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I know of many citizens (born here) of Mexican heritage that refer to themselves as Mexican-American or just plain Mexican. It always baffles me.
My gf (Hispanic) says she's heard people refer to themselves as "Mexican-American", but it's rare. And she uses the term "Mexican" in reference to Hispanics quite often.
But again, I don't know why anyone would care about any of this...
Why? So is a white person who's family have lived in Africa for many generations and then moves to the USA, can not call themself Africans beacuse they are not black?
They're not even African, so how can they be considered African Americans?
I mean, if you guys are gonna play this game about black Americans not being African Americans because African immigrants say we aren't, then i can play that game too.
In Africa, black Africans don't consider white settlers to be African either. So if those people move here, how can they be African Americans?
Again, it appears that I must do what your schooling has not, and educate you. If you are WHITE, and born in AFRICA, and move to the U.S, you are a WHITE African American.
I once wittness a lady get mugged by a black man in a black neighborhood. When the police came I wanted to tell them what I saw. I felt uncomfortable telling the police the mugger was black. Even though the lady who was robbed was black herself. I felt like I was offending people by saying so. But I was also feeling uncomfortable calling him African American.
In the end I did call him black. I made a choice. I mean, I could have called him " dark brown man". Would that have been better? Please tell.
Did you feel uncomfortable telling the police the mugger was a man?
Did you feel uncomfortable describing the mugger's estimated height and weight?
If the mugger was white, I am guessing you would be perfectly comfortable describing him as a white man.
Why would you feel uncomfortable giving a complete description of a mugger? He is a bad guy that needs to be caught.
Do you think black is a derogatory term?
There are black people, white people, and many different shades of brown people. That's just the way it is.
Did you feel uncomfortable telling the police the mugger was a man?
Did you feel uncomfortable describing the mugger's estimated height and weight?
If the mugger was white, I am guessing you would be perfectly comfortable describing him as a white man.
Why would you feel uncomfortable giving a complete description of a mugger. He is a bad guy that needs to be caught.
Do you think black is a derogatory term?
There are black people, white people, and many different shades of brown people. That's just the way it is.
Because when a white person commits a crime, that person pays the price. When a black person commits a crime, The Entire Black Race pays the price. That's the difference.
Because when a white person commits a crime, that person pays the price. When a black person commits a crime, The Entire Black Race pays the price. That's the difference.
ok. That would be unfortunate.
So if the person was a hero who saved a kid and left the scene, then glass_of_merlot would not be uncomfortable adding race to the man's description? Just trying to sort this all out...
So if the person was a hero who saved a kid and left the scene, then glass_of_merlot would not be uncomfortable adding race to the man's description? Just trying to sort this all out...
The "attributing behaviors of some individuals to the whole entire race" technique is generally only used in regards to negative behaviors and is one of the main ways racism takes form these days. Generally the same is not true of positive behaviors. When Obama became president, people started questioning if he was really born in the U.S. and was really eligible for president, they weren't exactly saying "See? Black folks can become president!" Instead they were questioning how "American" he "really" is. When a Black person commits a murder, it often starts up a dialogue about how All Black People Ever are so violent and barbaric and because they have higher crime statistics racial profiling is obviously justified and yadda yadda yadda. Rarely, if ever, do we hear these same dialogues in reference to white people. Given that many people do attribute the negative behaviors of some Black people to all Black people, you can hopefully understand why someone might not want to include the race of Black person who has just committed a crime...cause it's likely to fire up another racist "see, Black people are criminals, I avoid them for a reason" dialogue, yet again.
I was in a discussion where I just wanted to know who the person was that I was supposed to see, because I don't recognize the name. After describing the person to me with no luck, the person I was talking with looked around and then very quietly said " he is that new black guy"
I just chuckled.
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