Race/Ethnicity Questions 611-620

THE QUESTION:
R620: Is the “rasta” dreadlock hairstyle generally worn as a political statement?
POSTED MARCH 1, 1999
Jubu E., Boston , MA

ANSWER 1:
I think whether dreadlocks are grown for political reasons usually depends on the person and on your definition of a “political statement.” Most African Americans with dreadlocks have them because “natural” hairstyles like locks, twists, braids, etc. are more accepted and popular within the black community than they were a few decades ago.

Having dreadlocks can be a political statement because you’re rejecting the dominant beauty standard in favor of an Afrocentric standard of beauty. In my case, I chose to grow dreads because I was tired of spending hours combing out my thick head of hair. However, since there are probably less than a dozen women with dreads in my entire state and everyone wants to know “Why’d you do that to your head?” I’ve developed a politcal ideology to go along with my hair. Even though the roots of dreadlocking are found with Rastafarians, I think very few dreadlocked African Americans associate it primarily with the larger Rasta movement. When I visited Ghana last year, however, everyone I met who had dreads was also a Rasta and assumed I was too (hence my nickname, Rasta-mama). No one (locked or not) would believe me when I said otherwise. I have several white friends though who also have dreads (OK, some of them have something that looks more like a a big thing of tangles sticking out of their head), and they seem more likely to associate it with Rastas, or to call themselves Rastas. Of course, they are also mostly neo-hippies, so I think their reasons for dreadlocking their hair are probably different from mine.
POSTED MARCH 19, 1999
Shana, smart black mama <shanakins@hotmail.com>, Delaware
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R619: I am a 21-year-old Asian Indian living in America. As you all know, the Indian population is increasing in America because of the demand for computer specialists. I read in newspapers that some Americans are attacking Indians in states like New Jersey and Connecticut. What’s the reason? Don’t immigrants have a right to be successful? How long will this feeling of “foreigners are taking our jobs” continue?
POSTED FEB. 28, 1999
Raghu, 21<wayne19@hotmail.com>, Tallahassee, FL

ANSWER 1:
When I was in college studying for my degree in electrical engineering, the students from that region of the world had an elaborate cheating system. As a result, many incompetent people received degrees. This is what I have against Asian Indians moving into this country and taking the available jobs.
POSTED MARCH 3, 1999
White male who earned his degree, CA

FURTHER NOTICE:
While I do not doubt that you might have read that in some newspaper at some point, I have to say I am suprised. I live in New Jersey, and I have not heard of any crimes committed specifically against Indian immigrants. I am not saying they did not happen, but they have not been reported in the papers in my area (which cover north and central New Jersey), nor have any such crimes been covered on the news. This would suggest to me that crimes against Indian immigrants are just as likely as crimes against any other group, or there is a deliberate attempt to take attention away from those incidents. But for my part, I know of a number of Indian immigrants working in my area, and none of them have ever had a problem.
POSTED MARCH 3, 1999
John K., 25 <the-macs@geocities.com>, Cranford, NJ
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R618: What “race” would someone of Italian heritage be considered? Caucasian, or “other”?
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
Melisa H., female <mhickert@spacecom.af.mil>, Colorado Springs, CO
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R617: In my experience, it seems that many East Indians feel they are superior to the rest of the races in America. I understand that all races have prejudice, but why does it seem to be so prevalent in East Indians?
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
J. Bilbrey, 26, white male <slingblade@qconline.com>, Quad-Cities, IL

ANSWER 1:
I am an East Indian, and I am sure East Indians do not consider themselves superior to any race in America. Most of them consider themselves very intelligent and, sadly, think others are idiots! You are probably confusing their superiority complexes for racism.
POSTED FEB. 28, 1999
East Indian, 21, male, Tallahassee, FL
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R616: Why is it that black people can go up to their friends and say “what’s up nigger?” as a friendly gesture, when this term has such negative undertones? How is it that such an awful, derogatory word has evolved into this type of slang?
POSTED FEB. 23, 1999
Emmanuelle, 16, white female <emmanuelle44@yahoo.com>, Cincinnati, OH

ANSWER 1:
As a black person, I’m still trying to understand this. Other blacks may try to justify its use by saying it’s a good word for them. The truth is, nobody should use this word (not even blacks). How can we say that we can say something and someone else can’t? It’s a matter of having a (negative) double standard that my black brothers and sisters try in vain to explain. When blacks say the n-word to me, I correct them.
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
Peter, 23, black male, Ypsilanti, MI

FURTHER NOTICE:
I know far fewer African Americans who use that slang with each other anymore. African Americans are beginning to have more pride in their ancestry and not copy mainstream ways of looking at themselves. For those who still use that term, it’s because they are not looking at one another with the issue of superiority in the background. An African American considers that if he uses that slang, it is not in a racist mode; if a European American uses it, it is generally not a term of endearment. Even if it is not meant in an offensive way, the European American would be looked at with suspicion because he/she has not shared the same history of slavery, repression and prejudice because of the men who came up with that derogatory term in the first place. Personally, I think any African American who uses it is practicing self-hatred in the long run.
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
Taliba, black female <aja6311@unix.tamu.edu>, Houston , TX

FURTHER NOTICE 2:
Our slave ancestors, not being permitted to learn how to read or write, picked up their spoken English from the whites with whom they came in contact – mostly slavemasters and overseers. The first and most enduring label these whites used in referring to blacks was “nigger,” which became a natural part of black vocabulary and was used by blacks in the same broad range of ways that they and others used labels such as “white,” “Indian,” “Mexican,” etc. Blacks soon came to see in the white usage, however, a single code standing for all of the hate, hostility and ugliness whites could bundle under one label. This led blacks to develop a distaste for the label in general and a profound reaction to the white usage which has always carried a footnote saying “I disrespect you, … I despise you, … and you are inferior to me.” The multiplicity of meanings in black usage of the word carry some subtle and not so subtle shadings. While some of these, in certain contexts, may be rather provocative, none are that single, coded meaning that is bundled in every white usage. In general, it is much easier for a word to vanish from a vocabulary if it has but one meaning than if it has a multiplicity of meanings. The label “nigger” should therefore be expected to vanish from the vocabulary of whites much faster than from that of blacks unless whites work to preserve it. .
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
Floyd L., African-American male <lastchild@worldnet.att.net>, Memphis , TN

FURTHER NOTICE 3:
What is actually being said is “nigga,” which means friend, sidekick or partner. It can also mean chump, idiot or sucka-er. The term nigga refers to who’s down (with me/us), and who’s not. Made popular by hip hop, a few whites who are “down” are allowed to say it (with an a) in the presence of blacks. “Nigger” still retains its antiquated, defamatory connotations.
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
Alonzo C., 32, black male, Jacksonville, FL

FURTHER NOTICE 4:
I believe comedian Chris Rock said it best when he used the analogy of a mother calling her kid “stupid.” That is totally fine to the mother, but if another mother calls the first mother’s kid “stupid,” there’ll be hell to pay. I suppose if you’re black and call other blacks “nigger,” it’s not offensive. This is similar to Asians calling other Asians “chinks” – it can be viewed as a friendly gesture.
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
Asian male, 22, Brooklyn , NY
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R615: I would like to know what men from Asia who have recently arrived in America think of American women.
POSTED FEB. 22, 1999
J.B., white female, Tyler, TX
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R614: Why do some male Mexicans feel as if their girlfriend/wife is there to serve them? I don’t mind getting things for my man, but why do they have to expect it?
POSTED FEB. 22, 1999
Young Mexican woman, San Diego, CA

ANSWER 1:
I don’t think this is a Mexican male problem. This is a man/woman problem. As a young wife, I fell into this trap. I wanted to do things for my husband to show him I loved him, and I assumed he would return the favor. It hit me one day that the man had no idea where anything was in the house because I always went and got it for him when he asked where it was! I stopped. It was rough on him. I wondered how I’d gotten so stupid – until I found out by talking to other women that many young married wives seem to make the same mistake.
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
Colleen, 38, white female <congdon@illuminet.net>, Quantico, VA

FURTHER NOTICE:
A better question would be: Why do some Neanderthals in every culture feel women are there to serve them? The problem is not unique to or especially worse among Latinos or Mexicans than among other – probably all – cultures. The false “machismo” stereotype of Mexican culture has been used to justify all kinds of wrong treatment of us. We should not be spreading such a lie about ourselves. Having said that, it was probably the way they were wrongly raised, and someone should teach them better.
POSTED FEB. 24, 1999
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian <bigi__@yahoo.com>, San Antonio , TX
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R613: Why do whites who have biracial children have a hard time understanding that those children are African American? African American means to me that a person is of mixed heritage.
POSTED FEB. 22, 1999
Taliba <aja6311@unix.tamu.edu>, Houston , TX
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R612: Just yesterday, for the thousandth time in my life, I was called an “Americanized” Asian by someone who is otherwise a very enlightened person. I was born here and have been to Asia only as a tourist. If anything, I am an “Asianized” American. Nothing – not my voice, dress or mannerisms – would indicate I am from another country (I’m not). My face is the only difference. I would really like to know why Asians are perpetually considered aliens to, and in, American society.
POSTED FEB. 18, 1999
Ray, 24, Asian-American male <yangban@erols.com>, Washington , DC

ANSWER 1:
I don’t understand how the term “Americanized Asian” makes you feel like an alien. I think white Americans use the term to distinguish between Asians they can easily relate with vs. those with strong accents and foreign beliefs.
POSTED FEB. 19, 1999
Mark S., 30, white male <mseely@wt.net>, Houston, TX

FURTHER NOTICE:
I don’t think I’ve been described as an “Americanized Asian” more than three times in my life. In fact, when I was in the military, some people went out of their way to let me know they saw me as an American with immigrant parents.As to others addressing you as an “Americanized” Asian, I can only speculate as to how the topic comes up. If you are somehow presented as an “Asianized” American to others, they may infer from you an outsider’s desire for approval. I’m not saying this is so, but that it may be perceived to be so.
POSTED FEB. 19, 1999
Mike, 29, Chinese male <leungm@ix.netcom.com>, Minneapolis, MN
To respond
BACK TO TOP

THE QUESTION:
R611: What would be the Chinese (or other symbol-based language) equivalent to a spelling test for school kids?
POSTED FEB. 18, 1999
Mike B., male <michael.barnett@msn2000.com>, San Antonio, TX
To respond
BACK TO TOP