Everyone will have a different opinion on this, HO...I once heard Whoopie Goldberg say, "I'm not African-American...I'm American!!"
Of course that was a few years ago and people's opinions change with the wind.
I was 24 years in the COOLJC and 'Black' was the word used most.
I live in an area heavily populated by Native Americans. They wear shirts that speak of Native Pride and Native Power, and I want one of those shirts. I mean, I'm Native American too, right? LOL!
__________________
I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
The thing is, you describe someone by their most defining characteristic... if there is one black guy among 300 white guys, what is the most obvious way to describe the black guy?
I beleve in racial tolerance and acceptance, but some of this is ridiculous...
If a man had no arms and no legs, and was at a swim meet, do you have to describe him based on his baseball cap?
Exactly! I don't think mentioning a difference is derogatory in any way when the purpose is to point them out for an innocent reason. It's not different than speaking about the man with red hair, the woman with the gold front teeth, or the child in a wheelchair.
I'm not offended at someone pointing out that I'm white. My black friends refer to me as 'this white friend of mine' to their other black friends. Doesn't bother me in the least. I just don't get why some black people are offended at being pointed out, but I'll continue reading. I think only white people and Berk have responded so far......LOL!
__________________
I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
From what I've seen lately in corporate America and government is that race or ethnicity is not readily used to identify a person. If you are going to speak of someone to identify them to someone who does not know them, think of some other factor to discuss that would let the person know about the other person. All of this "political correctness" seems silly sometimes, but that's life in the year 2007.
You mean, like pointing out that they are elderly or handicapped?
Come on.....when speaking of others to others, we use descriptive terms. It's completely normal and acceptable to do so.
When I'm speaking to someone about something an older woman said to me, I will say, "The other day, this older woman said to me......" Nothing wrong with that in any way. Why we do it, I don't know, but fact is, we ALL do it.
__________________
I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
Decades ago, we were considered to be Caucasian. My older aunts have "caucasian" on their birth certificates. I don't even think there is a race option on my birth certificate. I may be mistaken.
When I took the ASVAB, I could not fill in "race". They had a special section for us under "ethnicity".
Mine is 'White, Non-Hispanic"
__________________
I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
You know what I realized the other day? American is the only country that does this. You never hear of African-Germans, African-British, only African-American
ROFL! That's too funny. I didn't realize that! I mean, it didn't occur to me.
You are just the smertest!!!
__________________
I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
I agree w/ Sis Alvear... Who cares? Jesus don't care so why should we...
Has anyone noticed that alot of people, especially in southern culture, feel that need to cite a person's color even though that has nothing to do with anything... "I saw this black lady in the store that..." "There was a mexican man broke down on the side of the road who..." maybe thats just me but it gets on my nerves.. I'm not talking about trying to describe someone like a black guy in room full of white people, obviously the easiest way to distinguish him would be by his skin color..
It's not just white people who do that....we ALL do it.
It's no different than saying, "This preacher friend of mine....." or "I saw this older guy who......"
It's just a description, that's all.
__________________
I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
Linear Mode
