Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 16 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 23 years, 7 months ago by
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I am working on a series of paintings that involve the use of negative stereotypes of all ethnicities. Being white, I am having a hard time finding many derogatory slurs for white people. For instance, I had never heard that whites smell like wet dogs when they come out of the rain until I found this site today. I have heard some mild ones, but I am in need of more intense imagery. My plan is to use the stereotypes for tearing down racial barriers. My art is currently using satirical humor to aid the message’s staying power with the viewer. Please help!
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Name : C. Kohrman, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Mormon, Age : 23, City : Philadelphia, State : PA, Country : United States, Occupation : artist/political painter, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,We do have our slurs. The rich ‘WASPS,’ for example, who only care about money, golf, fancy cars and being snobbier and better-dressed than everyone else, and who live superficial lives. Lower on the socioeconomic ladder we have our rednecks and hillbillies, who dress raggedly and have an obsession with pickups, guns and banjo music. While rednecks tend to live in trailer parks and like the Confederate flag, hillbillies live in log cabins and find it OK to marry inside the family. Then there’s a general stereotype held by some other races that all whites are money-obsessed, live phony lives and are obsessed with everyone dressing, thinking and living like them … a kind of ‘Borg,’ if you will. Finally, supposedly it’s white females who are all promiscuous – kind of like how some whites believe Asian and Pacific Islander females are promiscuous. I hope these stereotypes help – I’d like to see your painting!
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Name : Sebastian, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : Montreal, Quebec, State : NA, Country : Canada,Whites hate to be called racist or prejudiced. Also, white people have a hard time dealing with their privileged status, being thought of as rich, naive, immature.
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Name : Seamus28229, Gender : M, City : Charlestown, State : MA, Country : United States,I think you are going to have the exact problems you worry about. Most non-white stereotypes of whites either have a degree of truth in describing some white behavior or are so mild it’s hard to call them slurs. They’re closer to teasing. Two common terms American Indians use to describe some white behavior don’t exactly fit as stereotypes, because they refer only to some whites. A wasichu is a thief (literally translates as a ‘fat taker’), someone selfish who takes and never gives back, or someone who expects everything given to them. A twinkie is a common nickname for New Age whites, or any white with a fluffyheaded and ridiculously romanticized view of natives. For Latinos, I’ve heard bolillo (whitebread), gabacho (rutabaga) and huero (fair-skinned). As you can see, none of these have quite the viciousness of white slurs for non-whites. Gringo is from griego, a Greek. All that means is that you can’t understand what whites are saying. It’s equivalent to Yank, and not really derogatory. I’ve never heard it used anywhere in the United States anyway, except in old movies. One I’ve heard in the last five years that is more vicious is polar bear, which refers to whites being big, fat and mean-tempered. Finally, how about the old jokes about white males having tiny penises, or only lasting a few minutes in bed, or being hung up about sex in general? That is one that really seems to get to whites and makes them incredibly angry. I honestly think hearing that is one of the few times whites come close to knowing the pain and anger that come from being stereotyped.
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Name : ACC24029, Gender : M, Race : Mexican and American Indian, City : W. Lafayette, State : IN, Country : United States,Because I am white, I cannot say for certain what some other races think of us, but several years ago I saw a sketch on Saturday Night Live in which Eddie Murphy portrayed a white guy. In this sketch, the ‘white guy’ was very rigid and uptight in his speech and movements. I assumed that this was possibly how black people see white people. I also believe that many minority groups think most white people are racist.
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Name : Michell20530, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 33, City : Dayton, State : OH, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class,I think all the ‘slurs’ have been covered, but I can think of some stereotypes. Please keep in mind that these are things that I’ve heard, not that I believe:
1) Poor hygiene – they don’t use washcloths to wash their bodies, don’t wipe themselves well after going to the bathroom (as told to me by an elderly woman who used to be a domestic servant and saw the underwear), don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom and kiss their pets on the mouth.
2) Sexually deviant
3) Greedy and dishonest
4) Weak and cowardly unless in groups
I’m sure there are others, but these are all I can think of right now. I’d like to see your art, too! Good luck!User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,White folks can’t dance, have no sense of rhythm and prefer bland music, food, humor, etc. They are all bigoted, country, rednecks. They are unathletic and unhip.
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Name : Rick29855, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Let’s see, there’s ‘ofay’ (pig latin for ‘foe’). Devil is pretty offensive, but only to the religous, I suppose. As far as WASPS go, not much is going to faze them. Because the media as we’ve known it for a couple of centuries was largely developed by ruling-class whites, you probably won’t have much luck finding negative portrayals of them. The Irish, Polish, Italians, etc. are another story. If you research whites by ethnicity going back to the 1940s (when all Europeans came to be recognized as ‘white’) you’ll find some pretty hatefull rhetoric and images. Also, if you want to go back so far that it hardly seems relevant, you’ll find negative depictions of ancient Northern European tribal cultures in Greece and Rome, where the word ‘barbarian’ (roughly meaning ‘hairy freak’) was coined to describe us. Judging by the tizzy most whites get themselves into when they hear African Americans describe themselves as being descended from Egyptians, you can assume we don’t like to be reminded that while most of ancient civilization was in full swing, we were living in caves picking lice out of each others’ manes for snacks. And I’m reminded of some particularly hateful cover art for one of Miles Davis’ albums, although I forget the title.
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Name : Justin26849, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : file clerk, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,There are plenty: #1. The redneck who lives in two singlewide mobile homes that have been riveted together and is situated 5 miles north of the city limits, has a mullet haircut (short on the top and sides, long in the back), wears cutoff jeans and tubetops so he can show off the poorly done tattoos he got in County Jail, drives a barely street legal ’78 Chevy Silverado with a Rebel Flag flying from a pole duct-taped to the tailgate, and who became a grandfather at the age of 29. #2. The Nazi KKK peckerwood guy who snorts 7 lines of meth and downs a fifth of Jim Beam before going out looking for old men and high school students to beat up with the help of five or more of his friends. #3. The cell-phone toting Yuppie who has a humongous land barge SUV that’s never been on a dirt road and who spends 70 hours a week at his office job and one hour a week with his kids and who starts worrying about property values when a Latino family moves into the neighborhood two blocks down. As you can see, the stereotypes are endless. I trust your cause is a noble one and that it will help us move beyond them; even the ones the minority holds about the majority.
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Name : Dan31638, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 22, City : Los Angeles area, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College,Here are some: craker, casper, white bread, abercrombie boy, yuppie, wonder bread… Most of the time, whites are portrayed as police officers who repeatedly beat down minorities and use excessive force when it is not needed.
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Name : Jay, Gender : M, Age : 19, City : Oxford, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : student,Surely redneck and WASP (like trailer trash) are more class-based stereotypes than racial ones. White people can use them to slur other whites. Neither exist in the same context in the United Kingdom, although there are insults that are comparable. It seems to me from my travels in the States that class and race are entwined, as there is more racial tension and less mixing.
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Name : Olliver, Gender : M, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Education level : 4 Years of College,Here’s some that I just thought of: Whites have an inordinate sense of entitlement (as evident by the latest bouts of school shootings). Whites have a predeposition to mental illness, eating disorders and dangerous idleness. White people are wasteful, careless and insensitive. White people are nasty (see Jennifer’s post). White people, especially young white females, are air-headed and speak like valley girls. White people don’t discipline their children. White people are overly analytical but lack common sense. White people are arrogant know-it-alls. Finally, white people are inherently evil.
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Name : TR24203, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I have heard non-white groups say the following: bunnies (something having to do with pink toes and other pink body parts), crackers (whip cracker), the man, the beast, ice people (cold and ruthless; Caucasions developed this from living in cold climes in Europe and thus developed a cold, inhumane system of thought, that is, according to some Black Nationalist ideologies), ofay and monkeys (due to their straight hair, bright eyes and thin lips). I have heard many whites say hillbilly, sh**-kicking hick, WT (white trash) and trailor park trash. Stereotype-wise, it has been said that whites do not wipe after using the bathroom, are horrible dancers, have no culture, are heavy drinkers (especially college students), look down on poor people of any race, are ethnocentric, have high voices and no rhythm and are unathletic, uncool and copy cats/imitators. Also, that white women are promiscuous, are born with knee-pads (oral sex), that many like men of color, and that the men have small penises and are minute-men in bed. Of course, this is just what I have heard.
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Name : Jarrett31203, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 19, City : Oxford, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,While this is not a stereotype, I think the concept of ‘white privilege’ would be worth looking into for your project. ‘White privilege’ is the unspoken, taken-for-granted privilege that whites growing up in the United States have. For example, ‘flesh’-colored bandages, ‘flesh’-colored pantyhose, the ability to go into a department store and not fear you’re being suspected of a crime, the fact that most governmental leaders are still white, etc. While a lot of this is changing as awareness increases, there are still a lot of hidden privileges whites possess. The mere fact that people are hard-pressed to find many stereotypes of whites may also be considered another hidden privilege. There are several on-line articles on this issue. Just do a word search for ‘white privilege.’
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Name : Victoria24557, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 33, City : San Francisco, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : College instructor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I went to a high school that was 50 percent white and 50 percent minority. Some non-white people did and still do things I can’t figure out – like black men who spit when they see me coming. I don’t know them personally, and it’s happened a few times, by different black men who I’ve never met. They don’t know me. Why would they do such a thing? Also, white people got made fun of for reading books, ‘acting’ or talking white, i.e. If you wanted to be accepted by certain non-white people, you had to use their slang and listen to rap. Rock was for losers. Anyone who listened to rock, no matter what kind of rock, was automatically labeled a ‘hippie.’ I soon learned such nice words as puta, vendeja, cabrona – again, hurled at me by people who didn’t even know me. Did I ever make a comment about them in front of them, hurtfully? Never. It stuns me that some people think they have the authority to make these judgment calls.
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Name : Jane, Gender : F, City : Mansfield, State : CT, Country : United States,
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