Do you get tired of ethnic terms? The ones that don't relate?

[QUOTE="themajormayor"]I don't think America is the melting pot of the world.JustBeYourself

[QUOTE="Aljosa23"]

They're necessary and helpful in some cases. Now the NYPD isn't allowed to describe suspects by their ethnicity which just makes it harder to catch criminals. I'm pretty Liberal but I do not mind labels based on ethnicity. Some people like it because they want to be part of a shared experience and have others they can relate to.

GummiRaccoon

When I call the police I always tell them I can't determine their ethnicity.  Telling Police a black man is doing something illegal just gives them an excuse to pull over every black man for fitting a description.  My black friends get pulled over for DWB all the time.

So you are willing to let everyone get hassled by the police with an improper description instead of them going after the right perpetrator with a proper description? If you are in a black neighborhood, you are going to get all blacks there detained. You may as well just not call the cops then.

I don't have enough fvcks I give about things to waste on this.

You must live in a stress free world if thats the biggest thing that annoys uBucked20

First world problems, man.

I do find "African American" to be a stupid term. I also hate the term "native American" for American Indians. Anyone born in the US is, by definition, a native American.

Pirate700

To me, Native American means the people who were here before America was America, but the term still doesn't make sense. And American Indian isn't even correct. The term was based on Christopher Columbus' belief that he had reached India, but the name stuck until the 1960's when it changed to "Native American."

Yeah, ethnic terms are stupid.

[QUOTE="JustBeYourself"][QUOTE="themajormayor"]I don't think America is the melting pot of the world.themajormayor

do you know what melting pot means?

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

[QUOTE="Aljosa23"]

They're necessary and helpful in some cases. Now the NYPD isn't allowed to describe suspects by their ethnicity which just makes it harder to catch criminals. I'm pretty Liberal but I do not mind labels based on ethnicity. Some people like it because they want to be part of a shared experience and have others they can relate to.

WhiteKnight77

When I call the police I always tell them I can't determine their ethnicity.  Telling Police a black man is doing something illegal just gives them an excuse to pull over every black man for fitting a description.  My black friends get pulled over for DWB all the time.

So you are willing to let everyone get hassled by the police with an improper description instead of them going after the right perpetrator with a proper description? If you are in a black neighborhood, you are going to get all blacks there detained. You may as well just not call the cops then.

The last call I made was "teens on the roof of the local high school"

I gave them no description other than their age.  But I am pretty sure that they only looked for trouble makers on the roof of the high school.

If we can't describe the difference between people, then that takes away from individualism. There is no fun in being the same as everybody else.

That's because we live in a Eurocentric world, where "white" and "Western" are the norms, while everything else is relative to those norms. For example:

• In the US, white people are often seen as just "Americans", while ethnic minorities are African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc.
• The current world map we use places Europe at the center, when we could have just as easily placed Eastern Asia at the center.
• Europe is classified as a separate "continent" from Asia, despite being part of the same Eurasian landmass.
• The universal GMT time standard places my hometown London at the center of the world.
• The terms "Near East" and "Far East" are terms relative to Europe.
• Hollywood is considered the standard for movies, while every other movie industry is judged according to Hollywood standards.

And so on and so forth...

[QUOTE="Aljosa23"]

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

I don't think you actually know what that means.  (if you did you wouldn't be calling people privileged based on a discussion topic on what to call each ethnicity)

For instance, calling someone African American based solely on sight is completely inaccurate a lot of the time.  For instance, I've worked with Africans who weren't american citizens.  I go to church with black Brits.  I am friends with some Jamaicans.

 

None of those are African Americans.

 

The term is stupid. 

GummiRaccoon

What a huge generalization.  I was just talking with a black friend of mine who was bitching about why he can't call asians orientals anymore.

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

[QUOTE="Aljosa23"]It certainly is a whites-only privilege to be annoyed or "get tired of" terms that aren't even about you. Who gives a fvck?

AmazonTreeBoa

What a huge generalization.  I was just talking with a black friend of mine who was bitching about why he can't call asians orientals anymore.

Just curious of Gamespot users opinion. Please don't start a race agruement.

Background

We all know that America is the melting pot of the world when it comes to individual ethinic groups. We all know most of the white people came from parts of Europe and most black people came from africa and orenital people came from Asia.

My pet peeve

I get soooo irrateed at the term "African American" being used today. It makes me think that you just came over from Afriaca in your life time. Chances are today every race in the US as a mix of each other. So why do we say "African?" thats the part I'm tired of. YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. Your skin might be a little darker than mine but you are American.

If in 2013 we are still supposed to you use that term on paper work and in public in general then shouldn't I be European American? That's my grip. Whats your thoughts?

Also, we are brown in skin color. We just have different shades of brown.

caseypayne69

It's bullshit, but they do it because "everyone is special, and everyone is a winner."

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

[QUOTE="Aljosa23"]It certainly is a whites-only privilege to be annoyed or "get tired of" terms that aren't even about you. Who gives a fvck?

AmazonTreeBoa

What a huge generalization.  I was just talking with a black friend of mine who was bitching about why he can't call asians orientals anymore.

Asians decided to take charge in what they were called, they chose asian instead of oriental.

Oriental is used to describe a geological region. Brazil is the melting pot of the world.playmynutz

Brazil is where referees get beheaded for making bad calls.

[QUOTE="AmazonTreeBoa"][QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

 

What a huge generalization.  I was just talking with a black friend of mine who was bitching about why he can't call asians orientals anymore.

Ace6301

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient

"Some in the United States consider "Oriental" an antiquated, pejorative, and disparaging term. John Kuo Wei Tchen, director of the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute at New York University, said the basic critique of the term developed in the 1970s. Tchen has said, "With the anti-war movement in the 60s and early 70s, many Asian Americans identified the term 'Oriental' with a Western process of racializing Asians as forever opposite others." In a press release related to legislation aimed at removing the term "oriental" from official documents of the State of New York, Governor David Paterson said, "The word oriental does not describe ethnic origin, background or even race; in fact, it has deep and demeaning historical roots"."

The term "Oriental" is only considered offensive in North America though, since the term doesn't have a negative history to it in Britain (and maybe Australia, but can't really say). In Britain, we sometimes use "Oriental" to refer to East Asians (i.e. Far East), but only when differentiating from South Asians (i.e. Indian subcontinent), which is what the term "Asian" usually means down here (it wasn't until 2011 that Chinese people were officially classified as "Asian" in the UK census). However, most often Brits just refer to East Asians by individual countries of origin.

I'm categorized as Hispanic or Latino even though I don't speak Spanish, and I'm half Irish-Italian.lamprey263

[QUOTE="JustBeYourself"][QUOTE="themajormayor"]I don't think America is the melting pot of the world.themajormayor

Oriental is used to describe a geological region. Brazil is the melting pot of the world.playmynutz

[QUOTE="lamprey263"]I'm categorized as Hispanic or Latino even though I don't speak Spanish, and I'm half Irish-Italian.gamerguru100

I read what he wrote is half of his ancestry is "irish-italian" which is probably from one parent, the other 50% is hispanic/latino from another parent.

[QUOTE="playmynutz"]Oriental is used to describe a geological region. Brazil is the melting pot of the world.gamerguru100

That's because Brazilians have a unified Hispanic/Latino identity, which almost always seems to override whatever "race" that individuals might belong to.

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"][QUOTE="playmynutz"]Oriental is used to describe a geological region. Brazil is the melting pot of the world.Jag85

That's because Brazilians have a unified Hispanic/Latino identity, which almost always seems to override whatever "race" that individuals might belong to.

That's funny since Brazil was never a "Spanish" country to begin with but Portuguese.  

[QUOTE="Jag85"]

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"] Brazil is probably fifty years ahead of the US in race relations. Interracial marriages are as normal in Brazil as gang shootings are in Chicago. WhiteKnight77

That's because Brazilians have a unified Hispanic/Latino identity, which almost always seems to override whatever "race" that individuals might belong to.

That's funny since Brazil was never a "Spanish" country to begin with but Portuguese.  

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"][QUOTE="lamprey263"]I'm categorized as Hispanic or Latino even though I don't speak Spanish, and I'm half Irish-Italian.GummiRaccoon

I read what he wrote is half of his ancestry is "irish-italian" which is probably from one parent, the other 50% is hispanic/latino from another parent.

Rappers continuing to use the N-Word is so backwards for their social progress in the long-run it is not even funny.

If there is one word I disagree with in regards to it's use it is that one. They are not disempowering the word they are in fact, reminding us of it's history and keeping the ones they call that in the 2nd class it was originally used against. 

[QUOTE="WhiteKnight77"]

[QUOTE="Jag85"]

That's because Brazilians have a unified Hispanic/Latino identity, which almost always seems to override whatever "race" that individuals might belong to.

gamerguru100

That's funny since Brazil was never a "Spanish" country to begin with but Portuguese.  

You are now aware that portuguese is hispanic.  Portugal and spain reside on a peninsula that the Romans called Hispania.

I do find "African American" to be a stupid term. I also hate the term "native American" for American Indians. Anyone born in the US is, by definition, a native American.

Pirate700

[QUOTE="WhiteKnight77"]

[QUOTE="Jag85"]

That's because Brazilians have a unified Hispanic/Latino identity, which almost always seems to override whatever "race" that individuals might belong to.

gamerguru100

That's funny since Brazil was never a "Spanish" country to begin with but Portuguese.  

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"][QUOTE="playmynutz"]Oriental is used to describe a geological region. Brazil is the melting pot of the world.Jag85

That's because Brazilians have a unified Hispanic/Latino identity, which almost always seems to override whatever "race" that individuals might belong to.

[QUOTE="Jag85"]

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"] Brazil is probably fifty years ahead of the US in race relations. Interracial marriages are as normal in Brazil as gang shootings are in Chicago. lightleggy

That's because Brazilians have a unified Hispanic/Latino identity, which almost always seems to override whatever "race" that individuals might belong to.

Latin America is truly a melting pot, with people of different "racial" backgrounds/mixes all identifying with a single unified ethnicity/culture.

What I find even more surprising is how even 2nd-gen immigrants like Carlos Slim Helu (a Mexican of entirely Lebanese-Arab descent) are regarded as Hispanic/Latino...

[QUOTE="Aljosa23"]

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

What a huge generalization.  I was just talking with a black friend of mine who was bitching about why he can't call asians orientals anymore.

GummiRaccoon

people are asian, things are oriental.  To call a person "oriental" is to think of them as a thing, not a person.  This is why it can be thought of as insulting.

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

[QUOTE="Aljosa23"]How is that at all the same thing? Oriental is considered a derogatory thing. It's like complaining that you can't tell a black person "sambo" anymore.

mrbojangles25

people are asian, things are oriental.  To call a person "oriental" is to think of them as a thing, not a person.  This is why it can be thought of as insulting.

Yeah, I understand the premise.

However people can be turkish and so can rugs and food and baths and candy and kabobs.

What matters is the Asian community doesn't like it.

people are asian, things are oriental.  To call a person "oriental" is to think of them as a thing, not a person.  This is why it can be thought of as insulting.

mrbojangles25

That's not the original reason why Asian Americans lobbied against the term though...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient

"Some in the United States consider "Oriental" an antiquated, pejorative, and disparaging term. John Kuo Wei Tchen, director of the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute at New York University, said the basic critique of the term developed in the 1970s. Tchen has said, "With the anti-war movement in the 60s and early 70s, many Asian Americans identified the term 'Oriental' with a Western process of racializing Asians as forever opposite others." In a press release related to legislation aimed at removing the term "oriental" from official documents of the State of New York, Governor David Paterson said, "The word oriental does not describe ethnic origin, background or even race; in fact, it has deep and demeaning historical roots"."

In addition, Edward Said's landmark book Orientalism was published in 1978, leading to the foundation of an entire new field called post-colonial studies. Ever since that book was published, the term "Oriental" came to have negative connotations. While Said's Orientalism mainly focused on the Middle East, his book also had far-reaching implications for Far-Eastern societies and imperialist Western attitudes towards them. The term "Oriental" was widely used before to refer to all kinds of Eastern societies, but ever since then, its usage has been restricted to objects rather than peoples or societies, especially in North America.