concept, and all based on personal identity and societal rules.

Neither of Clementines parents are white. It's possible none of her grandparents are white. She is a Black person, but happens to have more European ancestry than most Black people.

 

[Arozay]

As a white person, I just want to say I love black people. I want more black protagonists in games, more black protagonists in tv shows, too much shit has been too white for too long.

A natural sentence.

I never really thought of popping out the colour swatch while playing the game as it makes absolutely no impact either way, other than the checking the imaginary diversity box.

 

[Retro_]

Hmmmm. If she's Black, fine. Whatever. But I don't think it's "ignorant" that people didn't realize it. Even with all the so-called context clues. Certainly doesn't look like any of the Black people I know.

ahahahaha

this thread is getting worse!

 

[masizzai]

Hmmmm. If she's Black, fine. Whatever. But I don't think it's "ignorant" that people didn't realize it. Even with all the so-called context clues. Certainly doesn't look like any of the Black people I know.

you just ruined your argument with blatant ignorance! black is a race, nobody claimed she's pure african american,(though still possible) it doesn't really matter. she's proved black and is part of one of the best games of the last generation. her being black doesn't take away from that.

 

[akidnamededdy]

This thread ...

I love how if you're not chocolate with a fro/ dreads/ shaved head you're "mixed?" or simply not black.

So apparently people look over the in-game context and such and assume she's "at least mixed with Asian" because ... they think slanted eyes are an Asian only feature?

The only in-game context was a brief look at a picture of her parents, and I feel like while it's obvious her dad's black, her mom certainly could be mistaken for "at least Asian" if you're not paying close enough attention because that's exactly what I did.

Spoiler

You do see them again later as zombies, but they're...zombies...so it's pretty hard to glean anything there. And again, it's pretty brief.

There are definitely some people being a little silly, to say the least, about it ITT, but your posts kinda make it clear that that silliness isn't exclusive to just one side of the discussion.

 

[ISOM]

No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. Clementine is a Black person! Her race is Black. Her parents are Black. But even though her parents probably identify as Black people, they're not 100% Sub-Saharan African. Because rape of Black women was so common in the 18th and 19th centuries, most Black people are at least partially European. Some have a lot more European ancestry than others. This is why you have Idris Elba and you have Beyonce. Both of those people are still Black. Their race is Black. But Beyonce has some really old European ancestry, while Idris Elba probably does not. It's possible that somebody like Clementine's mother might be more European than SSA. But she's still Black.

Let's say that Clementine's father is 75% SSA and 25% European. Clementine's mother is 25% SSA and 75% European. This makes Clementine 50% SSA and 50% European. She's still a Black person, of course. But she's a Black person who happens to be about an equal mix of SSA and European. Race and ethnicity aren't the same thing at all. Race is a cultural concept, and all based on personal identity and societal rules.

Neither of Clementines parents are white. It's possible none of her grandparents are white. She is a Black person, but happens to have more European ancestry than most Black people.

You are basically saying black people can't have light skin unless they have a majority white dna. Do you know how ridiculous you sound. Look up the pictures of charles barkley and snoop dog and tell me based on their skin tone who has more sub-saharan dna. I GUARANTEE you would be wrong. Charles barkley according to dna is blacker than snoop dogg. DNA is not as simple as you are making it out to be.

 

[HawksWinStanley]

This thread is so uncomfortable and awkward it's hilarious.

 

[Heart of Black]

A. in that family photo Clementine looks like Damien or some shit.

B. If you're black then you're black. That's the way the WORLD works. Just ask Haiti/Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil or the Philippines.

This half black nonsense is stupid, because even if the kid of a raped black slave was raped by another white person and had a 1/16th black kid down the line, that kid would have still been a slave.

Frederick Douglas had a white parent. Doesn't make him half anything.

Stop showing your ignorance, thanks.

 

[Retro_]

This thread is so uncomfortable and awkward it's hilarious.

I keep telling myself I'm done

Then I see a new post

 

[FluxWaveZ]

My friend's official stance is that he has never seen a black person with this skin tone.

By his admission, that is the skin tone exclusively of an Asian person.

And Clementine's skin tone. Asian only.

Your friend sounds ignorant as hell.

 

[StoopKid]

Hmmmm. If she's Black, fine. Whatever. But I don't think it's "ignorant" that people didn't realize it. Even with all the so-called context clues. Certainly doesn't look like any of the Black people I know.

 

[ISOM]

So much ignorance in this thread goddamn.

 

[ishibear]

Apparently, "I never seen a black person have light skin, Asian eyes, etc. so that means they can't be completely black."

Long story short: my small perception of the world is that black people are black. Not brown, not caramel, not light -- nope, nope, nope.

 

[Pinko Marx]

Man wheres Al B Sure at to put light skinned people back on the map?

 

[Lespedeza]

February is off to a great start....

 

[stonesak]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pQQNYPMAmA

 

[charsace]

My friend's official stance is that he has never seen a black person with this skin tone.

By his admission, that is the skin tone exclusively of an Asian person.



And Clementine's skin tone. Asian only.

Did you tell your friend that he's a damn idiot? I have cousins that have eyes like hers that are lighter skin. My grandmother and sister have similar shaped eyes. My sister has hair just like Clementine's.

 

[MormaPope]

Clementine isn't asian unless there's some gigantic hidden nugget of info that suggests so. Her skin complexion doesn't dictate her black levels, this isn't DBZ. I don't think her parents were hiding some crucial fact like she was adopted or something.

 

[CadetMahoney]

No one would find a black as fuck kid cute and her being cute is a big part of why its so easy to care for the character. Light skinned little black girl with natural hair is almost a trope at this point.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

This thread is embarrassing.

 

[PhoenixDark]

No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. Clementine is a Black person! Her race is Black. Her parents are Black. But even though her parents probably identify as Black people, they're not 100% Sub-Saharan African. Because rape of Black women was so common in the 18th and 19th centuries, most Black people are at least partially European. Some have a lot more European ancestry than others. This is why you have Idris Elba and you have Beyonce. Both of those people are still Black. Their race is Black. But Beyonce has some really old European ancestry, while Idris Elba probably does not. It's possible that somebody like Clementine's mother might be more European than SSA. But she's still Black.

Let's say that Clementine's father is 75% SSA and 25% European. Clementine's mother is 25% SSA and 75% European. This makes Clementine 50% SSA and 50% European. She's still a Black person, of course. But she's a Black person who happens to be about an equal mix of SSA and European. Race and ethnicity aren't the same thing at all. Race is a cultural concept, and all based on personal identity and societal rules.

Neither of Clementines parents are white. It's possible none of her grandparents are white. She is a Black person, but happens to have more European ancestry than most Black people.

Your original statement was that her mother is probably 50% European, which is blatantly false. Most black people in the US have European ancestry due to slavery, regardless of how dark they are - you're right on that point. But the majority of black Americans are not more than 50% European, or even 40%.

My great great great grandfather was Cherokee Native American, and I also have white ancestors. However I don't looked mixed, whereas one of my brothers is light skinned.

 

[breakfuss]

ahahahaha

this thread is getting worse!

you just ruined your argument with blatant ignorance! black is a race, nobody claimed she's pure african american,(though still possible) it doesn't really matter. she's proved black and is part of one of the best games of the last generation. her being black doesn't take away from that.

Hahaha, what? I'm just being candid with ya'll. I don't know many people who identify as Black that look like that little girl (the in-game model, at least). I'm not saying she can't be. Take that how you want. I've traveled and lived in a lot of places, went to a pretty diverse school and currently live in reasonably diverse region. I would have never guessed she was Black. That isn't ignorant, just my perspective. You guys act like her appearance isn't a bit obfuscated by the game's art direction. I feel like it was intentional.

 

[kaioshade]

This thread depresses me.

I really hope some of you posting ignorance in this thread can open your eyes and get to see the world to a wider degree than you have been. There are so many different people out there, to make some of those comments, it really shows a very narrow view of the world and race as a whole.

Please educate yourselves and broaden your horizons people.