Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You've never lived a day in the life of someone Black, or Hispanic in the U.S.
The word has those connotations because of society and the way that it is used, you of course don't understand that because the word isn't used to describe you.
You've never lived a day in the life of someone Black, or Hispanic in the U.S.
The word has those connotations because of society and the way that it is used, you of course don't understand that because the word isn't used to describe you.
I think people of other races total about one third of the US population now and grow much faster than the white population, so one day the minorities will be a majority. I never really thought much about the term, but I guess it does have many negative associations. I don't know anyone who would consider Jewish people not to be white, however, I don't think people generally consider Arabs to be white in the same way that they don't consider Latinos white. Just an observation.
It depends with Arabs. The ones who came mostly from Lebanon and others from Syria in the late 1800s/early 1900s, one of the hottest periods for Arab immigration, were mostly Christians and descendents of them definitely consider themselves White. There are blue eyed, blond hair people who are of Lebanese descent.
Nowadays, most Arabs aren't coming from Lebanon/Syria, but from Morocco and Yemen and those who are coming from Lebanon/Syria are predominately Muslims. The Muslims look a little bit darker (although they're still light skin and I still consider a number of them to be White). With recent immigration having more Muslims coming in, Arab-Americans are stereotypically believed to all follow the religion (contrary to popular believe, 65% of Arabs in America are Christians and most of them are descendents, not immigrants). Ask anyone nowadays. Because Osama Bin Ladin looks a little dark, Americans, in all their ignorance, figure all Arabs look like that. Most Americans think Arabs are a minority. 100 years ago, when many Arabs were coming to America, you could ask any American what race these Arabs were and they'd reply, "White."
As for Jews, it's not a case. They're definitely Caucasian. White is debatable, but I'd lean in favor of yes. The same applies to Arabs.
If I could just interject. I think you meant to say plurality (Plurality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) instead of majority here. If 3 out of 10 people are white then there would be no majority (a majority being half plus one more), but white people would constitute the plurality.
As for your comments about white people in Brooklyn. I looked up the statistics on City Data's webpage for King's county and here is what I found:
Black (36.4%)
White Non-Hispanic (34.7%)
Hispanic (19.8%)
Other race (10.1%)
Chinese (4.9%)
Two or more races (4.3%)
Asian Indian (1.0%)
Other Asian (0.9%)
American Indian (0.8%)
So white people in Brooklyn are apparently not a majority and also are not even a plurality as black people are the largest group.
Quote:
Originally Posted by straightshooter
having said this, i think the term's statistical persuasiveness will decline in the future. this is due to the increase in ethnic groups here. if out of 10 people, 3 identify themselves as white, 2 as black, 2 as hispanic, 2 as asian, and 1 as indian, whites are the technical majority. however, they only comprise 30% of the set. therefore, they are not the absolute majority. this is what is happening here, although with more groups and (obviously) more people. it will continue to be mathematically sound to call the other groups minority groups, but the word's social pursuasiveness will not carry the day for any purpose.
Thread is being closed.. This would best be discussed in Politics and other controversies
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
