Black in America

[jundp 191]

This is why I should not get a break from teaching. Because my brain turns to jelly.

I am now going shopping for a new wedding dress!!!!

~Jen

[Chica Yeyé 41]

This is why I should not get a break from teaching. Because my brain turns to jelly.

I am now going shopping for a new wedding dress!!!!

~Jen

A NEW ONE??????????? #######???????????

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

This is why I should not get a break from teaching. Because my brain turns to jelly.

I am now going shopping for a new wedding dress!!!!

~Jen

[PlatyPius 5]

I've never heard of ppl in England being called African Americans...

As for the African American term, I am mixed. I can see how black people could be annoyed to hear since it's just a color. But if someone black wants to just be called black, I will do that. If they want to be called African American, I'll do that too.

Ditto - self-determination and self-definition works for me. I love my friends here in the Latin America forum, but I am NOT 'Hispanic', OR 'Latina'. I am Mexican - that is how I see myself.

Bless you.

One of the workers at Foxconn when I worked there used to wear a T-Shirt that said "Not Hispanic. Can't Speak Latin. I'm MEXICAN, pendejo."

I HATE broad terms like "Latino", "Native American", etc.

Platy, you just used my favorite word:pendejo , best insult ever.

Indeed, pan-defining which encompass a whole geographical region (i.e. "Asians"), a linguistic family ("Latin"), a race and the like are so flawed and pejorative it's not funny: as if amongst people from Asia there were NO differences, or as if people who speak Spanish could immediately be lumped into one.

Exactly. That's why I say I know a little bit of "Mexican", not "Spanish". Cuz there are lots of differences between Spanish, Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc.

(And yeah.... Pendejo is my favourite "mexican" insult. Less likely to get me killed than, say, cabron.)

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I've never heard of ppl in England being called African Americans...

As for the African American term, I am mixed. I can see how black people could be annoyed to hear since it's just a color. But if someone black wants to just be called black, I will do that. If they want to be called African American, I'll do that too.

Ditto - self-determination and self-definition works for me. I love my friends here in the Latin America forum, but I am NOT 'Hispanic', OR 'Latina'. I am Mexican - that is how I see myself.

Bless you.

One of the workers at Foxconn when I worked there used to wear a T-Shirt that said "Not Hispanic. Can't Speak Latin. I'm MEXICAN, pendejo."

I HATE broad terms like "Latino", "Native American", etc.

Platy, you just used my favorite word:pendejo , best insult ever.

Indeed, pan-defining which encompass a whole geographical region (i.e. "Asians"), a linguistic family ("Latin"), a race and the like are so flawed and pejorative it's not funny: as if amongst people from Asia there were NO differences, or as if people who speak Spanish could immediately be lumped into one.

Exactly. That's why I say I know a little bit of "Mexican", not "Spanish". Cuz there are lots of differences between Spanish, Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc.

(And yeah.... Pendejo is my favourite "mexican" insult. Less likely to get me killed than, say, cabron.)

Another nice one is "cabronsete"... you know, like a little cabron

[Marlita 0]

That is racist and discriminatory, what about being Brown or Yellow or Red or White, why Black only? amazing.

Well since I know this is just a trolling comment I wont take it too serious. But even as a trolling comment it makes no sense. What is racist about CNN doing a documentary about a certain group of Americans?

Well, it WAS just a trolling comment, but there IS a little bit of truth in there.

What if it were a CNN documentary about White people?

What if there was a White Expo?

What if we (U.S.) had "White History Month"?

What if someone used the term "black hole" in a commissioners meeting? (if you haven't read that thread, never mind)

Basically, the troll has a point. If white people try to draw attention to their "whiteness" in any way, it's called racist, prejudiced, or whatever. You can bet Jesse Jackson and the NAACP will be there to stop it.

I STILL dont think its racist for CNN do do a documentary of a certain ethnic group in America. Your response still doesnt show that point either. I guess when White people identify themselves to a certain ethnic group (Irish, french, german, etc) thats the same as being Black. Like I orginally said...Black is not a color...its the way a group of people describe themselves ETHNICALLY. This is why alot more people really need to watch this documentary. The issue is that I believe white people and many others just see White and Black as a color. But Black people see it as so much more. Case in point:

If you ever notice how the term "Black", when describing us is not capitalized? Thats only the case with non-Black media. You will NEVER see a Black owned publication or someone who really understands what Black is using it lower case. We do not consider it a color its our ethnic group yet other people still havent come to that understanding. They are still only seeing us by the mere color of our skin.

[Marlita 0]

To me these just seems to be a re-hash of the same format done in South Africa earlier this year.

Having said that, it was amazing and eye-opening for me.

Oh good Lord!! You have to know that Blacks in America are not like South Africans!! Thats like calling Spainards, Mexicans. It will definitely NOT be a rehash. I can guarantee South African is not my culture or history of anyone I know in like 6 generations of my family.

[Marlita 0]

Well, all I know is I live in the south and if we were to do even a local documentary about anything white related there would be an outroar in the name of racism.

I personally would like to see something done on the ever decreasing tribes and families of American Indians (Native Americans) who apparently were here in the land and county first.

They may have been in the land first, but not the country first. This was not the USA when they were first living here. The history of the USA is a mixed cuture and Black and White were very much the backbone of that history.

[Marlita 0]

I am not sure if we'll watch it (depends on if we were home, what we are doing etc), but I think it should be interesting. I saw previews and it doesn't just discuss one aspect of being "black in America". It also deals with mixed couples and how they deal with it even in their own communities. It doesn't look like a "we hate white people" thing.

There are programs all the time about white history or the white experience. Just watch the history channel about the founding of our country and all the men talked about during that. Isn't that about white people? But since they don't say "white history program", it doesn't count?

If there was a program called "East Indian in America" that would be interesting too. It'd be interesting to see a doc about any group in America. I don't know why people freak out if a minority group is singled out for 2 nights of programming.

Amen!! Can we get a couple of nights of history without a big uproar. Everyday of my childhood in history class was about the White experience and White history.

[jundp 191]

Well, all I know is I live in the south and if we were to do even a local documentary about anything white related there would be an outroar in the name of racism.

I personally would like to see something done on the ever decreasing tribes and families of American Indians (Native Americans) who apparently were here in the land and county first.

They may have been in the land first, but not the country first. This was not the USA when they were first living here. The history of the USA is a mixed cuture and Black and White were very much the backbone of that history.

But the Native American contribution to this country is just as vital, I believe, as Black and White. Especially when you consider what Native Americans endured and sacrificed for this country. Not just the land, but the country. But that's a whole other documentary.

(PS Charles and Bren, I didn't get a new dress...)

[Marlita 0]

Aren't there a million documentaries about how bad the Irish had it when they immigrated here, and other groups too? Jewish? So those are "white" documentaries. But a key word in any white documentary about people from another place would probably be immigrant. Not a slave forced over and treated like an animal, which to me makes the black experience a different thing all together. Yes it's in the past and guilt shouldn't be the main topic, but it still makes the experience different.

I may be opening a can of worms here, but what about the Chinese when they 1st immigrated here?

Weren't they used as help and poorly treated as well?

I understand it was well after the African Americans were brought over but?

What I struggle with is that not all African American's were brought over for that purpose, some actually wanted to come yet they use that as an "excuse" for why their life s***ks. I just don't understand. I live S.Atlanta, which is not white and to be honest they treat me like " a spoiled white girl" it irks me because they don't know where I came from and to be honest I grew up with a lot less than most of them.

I don't know, I will watch it with an open mind and try to understand.

Unfortunately there are alot of people who use the "excuse", and that is ashame. Some people are just plain lazy. But please beleive that some people are not using this as an excuse. For some racism has horribly affected their lives. I dont think many will say that slavery is affecting them today, but racial injustices stereotypes, racism, etc can affect their lives.

As far as the Chinese go, well there were many ethnic groups that came to the US as help or what not, but only Africans came as slaves. They did not want to come. Not orginally, i can guarantee that. Being Black during the first years of America was not a ok thing. You were basically seen as an animal so there weren't any immigrant Blacks...just slave Blacks.

But thats not what this doumentary is about. Its not about slaves it about Black-Americans and that culture. Most people seem to think slavery when first hearing about the culture and history of Blacks. We are so far beyond that now. Its just a time for people to just see us as any other ethnic group with a unique background.

[Marlita 0]

Well, all I know is I live in the south and if we were to do even a local documentary about anything white related there would be an outroar in the name of racism.

I personally would like to see something done on the ever decreasing tribes and families of American Indians (Native Americans) who apparently were here in the land and county first.

They may have been in the land first, but not the country first. This was not the USA when they were first living here. The history of the USA is a mixed cuture and Black and White were very much the backbone of that history.

But the Native American contribution to this country is just as vital, I believe, as Black and White. Especially when you consider what Native Americans endured and sacrificed for this country. Not just the land, but the country. But that's a whole other documentary.

(PS Charles and Bren, I didn't get a new dress...)

I'm not saying that they dont have a huge contribution, I was just saying that they considered this country a different name at the time. It was just semantics.

[Marlita 0]

Aren't there a million documentaries about how bad the Irish had it when they immigrated here, and other groups too? Jewish? So those are "white" documentaries. But a key word in any white documentary about people from another place would probably be immigrant. Not a slave forced over and treated like an animal, which to me makes the black experience a different thing all together. Yes it's in the past and guilt shouldn't be the main topic, but it still makes the experience different.

I may be opening a can of worms here, but what about the Chinese when they 1st immigrated here?

Weren't they used as help and poorly treated as well?

I understand it was well after the African Americans were brought over but?

What I struggle with is that not all African American's were brought over for that purpose, some actually wanted to come yet they use that as an "excuse" for why their life s***ks. I just don't understand. I live S.Atlanta, which is not white and to be honest they treat me like " a spoiled white girl" it irks me because they don't know where I came from and to be honest I grew up with a lot less than most of them.

I don't know, I will watch it with an open mind and try to understand.

Well again this is where things like "culture" come into play. China is home to the oldest continuous civilization on the planet - basically 5000-odd years of culture and history. Not the same identity confusion you have in the black community where people from various countries (ranging from Africa to the Indies) were basically forced together during the slave trade and had to establish a totally new cultural identity for themselves.

Black in the Indies were not there originally. They were the same as Blacks in the US. Slaves from Africa for the Spainards British French etc. Thats why the islands were all ruled or are still ruled by those countries. Most slaves came from West African countries and it areas of the US of isles where there was less mixing of races you can see the West African features in people alot more. But beyond that Blacks in America have seperate facial features than Africans. We are an evolved culture with many skin tones, facial features, etc that you will not find in Africa.

[Marlita 0]

Yes, that makes perfect sense.

It's almost like they never had their own cultural "identity"? So the the slave trade sort of made thier "culture" as that is the one common thing they all had to rally around, even though it was wrong it so many ways.

I do agree with someone else on here though, that they come from so many different parts of the world and Africa, the islands. It's really not right to bunch them all into one sort of sub-culture.

And here in the US we're so sensitive to others' feelings and preferences.... That's why all black people are "African-Americans". Even if they're from Jamaica. They're still African-Americans. Even if they're black and live in England. They're African-Americans. Wouldn't want to "offend" anyone by calling them "black".....

US citizens are such morons sometimes....

HAHA, this has always been so funny to me, cus you're right, it makes no sense. I dont think Blacks would get offended by you calling them Black. I always find it odd and hilarious when around White people and they are trying to describe someone or speak of someone and say "the African-American man" . I'm just like, you can say Black you know?

[Marlita 0]

Who calls Black British people African American? (although the super-fine Idris Elba is does play one on TV) I've never heard it myself. And Jamaicans are always caleld, well, Jamaicans. (And Haitians Haitians, and Dominicans Dominicans etc etc)

I don't know who these super uptight people are, but it's not anyone I know. Besides if someone prefers "African American" that's what I will call them, just like I will call them "Bob" if they prefer that over Robert. It's simple politeness.

I had no idea that he was British until I saw him in that old C4 series Ultraviolet.

Haha, That man is pure FINENESS!!! And yes he is British, but people will probably call him African American and his culture has nothing to do with Africa or America, .lol.