Race/Ethnicity Questions 391-400

THE QUESTION:
R400: Do white people believe that all of the discussions about race make people of color feel bad about living in the United States?
POSTED AUG. 7, 1998
Mafusa, African American <wawardjr@pacbell.net>, Rocklin, CA

ANSWER 1:
I don’t believe discussion of race issues makes people of color feel bad or uncomfortable – I think racism makes people feel bad. In my experience, talking about a “ticklish” issue may be difficult for people, but that’s what helps us grow.
POSTED SEPT. 23, 1998
Darbma, white <darbymom@hotmail.com>, New York, NY

FURTHER NOTICE:
Your question makes me think about what it is that makes me feel so nervous about the race issue. I’m a white female. I have been trying to understand how it must feel to have been part of an oppressed group of people for generations, and how this treatment must color the way one sees the world and especially how one feels toward the oppressor. I think I’m profoundly embarrassed by the way white people have treated minorities. I’m also very ashamed. I have a guilty conscience, and I’ll probably be involved in equity issues for the rest of my life trying to make amends for my ancestors’ intolerance.
POSTED FEB. 9, 1999
Barbara S., white female <sudek@worldnet.att.net>, Las Vegas, NV
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THE QUESTION:
R399: Why do we still address people using the words “black” and “white,” as though we are crayons in a box, when most of us are brown and fleshtone?
POSTED AUG. 6, 1998
J. Reynolds <Jamest1@juno.com>, Sacramento, CA

ANSWER 1:
A thousand years ago, Europeans referred to dark-haired people as “black,” even though they were all “white” by current definition. White-European hegemony has polarized the issue of color, and black and white are the polarities. It reflects our white-dominated social construct and our ancient connection of darkness to evil. It’s more complex and insidious than your question suggests. And by the way, brown, too, is a fleshtone.
POSTED AUG. 7, 1998
Max , white queer male, Oakland , CA
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THE QUESTION:
R398: I am curious to find out what white people think of the multiracial movement and people such as Tiger Woods who are unwilling to identify solely as African American. Would whites be willing to let biracial people identify themselves as white?
POSTED AUG. 5, 1998
S.T., African American (biracial) <salteee@aol.com>, Milwaukee, WI

ANSWER 1:
I am a 30-year-old black woman who thinks it’s great Tiger Woods acknowledges both his parents. One of my pet peeves is biracial people who acknowledge only one side. If both parents are mostly black (no other races in the gene pool for many generations), the kid is black. If the kid has a Chinese father and a black mother, the kid is Chinese and black. You can’t be half one race and half another.
POSTED AUG. 6, 1998
C. M. Hunt, St. Louis, MO

FURTHER NOTICE:
I think the multicultural movement is a good thing because it allows people like Tiger Woods to acknowledge both their parents instead of just one. People who are say, half-white and half-white are biracial; they are not black and not white, they are both. I think biracial people are a group to themselves because they receive flak from both sides. Someone who is white/black may be told by a white person that they’re black, while a black person may tell this same person they’re not black enough. This is a shame. People should be allowed to be themselves without anyone telling them what or who they should be.
POSTED AUG. 6, 1998
Hayley, 28, white, Chicago, IL

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
I am a white woman with multiracial children. My husband’s father is Chinese and African, and his mother is Mestizo. My husband grew up ignoring the question “What are you?” and my kids get asked that all the time, also. I am glad there is a multiracial “movement” so that people can become more knowledgable about mixed-ethnicity and its associated issues. However, I have told my kids they can call themselves anything they want (I call them American) but that they should not use their heritage to get anything (scholorships, etc.) because they are not financially disadvantaged. Also, when a cop or judge or hiring manager sees them, they probably pass for “white-enough.”
POSTED AUG. 6, 1998
S.Y., Oakland, CA

FURTHER NOTICE 3:
I think the more important question is “Would white people be willing to identify themselves as multiracial?” White people think of themselves as purely “white” and then speculate on the “what are they?” of people of color as if it were office gossip. But the myth of pure whiteness is a great lie. My “white” Klansman father was Irish, Portuguese, Native American and black. White folks need to come to terms with their own murky racial identities before we try to lay out definitions for people of color.
POSTED AUG. 7, 1998
Max H., white Melungeon , Oakland, CA

FURTHER NOTICE 4:
I think white society has established an unwritten rule: If one does not “look the part,” one cannot “claim the part.” Therefore, if one does not look the part, one is automatically “judged” by this rule as a “minority.” If enough biracial-multicultural Americans stand the same ground concerning this issue as Tiger Woods, white society will be forced to reexamine this rule. I believe one reason why white society is so adamant about “what are you” is biracial-multicultural stands conflict with demographic procedures. Even so, I feel this does not justify white society to retain this biased rule. Which is more important, individual rights or census procedures? I almost apologized for not fitting the ethnic description posed in the question, but should I apologize for being black?
POSTED NOV. 2, 1998
Alonzo C., 32, African American, Jacksonville, FL

FURTHER NOTICE 5:
What seems strange to me is that many white-looking people introduce themselves as Native Indians because maybe they have an Indian grandmother or something. This is considered quite OK. But I wonder why, on the other hand, totally black-looking people wouldn’t also introduce themselves as “white,” based on say, having a white grandmother. Also, I wonder if the reaction would be the same. And if not, why not?
POSTED FEB. 4, 1999
Justina <jkatel@aol.com>, female, Alaska
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THE QUESTION:
R397: What is the difference between the words Hispanic, Latina/o and Chicano? My lover identifies as Hispanic, more political friends as Latino/a, and now I’ve heard some people who don’t like either word and use Chicano. Can someone tell me the different histories/implications of these words?
POSTED AUG. 5, 1998
N.A., 27, queer Arab American <nadyalec@erols.com>, Washington, DC

ANSWER 1:
“Hispanic” means a person or his ascendants are from any of the former Spanish (Hispania) colonies in America. “Latino” is the same thing – it means they come from Latin America (by the way, the true Latins are the Italians; we simply took over the name). “Chicano” means strictly a person born in the United States of Mexican parents (which makes him also, of course, Latino and Hispanic). Some say the name comes from the mix of Chicago and Mexicano, because many came from that city. All this has nothing to do with skin color. We can be as black as a Nigerian, as white as a Dutchman or as brown as a a pure Aztec descendant, but we are all Hispanic and Latino. It’s a culture, not a color.
POSTED AUG. 9, 1998
Nelson A., 29, Latino (white) <nelsoneas@hotmail.com>, Caracas, Venezuela
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THE QUESTION:
R396: While shopping in malls, I have noticed that African Americans tend to walk extremely slow. Can anyone tell me if there is a reason why?
POSTED AUG. 5, 1998
Kristina, MD

ANSWER 1:
Kristina, have you ever noticed that when you’re running late, the traffic lights seem to take longer to turn green? It is human nature to allow preconceived notions to affect our judgment and perception. I am well aware that many black people tend to walk slowly in public. My wife is one of them. However, I tend to walk rather swiftly, as do many of the black people with whom I’m acquainted. Perhaps on your next trip to the shopping mall you can be more scientific and objective in your observation. Look for white people who walk slowly, and those who walk swiftly. Do the same with blacks that you see and I think you’ll begin to see more similarities than differences.
POSTED AUG. 31, 1998
Samuel H., 30, brown American; <samalex67@aol.com>, Chicago, IL

FURTHER NOTICE:
Conerning fast-paced walkers, I feel it is a subconsciously embedded psycho-neurophysical action as opposed to ethnicity, which originates from occupational training, i.e. “do this quickly, do that quickly.” Both fast and slow walkers are trained to perform tasks quickly, but the difference between the two is that fast walkers keep on walking fast evne when they’re “off the clock” (ingrained action), while slow walkers differentiate between a “required” pace and leisurely walking. I also feel that fast walkers tend to think too many steps ahead, which causes their feet to try to catch up with their minds. Moreover, in a mall situation, leisurely walkers are able to enjoy themselves much more than fast walkers because they can (figuratively) smell the roses as they walk. Fast walkers walk quickly right on by them.
POSTED NOV. 2, 1998
Alonzo C., 32, African American, Jacksonville, FL
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THE QUESTION:
R395: Why is it that everything from European culture (i.e. folklore, history, literature, language) seems to be considered fair game for any American who wants to create their own version of it, while Americans insist that cultures of other groups be protected and kept exclusive? I’m talking about things like the recent movies The Three Musketeers, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Man in the Iron Mask, all made with no regard for the original literature, true history or original culture; Doctor Doolittle made with Eddie Murphy; and versions of European folk stories and legends filmed or illustrated with multi-cultural characters, etc.
POSTED AUG. 5, 1998
Colette <inkwolf@earthlink.net>, Seymour, WI

ANSWER 1:
Just an inquiry: Were you aware that The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask were both written by Alexander Dumas, a black man?
POSTED SEPT. 4, 1998
Black female, Los Angles, CA

FURTHER NOTICE:
I had no idea Dumas was black. Thanks for the info … but he was still part of European culture in any case (African-French?), and his work is considered French literature. I am surprised to learn he’s black, though, since I read his bookAdventures with my Animals, in which he included his black servants along with the cats and dogs. Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a question about race (it’s probably safe to say these movies and books are made mainly by whites), but about culture, and why some seem protected while others are regularly ripped-off. For example, would anyone publish a book of Native American legends and feel they had to illustrate it with Europeans and Africans included? Why is that idea any more ridiculous than the idea of giving Robin Hood a multicultural band?
POSTED SEPT. 9, 1998
Colette <inkwolf@earthlink.net>, Seymour, WI

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
To Black female: Where did you get the idea that Alexandre Dumas was black? I’m French and have studied French literature, and my mother is a French professor. I can guarantee you that Alexandre Dumas was not black. Besides, it does not answer Collette’s question. I think that Americans do this because as America is still a new country by European standards, it has not had time to produce enough cultural material of its own, so it tries to make some by importing raw material and adapting it to U.S. standards to satisfy the needs of its inhabitants. Thus the transformation of bad endings to happy endings and inserting multicultural differences to be politically correct and not hurt any feelings. I must point out that we Europeans smile at the attempts made by Americans to remake original European cultural creations. We feel Americans try to simplify everything and make everything seem shallow and commercial, and that in America, everything has a price tag on it – even culture.
POSTED OCT. 24, 1998
Zobe La Mouche, 25, Paris, France

FURTHER NOTICE 3:
Zobe’s reaction to the idea of Alexander Dumas being black inspired me to go have a look. Check out this site for confirmation: http://www.africaonline.co.zw/AfricaOnline/kidsonly/people/index.html. (DIRECTOR’S NOTE: This page states that Alexander Dumas was black; another link addressing this subject can be found at http://www.cadytech.com/dumas.)

Zobe, try to be more open to new knowledge. That is the spirit of Y? Forum. Just because you didn’t already know it doesn’t mean something is not true.
POSTED OCT. 26, 1998
Iteki, 22, Irish lesbian <iteki@chickmail.com>, Stockholm, Sweden

FURTHER NOTICE 4:
To Zobe: I checked it out before I responded, and Dumas had a grandmother who was black. Here in the United States, there’s apparently something called the “one-drop rule,” which dictates that anybody with a black ancestor is also black. To be honest, I have never heard of this rule except from black people. By this rule we are all probably black, so why should we even bother trying to label people by race?
POSTED OCT. 28, 1998
Colette, <inkwolf@earthlink.net>, Seymour, WI

FURTHER NOTICE 5:
As a French citizen I am actually proud that a French person (as most European people) did not know Alexander Dumas had a black grandmother (what about the other three-quarters?). I think it could prove that French people are less racist – or at least less race-concerned – than U.S. citizens. I thought the value of a person and of his or her deeds did not depend on his or her ancestry.
POSTED OCT. 28, 1998
French republican, 60 <fdondon@club-internet.fr>, Paris, France

FURTHER NOTICE 6:
Just a point of clarification: Dumas was the son of a Frenchman and a former African slave. For more information, click onhttp://24.1.81.71/dumas/biographie.asp.

Zobe’s guarantee that Dumas wasn’t black and his question of “Where did you get the idea…” is indicative of a serious problem in this country (by the vehemence of his answer I would say it’s a French problem, too): Namely, contributions by minorities are constantly overlooked or diminished by the majority.
POSTED OCT. 28, 1998
Tony <tonyway@yahoo.com>, San Francisco, CA

FURTHER NOTICE 7:
Dumas had a black grandmother (Marie-Céssette Dumas, a slave from the West Indies) and a white grandfather (Marquis Antoine-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie). Other interesting notes: In his time, Dumas was more famous for his plays than his novels; his father rose to the rank of general under Napoleon; his son wrote several novels including La Dame aux Camélias, the basis of Verdi’s opera La Traviata. Relating (somewhat) back to the original question, Dumas wrote many historically based novels, but was not above changing things to make a good story. He did not, however, claim them as historically accurate.
POSTED OCT. 28, 1998
Gene <geneand@ix.netcom.com>, Oakland, CA

FURTHER NOTICE 8:
There were of course two Dumases, father and son, both writers. Dumas senior had one black grandmother, and so junior had one black great-grandmother. Maybe a separate question needs to be asked: What percentage of a race, whatever race it may be, must a person have to be considered “of” that race? This is something I’ve never really understood. Maybe someone can clarify it here. I know that in some Asian countries, being a quarter Caucasian counts a person as “white.” Of course, none of this explains why Robin Hood’s band of 13th Century Merrie (English) Men should be “multicultural,” which was the original question, wasn’t it?
POSTED OCT. 28, 1998
Steve H, 49, European mix, Redondo Beach, CA

FURTHER NOTICE 9:
White American popular culture comes from so many different countries that we don’t know what’s what anymore. Most people don’t speak up enough when culture gets trashed. Look at Disney – their “Hercules” was a complete butchering of the Greek myths, but very few people spoke up. The general population accepts such garbage because they either are not aware of the original source material or don’t care. If minority citizens and groups speak up for their heritage and culture, they should be applauded for fighting to keep the integrity of their arts. Let’s see more white people speak up for the heritages and cultures of the countries they and their ancestors are from.
POSTED OCT. 28, 1998
Alan N. <chowfoon@iname.com>, Boston, MA

FURTHER NOTICE 10:
I find myself scratching my head, not knowing who to agree with, or how. But I will say this: Zobe, despite her anti-American cheap shots, is onto something. America is a nation of many disparate cultures and cultural influences, as it has been since its infancy. Because of this, America may never have been able to make a serious claim to having a monolithic, primary culture, as Zobe seems to imply that France has. Both our language and popular culture are so rife with cultural mixture that almost anything produced to appeal to the masses will reflect this inherent diversity. While the dark side of America’s brief history (and present) is colored with hatred and intolerance, the beauty of our diversity is undeniable. In fact, many Europeans clamor for the simplified cultural knock-offs we produce. And, before you attempt to deny that Zobe, I’ve got two words for you: Jerry Lewis.
POSTED OCT. 28, 1998
Sam; 30, male, brown American <SamAlex67@aol.com>, Chicago, IL

FURTHER NOTICE 11:
Dumas’ grandfather was the Marquis Antoine-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie,who married Marie-Céssette Dumas, a black slave on the West Indies island of Santo Domingo. She gave birth to Thomas-Alexandre and died when he was young. So, Dumas is one-quarter black. By today’s rules, he’s black.
POSTED JAN. 27, 1999
K.R., French minor, English major, , AL
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THE QUESTION:
R394: It’s my perception that many white Hispanics discriminate against black Hispanics in the Latin community, especially in Puerto Rico. Why is this?
POSTED AUG. 3, 1998
Alan J., 32, black <pabsys@idt.net>, Long Beach, CA
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THE QUESTION:
R393: Where did the notion come from that black men are considered “taboo” by Asian women? Many of us are well-educated, interesting and successful, yet this stereotype seems prevalent. Are many negative images of black men presented in Asian countries?
POSTED AUG. 3, 1998
Jim, African American, Boston, MA

ANSWER 1:
With the “PR” image we (black males) have in this country, it takes guts and effort to be with a black man. It is not only Asians who have a negative image of black men. European, Latin American, Middle Eastern – everyone knows that blacks are at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder in this country. Being with a black man means, in many cases, less money, lower social status, dirty looks, poor service at restaurants, less desirable housing options and a host of other “inconveniences.” There are lots of contributing factors: Our portrayal in the news, our own hip-hop videos, “boyz in the hood”-type movies and the actions of many of our own in society. All presenting negative images. We truly do have an image problem.
POSTED NOV. 9, 1998
Steve H., 39, black male <hubebu@aol.com>, Foster City, CA

FURTHER NOTICE:
I’m not sure if I would be too concerned over what other cultures think about myself or other African-American males. If the women of these other cultures cannot think (and act) for themselves, I can surely say that that’s not the kind of partner I would want anyway.
POSTED FEB. 4, 1999
Alan J., 32, African-American, male <pabsys@idt.net>, Long Beach , CA

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
Coming from a Filipino household, my experience is that there’s no negative stereotyping about black men instilled in the children, though I cannot speak for all Asians.
POSTED MARCH 19,1999
S.E., 15, Asian, Ontario, Canada
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THE QUESTION:
R392: Why does it seem that black comedians always portray white Americans as “goody two-shoes” and “cheerful” in an almost goofy way in their comedy acts? It’s funny, but I am curious about why they see white Americans that way.
POSTED AUG. 3, 1998
C Adkins, Lynchburg , VA

ANSWER 1:
This happens because for so long, black folks were stereotyped as lazy, ignorant buffoons. Now that some black folks have an opportunity to do it, they stereotype white folks as happy-go-lucky idiots. You know, tit for tat.
POSTED AUG. 31, 1998
Black Female <weezie@kc.net>, Kansas City, MO
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THE QUESTION:
R391: I live in a neighborhood that is half white and half black. I’ve noticed a lack of consideration for others, or society at large, by my black neighbors. This is evident by loud music from cars and excessive littering when walking down the street. Is this because my neighbors are rebelling against society at large because they are a minority?
POSTED AUG. 1, 1998
David, 33, white, Columbia, SC

ANSWER 1:
I have also noticed the loud music and seemingly lack of regard for society among some blacks. I believe it has more to do with the so-called “black experience” rather than outright rebellion, though the two are likely connected. Many blacks, because of socio-economic inequities and the long-term psychological effects of minority status, often “reside” within a community but do not feel connected in any significant way to it. Their experiences as the “plagues of society” tend to play out in ways such as unkempt dwellings and blatant disregard for their surroundings. However, the music issue is moreso a youth culture issue rather than an “all black folk” one. The media has successfully shaped the young black person as monolithic in terms of interests, i.e. loud-, hip- and popular culture-engrossed. So, like all of us, we master our culture. Unfortunately, youth culture in general dictates there be some degree of social opposition. In much of black youth culture music is a form of expressing their visibility and identity. So many of today’s young people feel invisible and maligned, and this form of territoriality sends a clear message that they are here! Perhaps it’s up to us to connect the young people and to use their energy to build our neighborhoods. What a challenge!
POSTED SEPT. 4, 1998
Dee, black <westde@hiram.edu>, Cleveland, OH