Race consciousness in Austin

[+ or -]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

I have never liked the expression acting white - is that what you mean by pretending you're white? What does acting white mean anyway. I mean, I'm white, so are many of my neighbors and while I like them, I really don't have that much in common with many of them. My point is that people that are white are as varied as can be. I have a friend who did well in college and now does well professionally and has to deal with people accusing her of "acting white" That is total BS.

Thank you.

You have white rednecks who live in trailor parks and rich white investment bankers. You have black people who live in the projects and rich black multi millionaire business owners.

Yet the ghetto blacks somehow serve as an example of what it means to be black, while the rich, educated whites serve as an example of what it means to be white.

Variate from these categorical stereotypes and you are trying to be "black" or white".

I DEFINITELY WILL NOT be staying in Austin after I graduate. This city is full of ignorant people.

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by + or -

Thank you.

You have white rednecks who live in trailor parks and rich white investment bankers. You have black people who live in the projects and rich black multi millionaire business owners.

Yet the ghetto blacks somehow serve as an example of what it means to be black, while the rich, educated whites serve as an example of what it means to be white.

Variate from these categorical stereotypes and you are trying to be "black" or white".

I DEFINITELY WILL NOT be staying in Austin after I graduate. This city is full of ignorant people.

I can't blame you for feeling annoyed when people want you to conform to a bad stereotype, but but by the same token, I don't think it's fair for you to call Austin a town "full of ignorant people." To me, it sounds like you're stereotyping Austinites the same way you claim they're stereotyping you.

I'm Jewish, and when my family moved here in 1984, we were among the only Jews in Northwest Austin. Most people I met knew little about Judaism, and growing up, I dealt with plenty of insensitive and ignorant comments from a few of those people. I could have let the rude people taint my opinion of everyone in this town, but it wouldn't be fair to generalize like that.

If you're convinced that the world is place full of racist, ignorant people, you'll always find circumstantial evidence to support your theory. Maybe Austin isn't for you, but who's to say that you won't feel the same way about the next city you move to.

[artsyguy]

Very good post. Good job.

Originally Posted by + or -;11086835[B

]
You're as ignorant as the majority of people I've encountered in this city[/b].

I'm very proud of my race and wouldn't change it for anything.

That's why I hated Austin. I experienced the same BS that you did and left.

Originally Posted by + or -

I DEFINITELY WILL NOT be staying in Austin after I graduate. This city is full of ignorant people.

[+ or -]

Originally Posted by passionatearts

It's in all of our natures to act awkwardly and say stupid/ignorant things around other cultures/races that we don't know very well.

Maybe it's in your nature, and the nature of a sizeable majority of this city, but it's certainly not in mine. I mean, I'm not going to go up to an Asian female and say, "is it true your _____ is slanted side ways?" I mean, that would be highly offensive and derogatory, would it not?

Yes, those stereotypes are pervasive, and no, I've never dated an Asian girl to find out if it is true first hand, but I have enough tact and social skills to know that that is a totally inappropriate question.

Originally Posted by passionatearts

When I was studying abroad in Spain, Spaniards were constantly asking me stuff about the United States. Many of them had misconceptions and ignorant opinions of our country. I never got angry at anyone for these things. I just shrugged this off and chalked it up to cultural differences.

You're talking about experiences in another country and I'm talking about experiences in my own country among other Americans. Yes, there is a difference.

I lived in Japan (which is largely homogenous) for two years and did not experience the level of race consciousness that I have experienced in this country, particularly in Austin.

Furthermore, I question your assertion that this ignorance is a result of so-called "cultural differences"? What cultural differences? I have more in common with most whites at UT than I do with most blacks. The difference of course is skin color and ethnicity.

Originally Posted by passionatearts

For many of the people I knew, I was the first American they ever met, so how could I blame them for acting weird around me? If I had acted angry or defensive, I could have given them a bad opinion about Americans.

Again, I don't understand the analogy. How can you live in this country for any period of time and not have interaction with a black person? Even with limited interaction, there are examples of educated, upwardly mobile blacks even if you choose to ignore them in favor of the pervasive stereotypes.

You see what you want to see.

Originally Posted by passionatearts

Many of the people who are acting weird around you are like the Spaniards I met - they're mostly nice people who mean well who are just nervous and slightly ignorant because they don't have much exposure to being around black people. Don't give them a hard time about this. Think of every interaction as an opportunity to educate people and maybe even have a laugh.

That's fine if it only happens once a week, but to have it occur every single day, sometimes several times a day is too much. Assuming you're white, and lived in say Detroit, would you like it if every single day you went to the grocery store got weird stares, or went to a restaurant and had random people in conversation commenting on your whiteness? Would you like it if random people came up to you and asked if they could touch your hair, or ask "are you really white? I thought you were black over the phone?"

Somehow if it was you in this situation, I don't think you'd be laughing.

Originally Posted by passionatearts

If there's one thing "South Park" taught me it's that everyone needs to lighten up and stop taking themselves so seriously.

I agree. However, this has been very persistant for me and the purpose of this thread was to gain insight and hopefully the experiences in others to find out why this place is so damn race conscious.

[+ or -]

Originally Posted by passionatearts

If you're convinced that the world is place full of racist, ignorant people, you'll always find circumstantial evidence to support your theory.

Not the world. Just Austin.