Race/Ethnicity Questions 251-260

THE QUESTION:
R260: Do black people tan and/or get sunburned?
POSTED MAY 11, 1998
CyberMaMa <cybermama@mailcity.com>, FL

ANSWER 1:
My children (half black, half white) tan and get burned, though it takes them longer to burn than it does me. My wife is black, and it takes even longer for her to cook, but it will happen.
POSTED MAY 14, 1998
Alex, 39, white <aleavens@mindspring.com>, Lawrenceville, GA

FURTHER NOTICE:
Yes, we tan and burn and wear sunscreen. Darker skin does give a little more protection from the sun than lighter skin. I usually get sunburned on top of my shoulders if I am not careful.
POSTED MAY 15, 1998
Jas, black <themoas@aol.com>, Pensacola, FL

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
I’ve worked outside in the summer and have also swam outside, and afterwards I would have tan lines and marks that would not leave until some months later.
POSTED MAY 15, 1998
Cheryl B., 22, African-American <CherylB4U@aol.com>, Memphis, TN

FURTHER NOTICE 3:
African-American people come in about 50 different skin tones, so when we tan (yes we do), it is bound to be more noticed on some of us than others. Being of a light-to-medium complexion, I definitely tan, and sometimes even sunburn.
POSTED MAY 17, 1998
Kara, African American, Japan

FURTHER NOTICE 4:
I remember once driving from California to Memphis during a particularly hot summer. A friend and I were driving through Arizona and New Mexico during daylight hours. He was a little darker than I am. I got a little tan, but otherwise the sun didn’t bother me, but my friend got severe sunburn and physically sick from it. I have literally worked outside from dawn to dusk and never suffered from exposure to the sun.
POSTED JUNE 5, 1998
Paul, pb63@bellsouth.net, Memphis, TN

FURTHER NOTICE 5:
Yes, they definitely do. When I met my fiance, he was a very dark man. I met him at the end of the summer. I don’t particularly like really dark men, but he was an exception. He took his watch off one day and revealed his true color, and it was such a drastic change. He’s got a beautiful skin tone.
POSTED OCT. 7, 1998
A.B., 20, white female, <abolser@hotmail.com.>, Indianapolis, IN
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R259: Often, when I wear something that looks good on me, black girls who see me have something smart or funny to say about it. Why is this?
POSTED MAY 11, 1998
Lucky, 19, white female <Jellowe@usa.net>, Jacksonville, FL

ANSWER 1:
I think that depends on what you are wearing and where you are when you have it on. What exactly is the item, and what is your intention when you wear it? Is it possible they feel you are trying to copy their style? The flipside may be that they, as individuals, not as colors, have some issue with you. Why don’t you ask them? They are really the only ones who have the answer to your question. I bet they will tell you if you ask them. Good luck and don’t sweat this stuff. If you think you look good, then you do.
POSTED MAY 23, 1998
Carmela, 29, black <pecola@hotmail.com>, Atlanta, Ga

FURTHER NOTICE:
Are you sure they are not just young and rude? It has been my experience that teenage women of any race need positive affirmation of their tastes in fashion, men, etc. They will do any thing to “not look different.” This may extend to the ridicule of someone else, in order to be seen as an arbiter of taste. Again, I don’t see it necessarily as a racial thing. I have been the butt of such comments, also, for daring to emerge from my house with a hairstyle that was counter to the prevailing “hip” styles.
POSTED MAY 23, 1998
Margie, African American <Nayvay@aol.com>, MI
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R258: It doesn’t seem that we see many Native Americans in our society, as though they have been forgotten. Why is this?
POSTED MAY 9, 1998
B.C., white male, Atlanta, GA

ANSWER 1:
I believe one sees Native Americans all the time, whether one realizes it or not. In my part of the country, Southwestern Virginia, we have many descendants of tribes that were once indigenous to this region but who were never classified as “Indian” because they never went to a reservation and became officially registered as Native. Take a person of aboriginal descent, cut off the hair and put them in a sports cap and T-shirt, and they pretty much blend in. My dad, who has enough Cherokee in him to look different, was always considered to be of Spanish American descent when he was growing up. Friends used to kid my red-headed mother about dating a Puerto Rican, I suppose because I Love Lucy was such a popular show at the time. Even those Natives who choose reservation life do not always dress or wear their hair traditionally. We don’t expect to see Japanese people walking down the street in kimonos; why should we expect Natives to be in war bonnets and beads?
POSTED MAY 12, 1998
Robert B., 39, white male <bobbess@rev.net>, Roanoke, VA

FURTHER NOTICE:
Perhaps you don’t live near any reservations. I live rather close to the Oneida and Menominee reservations. There are also many Native Americans of other tribes living in the area, and they seem to prefer to live near to centers of Native American culture, even if they are not from the same tribe. Tribal news is often reported in the local newspapers, especially news that affects everybody. Wisconsin’s new mining law, and the local protest against the proposed Crandon sulfide mine which led to its inception, were started by the Menominees. Political infighting in the Oneida reservation is front-page news in Green Bay lately. There is certainly no sign of Indians disappearing from society around here!
POSTED MAY 27, 1998
Colette, white <inkwolf@earthlink.net>, Seymour, WI
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R257: I’m part of a group of people building our own neighborhood. Although we espouse no particular life philosophy (we’re not a commune), have moderate home prices and have a goal of age, race and ethnic diversity, we have sold 15 of our 22 lots and not yet had an offer from an African- or Asian-American family. Durham has a large middle-class African-American population. We’ve been told several times by prospective members of other races that they want to live in just such a neighborhood, but don’t want to be the first (fill in the blank) on the block. Why not?
POSTED MAY 9, 1998
Jessie H. K. white, various ethnicities <dahako@aol.com>, Durham, N.C.

ANSWER 1:
One reason African Americans might be reluctant to be the first minority is that they might fear their property might be vandalized. Even though the vast majority of the people living there are probably fine people, it takes only a knucklehead or two enhanced with some liquid courage to ruin your investment and peace of mind. Just last month in my neck of the woods, a black family building a new house in one of our tonier suburbs were hit by arsonists, twice.
POSTED MAY 12, 1998
Jay B., black male <jayboyd@ameritech.net>, Detroit, MI

FURTHER NOTICE:
Many blacks like to live around other blacks because then they are not minorities. When you are one out of 20, you are in the minority. This also could increase the chance for ostracism. If there were already five people out of 20 who were black, you would have no problem getting three or four more in a short time.
POSTED MAY 12, 1998
Marc R., black <romarti@yahoo.com>, Westbury, NY
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R256: Director’s Paraphrase: Coco of Ohio has asked a question related to the state of his parents’ old neighborhood. When his parents were young, he states, the neighborhood was safe and clean. But later, after it became more populated with African Americans, it became what he terms “dangerous” and was not kept up as well, and his parents felt the need to move to the suburbs. He would like to know any possible reasons there might be for why the neighborhood underwent the change.
POSTED MAY 9, 1998

ANSWER 1:
It sounds like your family may be victims of “blockbusting.” In blockbusting, landlords and real estate agents scare white families into selling their property by telling them blacks are moving in and their property values will decrease. The white families sell and move away. However, the property values actually increase, because black people are more often than not charged higher rents and have to pay higher mortgages. Therefore, the landlords and agents make a killing. And honestly, this happens when members of any group move into an established neighborhood. I want to know: Did the neighborhood actually experience a rise in crime and an obvious increase in garbage? Do you think you could have been responding to stereotypes and “perceived” these differences in the neighborhood? Also, what class of black people moved in? Were they poor, middle-class or rich? It sometimes makes a difference.
POSTED MAY 12, 1998
Denise, 26, black, Bronx, NY

FURTHER NOTICE:
I disagree with the “blockbusting” theory, although it may be true in certain areas. I work as a redevelopment planner in an urban area in California. Older neighborhoods experience decline due to suburban sprawl or general economic decline in an area. People want to buy homes in new developments where there is more accessibility to shopping, better schools, etc. What happens to many of the older neighborhoods is that they become renter-occupied, and renters do not often have the same amount of pride in their property that owners do. This gets worse when the owners live out of the area and do not take care of the buildings or screen the behavior of their tenants.

The same type of thing happens with neighborhood businesses. Better malls, grocery stores and parking is available in the suburbs, so good businesses relocate. Once this starts happening in a neighborhood, it is difficult for the city, police or private industry to stop it or turn it around. If people are angry or worried about what’s happening to the neighborhoods they grew up in, they should get involved with their local governments (such as the redevelopment agency) and work with other residents and businesses to improve the area.
POSTED JUNE 11, 1998
A.M., white female, Sacramento, CA
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R255: People ask and debate about reparations and public apologies for the enslavement of blacks. Has there ever been a formal apology for the Jim Crow/segregational period? If so, when was it made? If not, why not?
POSTED MAY 9, 1998
Kara, Japan

ANSWER 1:
There has never been an apology for the Jim Crow era. I think this is because the United States does not want to openly admit wrongs done against blacks with slavery and Jim Crow laws.
POSTED MAY 21, 1998
T Spen, 26, African American <auset2be@aol.com>, Largo, MD
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R254: Why do Asian women seem to have a stronger preference for dating and marrying white men rather than black or Latino men?
POSTED MAY 9, 1998
Jim B., 40, African-American, Boston, MA

ANSWER 1:
I date white guys because I live in a small town and have not had much exposure to other Asians, blacks or latinos. I’m not saying I wouldn’t date a non-white; I just haven’t met any.
POSTED MAY 17, 1998
Melissa, 16, Asian female <voodoochild98@hotmail.com>, MI

FURTHER NOTICE:
To Melissa: In your case, it may be true that you have no choice. In the real world, perceptions/stereotypes play a huge role in our lives. The United States is still a white man’s world. As such, white men are advertised as hip, clean, healthy and desirable. And so they are seen as better than other alternatives. As for Asian men, I am a Chinese man, and we are stereotyped as brainy and therefore nerdy. And nerdy is not desirable in America, is it? We are also portrayed as weak, pushovers and generally best in supporting roles, even though Asian men have made great strides in the research and development field, high-tech or not. By the way, you don’t have to believe me, just watch some TV shows and movies. Perhaps this is the main reason for the lop-sidedness in Asian women marrying white men in comparison to Asian men marrying white women. And if you still think your situation is not unique, come to Standford, Calif., and sit in one of those sidewalk cafes. You will see 99 percent of the Asian/white couples are exclusively Asian women and white men, where Asian men are not hard to find. The best thing you can do is when you see one of those TV shows, try to feel the pain of your father trying to make a living in the white world.
POSTED JUNE 28, 1998
Joe C., Fremont, CA
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R253: Why is it that most African Americans don’t appear to recognize the late Jimi Hendrix as one of their own? He was a great guitarist.
POSTED MAY 9, 1998
Jroc, Pontiac, MI

ANSWER 1:
Even when Jimi Hendrix was alive, he was not very popular with most African Americans because the music he played was not what we were listening to. That is not to say that none of us listened to him. My husband is quite a fan.
POSTED MAY 12, 1998
Rain, Dallas, TX

FURTHER NOTICE:
Rock n’ roll is strongly rooted in black American music (the blues), and by the time Jimi Hendrix came onto the scene in the late 60s, there was a racial schism in popular music. The bulk of black pop music fans were listening to “rhythm & blues,” where the emphasis is placed on vocalists rather than instrumentalists. By that time, rock n’ roll was considered “white” music, and radio stations that catered to black audiences didn’t play much of it during peak listening hours. So the short answer is that most blacks just aren’t regular listeners to rock n’ roll; so they aren’t as familiar with Jimi Hendrix as a white person who listens to rock would be.
POSTED MAY 12, 1998
Jay B., black male <jayboyd@ameritech.net>, Detroit, MI
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R252: Why does it seem that Caucasians, moreso than other races, enjoy flirting with death by engaging in such activities as skydiving, bungie-jumping, mountain climbing and car and speedboat racing?
POSTED MAY 9, 1998
Charles W. <cwatford@haleybp.com>, Arlington, VA

ANSWER 1:
Good question. One reason might be that they have the cash to pursue expensive hobbies. But I see what you are getting at.
POSTED MAY 12, 1998
Joseph <joseph.moosman@mailexcite.com>, Karlsborg, Sweden

FURTHER NOTICE:
Perhaps white people engage more often in high-risk entertainment because we feel less danger and conflict within our everyday environment. I do not mean simply within a home environment, but also at work and school. A number of my black friends have expressed dismay over constantly having to be conscious of how they are perceived in their respective offices, ranging from their appearance to speech. These are not concerns I worry about. This could be at the heart of your question. As a white person, however, I can assure you I have absolutely no interest in flinging myself out of a plane.
POSTED MAY 14, 1998
J.C., white male <dolemite_jr@hotmail.com>, Atlanta, GA

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
One theory is that people have to have a certain level of risk in their lives to truly feel alive. When life gets too comfortable, people look for ways to add risk. That may explain why it can be so hard to regulate people’s behaviors, even when it’s “for their own good.” If risk-taking is more prevalent in white society, it’s probably only a matter of time, as blacks gain economic status, before you see it become more common. This has been a common theme in literature (i.e. Albert Camus) and music (i.e. Prince). It’s fairly well-recognized but not necessarily scientifically quantified.
POSTED MAY 14, 1998
Peter P., white male <PPROUT20@aol.com>, Redford, MI

FURTHER NOTICE 3:
Many scientists believe the predisposition of an individual to be a “risk-taker” is genetic. So being a so-called “daredevil” may be directly related to the same forces that have driven the white race to partake in acts of war and conquest, the acquisition of culture and many other risk-natured endeavors.
POSTED MAY 14, 1998
Steven T., 24, white <genious@mindless.com>, St. Louis, MO

FURTHER NOTICE 4:
To Steven T.: You must be talking about white male genes. I am an Anglo female who was afraid to participate in gymnastics in school because of the risk of falling and breaking my neck. To this day, I won’t water ski, ice skate, cliff walk, drive like a maniac or do anything that appears to involve a good likelihood of causing bodily harm. And yet my ancestry is solidly European.
POSTED MAY 21, 1998
Lynette <lcbrimble@shellus.com>, Houston, TX

FURTHER NOTICE 5:
I don’t think there’s a genetic component or racial variable to this. People throughout Latin America as well as in such countries as Japan, Spain, India and other areas defined by their ethnicity also engage in these leisure activities or sports. I believe it has more to do with economic power (save for bungie-jumping, the others can be quite costly to pursue) than with race, ethnicity or national origin.
POSTED MAY 26, 1998
PRow <PRnole@aol.com>, Tallahassee, FL

FURTHER NOTICE 6:
People can become addicted to risk – actually, the addiction is probably to the adrenaline rush associated with taking risk. I am a librarian and teacher who has dealt with teaching high schoolers about addiction. The list of addiction-education films that touch on the idea of risk-addiction is extremely long.
POSTED JUNE 14, 1998
Jscott, white female <jscott@cybertrails.com>, Chinle, AZ
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R251: Please help me in a delicate situation: With Chinese names, how does one know which is the surname and which is the given name? I am in correspondence with a person and am not sure how to address the letter. Also, I can’t tell gender. I know I should just ask, but feel awkward and embarrassed to do so.
POSTED MAY 6, 1998
Giah S. <Nayvay@aol.com>, Detroit, MI

ANSWER 1:
I have lived in Asia for 10 years and am a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese. The general rule is that Chinese people write their last name first. For example, if the last name is “Chen” and first name is “Mei Ling,” then they will write “Chen Mei Ling.” However, it is possible that, in anticipation of a Western reader, they may write the name “Western-style,” such as “Mei Ling Chen.” Because there are a relatively small number of Chinese surnames, it is generally possible for a Chinese speaker to determine which name is the surname. But I am certain the person with whom you are corresponding will understand your question and would not be offended if you asked which name is the surname. The same goes for gender. I have found that even Chinese people have difficulty determining the gender simply by looking at the Chinese name, unless it is a commonly used female or male name or unless the Chinese Characters are written out and are unambiguously female or male in nature.
POSTED JUNE 16, 1998
B. Lee <brooklee@hotmail.com>, Hong Kong

FURTHER NOTICE:
Chinese and other Asian individuals have similar difficulties with North American names. In addition to the very good advice offered above, I would suggest you ask your correspondent about the meaning and/or origin of his/her name, and provide some information about your own. Most people are flattered and grateful for the opportunity to discuss matters related to their own cultural and family traditions.
POSTED JULY 20, 1998
Patricia M., white female, Regina , Saskatchewan, Canada

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
I am studying Japanese and have many Japanese email pals I “meet” on the Internet. I am often confused about whether they are writing their names in “my” style or “their” style. And I often have no idea of their gender based on their name. So I just ask, begging their pardon for my ignorance. None of them have ever seemed offended, and many reply, “Oh, I’m so glad you asked because I cannot tell about your name or gender, either!”
POSTED OCT. 14, 1998
Midori, 38, white female <midorichan1@juno.com>, Orlando, FL
To respond
BACK TO TOP