Question about heritage/ethnicity

[Dogdragoness]

Than by that definatition no one would be "American" because a majority of folks immigrated from other countries (mine came over from Poland on my fathers side & Germany on my moms fathers side. My grandmother is full Cherokee )

IMHO no moving to "X" country from "Y" country & having kids there doesn't make you from "Y" country

 

[Pops2]

I was going to comment on that, too, but decided to just leave it. Yeah, I'm sure having the other high school kids omit you from their "club" for being white was just as traumatizing for all those kids who couldn't walk down the street at night for fear of being arrested, or worse, shot by a police officer

um yeah, because when you're a white kid at a predominantly latino or black school staffed by predominantly black & latino teachers and admin, the worst that happens is that they tell you you can't join the chess club.
you clearly haven't been a white minority kid and had to fight against 3 or 5 ****** kids at least once a week and then have the ****** teacher & principle threaten to expell you while letting the ****** kids walk w/o so much as reprimand. if it wasn't for the mexican kids becoming my friends & backing me up, i don't know that i would have survived those couple of years. so you can take your ignorant BS comment and shove it.
it's no coincidence that the most violent & ENDURING skinhead groups are in cities w/ LARGE "minority" populations.
i fortunately had the benefit of the Marine Corps to show me what it's like when color doesn't matter. it allowed me to mostly let go of the experiences of my childhood. but it also taught me that racism is racism no matter who does it and it ALWAYS leads to more than just hurt feelings. i also know that blaming one group for another groups failures only creates hostility in those that are blamed.

 

[milos_mommy]

um yeah, because when you're a white kid at a predominantly latino or black school staffed by predominantly black & latino teachers and admin, the worst that happens is that they tell you you can't join the chess club.
you clearly haven't been a white minority kid and had to fight against 3 or 5 ****** kids at least once a week and then have the ****** teacher & principle threaten to expell you while letting the ****** kids walk w/o so much as reprimand. if it wasn't for the mexican kids becoming my friends & backing me up, i don't know that i would have survived those couple of years. so you can take your ignorant BS comment and shove it.
it's no coincidence that the most violent & ENDURING skinhead groups are in cities w/ LARGE "minority" populations.
i fortunately had the benefit of the Marine Corps to show me what it's like when color doesn't matter. it allowed me to mostly let go of the experiences of my childhood. but it also taught me that racism is racism no matter who does it and it ALWAYS leads to more than just hurt feelings. i also know that blaming one group for another groups failures only creates hostility in those that are blamed.

Oh, I have absolutely seen horrible race crimes committed against white people,

but the example that Zoe posted in this thread was that her best friend wouldn't let her hang out with her anymore because she wasn't Mexican. That's not a race crime, that's high school.

 

[Pops2]

I call myself Metis, which I am in my moms side. My papa aka grandpa grew up in a very metis culture. On my dads side is Cree, Iroquois, and Scottish, my dad is a status Indian. My great, great grandmother Victoria Calahoo is a pretty famous Indian Woman in Alberta, you can even google her. I get teased a lot about having a Native American heritage by friends. I was called Whindian aka white Indian a lot in school by friends as a joke, it really does not bother me, unless people are being outright malicious and then I stand up for myself.

People kinnda give me a weird look when I talk about my heritage as I don't really look the native American part, other than my dark hair and olive completion, my brother on the other hand looks the part, he was even born with brown eyes like most Indian babies.

it's funny how different you look. you remind of a Lakota kid & his sister i used to know. their dad was all lakota from pine ridge & their mom was mostly white. they were both about 5/8 lakota & he was a little darker w/ the dark hair & eyes but his sister was white w/ slightly curly medium brown hair & brown eyes. they had some features where you could see they were related. but if they weren't standing next to each other you'd never guess.
ETA: a really funny thing was that he had the anglo name & she had a native first name.

 

[sillysally]

Recently I realized just how privileged I am to be a white person. I went to vote on Tuesday, and I had two registration cards--one in my maiden name, and one in my married name. I handed the lady my married card, and she said I didn't exist in the system. I handed her the maiden name, and she found me and just smiled, congratulated me on my marriage (which was uh, 4.5 years ago) and sent me on my way.

Had I been a middle eastern male or a Spanish speaker with limited English, I am fairly certain they would not have been as cheerful sorting out the issue.

Wow, that's a fairly nasty and broad assumption for you to make about an election worker...

 

[milos_mommy]

Wow, that's a fairly nasty and broad assumption for you to make about an election worker...

Why is that nasty? There's a chance whatever worked would have been just as happy to help, but plenty of studies out there prove the probability is that they just wouldn't.

 

[Pops2]

Oh, I have absolutely seen horrible race crimes committed against white people,

but the example that Zoe posted in this thread was that her best friend wouldn't let her hang out with her anymore because she wasn't Mexican. That's not a race crime, that's high school.

i've been on the receiving end of racial violence & i still think that very term shouldn't even exist outside of a war crimes trial for genocide.
And I'M SORRY for the shove it thing. i get really angry at the tendancy to down play racism & racial violence by minorities. it's not acceptable no matter who does it or why.

 

[sillysally]

I can say there are still a lot of people around here who identify as Italian-American, Irish-American, etc even though there families have been here for generations. I don't know why people get all bothered by how someone else labels themselves or identifies themselves. America is still a young country and full of many different people from many backgrounds. If some want to hold on to it longer or use a label to hold a piece of their heritage so what?

Yeah, I really don't care what people call themselves in relation to their ancestry. I consider myself American but if I had to choose I would identify with Switzerland the most, as there is a town there that is the same was my maiden name and I still have at least one very distant relative that lives there.

Personally I think that treating ANYONE badly because of their race, ethnicity, or religion, regardless of the reasoning behind it, is hateful and disgusting. Modern socialogy might deny the existence of "reverse racism" but discriminating against someone because they are white is STILL hateful behavior, and hate is something that eats away at the human condition like a cancer--regardless of the race, ethnicity, orientation, or faith or the hater or hatee.

 

[milos_mommy]

Personally I think that treating ANYONE badly because of their race, ethnicity, or religion, regardless of the reasoning behind it, is hateful and disgusting. Modern socialogy might deny the existence of "reverse racism" but discriminating against someone because they are white is STILL hateful behavior, and hate is something that eats away at the human condition like a cancer--regardless of the race, ethnicity, orientation, or faith or the hater or hatee.

I don't think modern sociology denies reverse racism, they just try to acknowledge what the root causes of it are.

 

[sillysally]

Why is that nasty? There's a chance whatever worked would have been just as happy to help, but plenty of studies out there prove the probability is that they just wouldn't.

I think it's nasty to assume that someone who was completely pleasent and gave no indication of being racist would be simply because they exist. How is that NOT nasty?

 

[sillysally]

I don't think modern sociology denies reverse racism, they just try to acknowledge what the root causes of it are.

When I was in college several years ago we were told in several sociology classes that there was no such thing as reverse racism.

 

[CaliTerp07]

I think it's nasty to assume that someone who was completely pleasent and gave no indication of being racist would be simply because they exist. How is that NOT nasty?

Maybe they would have been super cheerful and pleasant to any other person too--I would hope they would have been.

I have seen, more than once though, situations where it happens. The pharmacist at CVS gave me my prescription even when my stated name didn't match the one on my account, but denied the teen looking boy behind me when he gave the wrong address.

My hispanic students complain all the time to me about cops stopping them for loitering outside the movie theaters, while my blonde haired blue eyed students never experience it (and I know for a fact that they do the same thing).

There are some awesome people in this world, and some less so. I just know that I have benefited from being white, and really felt like I was being given the benefit of the doubt during the election, while I don't think everyone else always would have been.

 

[milos_mommy]

I just know that I have benefited from being white.

If you're a white American, you have benefited and do benefit from being white.
It's possible you've experienced discrimination or hardships from it, but it's not all that common.

If you're a minority American, you have suffered or been discriminated for it.
Sure, maybe you've gotten some advantages, such as scholarships, etc...but they are privileges that white Americans wouldn't have access to anyway.

 

[Fran27]

I agree, still way too much racism in this country. But it totally goes both ways. When I was working in a bakery and there was a huge line, and it was the turn of a black woman, she wanted some information on birthday cakes. I took our catalog and gave it to her, telling her she could have a look and come back to me when she had an idea about what she wanted (did I mention we had a LONG line?). Well, she complained to my boss that I was racist and treated her poorly. I was totally stunned, because I would have done exactly the same thing for anyone. So my boss told me I have to be extra polite with non whites (as far as I know, I was always extra polite - and sorry I hate the term 'people of color'. As far as I know, my white skin isn't colorless). It's been 6 years and I'm still pissed off about it. Racism won't go away when non whites see racism everywhere either.

And by the way, in France I never had to check any box that said 'race'. Heck the word 'race' is what we use for dog and cat breeds... We don't even have a word to describe people's skin color. You have no idea how shocked I was when I came here and had to fill in my race on a form.

 

[Renee750il]

When I was in college several years ago we were told in several sociology classes that there was no such thing as reverse racism.

I kind of ascribe to this. Racism is racism, no matter what race it's directed at, and it isn't something that the Caucasian race has a monopoly on or are immune to being the object of.

It's a blight on the human condition.

 

[sillysally]

I kind of ascribe to this. Racism is racism, no matter what race it's directed at, and it isn't something that the Caucasian race has a monopoly on or are immune to being the object of.

It's a blight on the human condition.

This. *Puts on Christian hat* My personal opinion on racism is that it is a direct affront to God. If we are created in his image, and we hate others based on their skin color, are we not hating an aspect of God himself? Not to mention the fact that we are commanded not to hate anyway...

So basically a blight on humanity, offensive to God--just all around bad news.

 

[Paige]

My ex (who is a redhead and deals with a lot of random hate from it and gets stuff thrown at him walking down the street) refered to biracial people as HALF BREEDS in front of me the other day. I looked at him horrified. My little sister who lives with me is mix raced. Joke or not I could not believe he'd say something so rude. I'm glad she didn't hear it because it would've broken her heart.

 

[eddieq]

I will never understand hating someone automatically just for the color of their skin. Get to know them first. If there is a good reason to dislike them, you'll find it. Otherwise, you may even make a friend.

 

[Romy]

This. *Puts on Christian hat* My personal opinion on racism is that it is a direct affront to God. If we are created in his image, and we hate others based on their skin color, are we not hating an aspect of God himself? Not to mention the fact that we are commanded not to hate anyway...

So basically a blight on humanity, offensive to God--just all around bad news.

Racism isn't just about hate though. It's believing someone possesses specific traits solely of perceived lineage/culture/race/ethnicity.

Jews are good with money. Asian people are good at math. Black people like watermelon and fried chicken.

Those aren't hateful or bad things in and of themselves. Some stereotypes could even be considered positive if you taken them out of context of being a stereotype. What makes them bad and offensive is they are not true. Any time someone starts generalizing like that about an entire group it's dehumanizing.

ETA: and that means ANY group. Whether they're set apart by gender, hair color, skin color, sexual preference, ethnic group, religion, etc.

 

[milos_mommy]

Right. Racist people are always using the "I have black friends" or "I don't hate black people" as a defense for their racism or proof they aren't racist.

Same as they use "well if Black people didn't try to get scholarships or points on police exams then racism wouldn't be such a big problem"