wlcm

Some people just get offended too easily and then make a big fuss about it. Personaly i'd rather be called chinese or asian than asian-american. The american part is so useless and redundant. Describing my citizenship does not help anyone pick me out of a group.

As for calling people by their skin color or whatever, i believe its best to just go by what stands out more and easily said. As long as the way you said it is not said with insulting intentions and what you call me actually describes me somehow, i'm fine with it.

If you need to distinguish yourself in a database, then go right ahead and add as many hyphens as you need, but when you're just trying to point someone out or paint a rough picture, just go with what is simplest.

PC is a load of crap anyways.

ratbastid

Even better, I once knew a guy with dual South African and American citizenship. White guy. ALWAYS marked the "African American" box on survey forms.

Macheath

The situation is, of course, similar in regard to the Australian Aborigines. Since the 1960s, a popular term of identity in New South Wales and Victoria has been <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/ANDC/Austwords/koori">'Koori'</a> which is 'person' in a number of the different languages of that region. Being that there were, however, 250-300 indigenous languages at the time of European settlement, Koori has not gained Australia wide acceptance. Other terms of identity in different areas include Murri, Nunga, Nyungar, Pulawa and Yolngu.

Aside from this, there are over 600 tribal groups (or nations) throughout Australia.
http://www.ausanthrop.net/resources/ausanthrop_db/

I was able to find historical <a href="http://www.artmonthly.org.au/scroll/white/default.asp">indigenous words for european settlers</a>; among those were alherntere (pink nose), balanda (skins like white clay) and more startlingly kuinyo (a dead person), migulu (spirit), nanadji (ghost) and grinkari (skinless corpse).

Identity is a complicated issue and history is deeper than we can imagine. In the end though, I think you get your identity from wherever feels right for you and be proud regardless of the hate of some others.

raeanna74

I have had a number of friends who were blacks. Most of the time when I use the term it is in the context of describing how someone looks. Oh look at the cute black girl, or look at the hot brunette girl. To me the color of a person's skin is as important as whether they have a blue dress on or green dress. It's more a way to describe how they look and not a way to put someone down or catagorize them.

My grandfather is a bit predjudiced and makes racial comments mostly because when he was a trucker before World War II he went through Chicago and was beat up by a gang which was made up of blacks. Since then though he has learned to accept them and golfs or goes to dinner often with a man from his church who is black.

My friends in college who were black told me they prefer the term "black". It wasn't a big deal to them if you weren't saying it in a derogatory way or in a blanket catagorizing statement.

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Kllr Wolf

The only problem I have with using African-American to describe blacks is that not all African-Americans are black. I worked for 3 years with a man that was born and raised in Africa and came to the United States after he turned 20. He is white. At the same time none of the blacks at work had ever been to Africa for even a day. It just dont make sense to me.

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raeanna74

OH and here's a thought. I am 1/8th Cree Indian. My Dad who is obviously 1/4th and even his father who was 1/2 don't look anything like the paintings and pictures of American Indians. They have dark hair that is perfectly straight but other than that not many distinctive features. Same for me. I'm naturally blond with straight hair and very fair skin. Just goes to show that you cannot tell a person's heritage by the features of their face or color of their skin or hair.

If you are wanting to recognize your heritage for personal reasons than go for it. Personally I'll just stick to calling you by your citizenship unless I'm describing how you look and then you better not get offended because I'm just going to talk about features and not say things derogatory.

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mortius

I'm just here as resident alien Gota love that term, I feel like ET.

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BenChuy

No, i have to say that the *-american thing is also very presumptuous. There are 2 whole continents of america, you know! How about being from the US.

African americans = darker skinned people from the US.

"white" americans = lighter skinned people from the US

BTW, i doubt that many people who are white are from the Caucasus regions of europe. I HATE that term too. WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT MELANIN!!! if you do, you are an idiot with a lacking background in biology and genetics.

And, i have to say, that i actually agreed with Rush Limbaugh (the fat windbag conservative who has no care for anyone but himself) the other day about the texas rep who wanted "african-american names for hurricanes". He pretty much said that it was these people who were pushing back the progress of complete integration of our society and bringing up racism. When it is there, deal with it. If it is not, DO NOT BRING IT UP!!!

One of the things that makes violent communities is a lack of belonging in that society. So, self segregation, which is RAMPANT in my area (Arkansas) leads to worse situations and a general lack of the richer other people understanding what is going on as they never have a chance to interact with anyone else. Out of sight, out of mind.

thelivingawper

Posted by Talon:
"how so???? are you saying it is derogatory to call a white person white, or a black person black?"


No, it's racist to point it out to someone sheerly for the purpose of ridicule

Stiltzkin

:: peers around:: I hope my opinion doesn't offend anyone. I'm Mexican + Spanish + Italian... and some of my friends call me "that dirty Spaniard" and crack jokes about me coming to "rape our women and spread disease", and quite frankly I think it's hilarious But then again, I know that they don't really mean what they're saying. If say a person who I do not know at all came up to me and said those things to me, I'd get pretty offended because I wouldn't know what their intention was for saying it. I think a lot of race-related junk that is said depends on intention. Sometimes it doesn't mean anything, sometimes it does. I also have a friend who is half Mexican, half Vietnamese, but he mostly looks Vietnamese and often gets called "that Chinese guy" (out of ignorance). I joke around with him sometimes too. He calls himself a Chink-ish Spick-- he's not offended by racial slurs so long as they're not coming from someone he doesn't know well, and I don't mind such things either. So... labels are ok, and so are jokes and such, so long as the person is okay with them. If you don't know a person and aren't sure about their beliefs, then just keep your mouth shut Also, when the hell would you even need to describe a person's racial background anyway? Probably the only time you'd really need it is when you witness a crime involving such an individual. In said case, it may be okay to use racial slurs and such to the cops who're interrogating you because the individual who commited the crime is clearly a scoundrel

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hobo

I never liked the term myself. It sounds stupid. It is probably easier to call someone by their citizenship, and say that they have the appearance of someone from X country.

XenuHubbard

Being half Finnish and half Swedish, and living in Taiwan, I DEMAND that you call me Scandinavian-Ugrian-Caucasian- Taiwanese.

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Lestat

I have a buddy of mine who laughs at the whole notion of "African-American". He calls himself a real "African-American". He is from South Africa and is white as can be. All of my black friends get a real kick out of it. They think the term African-American is very stupid. They prefered to be called black and don't have a problem with it.

I don't call myself Spanish - American. I'm an American. Period.

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yankeefatboy

Here in no. california, there is a big push for proper labeling: some groups label themselves chicano, hispanic, latino or even mexican indian. my son is considered hispanic/american because the ex-wife's family originated in spain. me, call me what you want and i'll call you what you want. I'm easy.

JumpinJesus

I've been debating about how to respond to this thread, because, while I understand the purpose of discussing how people are labeled, it's like discussing whether the packaging on a box of ice cream is nice and ignoring what it tastes like.

Does anyone really believe that if we solve the vexing issue of what to call each other, that somehow the issue of race relations will be solved? We're expending energy on a non-issue while the real issue of race relations gets ignored.

If we truly want to advance our society in its relations between the races, then we have to drop our pretenses and talk about what is really at the root of our problems.

We have an identity crisis in this country. We don't know who the hell we are. We pretend how wonderful it is that the U.S. is this huge melting pot where everyone holds hands and sings "Kumbaya" when in reality we're all eyeing each other with suspicion. Everyone is afraid of losing "their" culture to someone else swimming in the stew. So we build socially constructed walls around ourselves to protect us from "them", and then change the focus of our problem so as not to appear racist. Fuck racism and fuck the appearance of it. Nothing will ever change as long as the depth of our discussions reach only "do you prefer to be called 'black' or 'African-American' "? It's like asking whether someone wants paper or plastic. No substance, only packaging.

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Ashton

Mael

i'm half german, can i trade the part of that that's above your 1/3 (i don't feel like doing the math) and get a little italian and dutch in exchange so i can join the club? i like clubs.

txgirl

This has been an issue for generations upon generations...the only word that I REALLY dislike hearing is Nigger...now that is not cool!

Othello

I'm Black Canadian so I would be offended by the term "African American"....jk

MacGnG

call me, white not caucasian
call african americans, black
call native americans, indians

or just call everyone human...

oldtimer

I was ready to chew someone out on the title of this thread alone. But I like the comments that resulted after its appearance. African American, gets old after seeing it everywhere. Mainly job forms and school enrollment forms display this. I say just <b>cross American out</b>. What are they going to do to you? They should now be listed as: African, Hispanic (many people find <b>mexican</b> offensive as everyone who speaks spanish is <b>NOT</b> mexican), Indian, and American. Please add if I left any out.

I don't hate being an American. I embrace all the truths and ideals it stands for. But the crap (prostitution, gambling, smoking, drinking, violence (arguable: countries like Afghanistan and North Korea are worse than us but we are still a pretty violent nation), kidnapping (the only country I know to have this problem A LOT!) it carries is a small price to pay for our <i>freedom</i>. Though sometimes its as if your <i>voice</i> was never heard. I'm waiting for that <b>change</b>......I can only hope it comes sooner.

Anybody who thinks America is perfect is just as <i>ignorant</i> as they come.

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Drider_it

I just use the term.. "that dude" for any one.. unless a lady then i use.. "that hottie" hehe

When it comes to racism im color blind..

although I do hate the entire human race.. we destroy our world.. kill each other.. we just be targeted for extinction.. and let nature start over with ants or bees

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oldtimer

It's inevitable......we will not change. At least not in this lifetime.

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Showering once a month does not make you a better person.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

bobbles

I call black australians.... australians (aboriginies, although i dont like that term because I think its not specific to australia?)

sub zero

I'm with you on that one .

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Erik-the-Red

well, technically speaking, no, Aboriginal doesn't mean "black indiginous Australian" it just means "indiginous" or "native populous" or what it meant in colonial times, those pests who inhabited our land before we did </sarcasm>

this aside, it is the name that has been taken to describe indiginous Australians, even by themselves now. even though it's kinda fucked.

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muckluck

Jus call me European or White or just American. Im from 9 different European Countries. It gets confusing when people ask me where I'm from

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IckUber

hmm, maybe just call people people, and not color.

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IckUber

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more fire

just a tip for anyone going to greenland: inuits DO NOT liked to be called eskimos. most inuits (but not all) think of eskimo as a derogatory term.

yournamehere

Hmmm . . . I think we have a "label-hater" among us.

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Darkblack

I think the term was used to try and be PC. Nothing really wrong with it but honestly most black people want to be called black. I still use African American out of habit sometimes because during the 90's it was what was the norm. Now, black, white, Latino, and Asian are the normal text. Not African American, Anglo, Hispanic, and Oriental.

Just new names, that’s all.