This might help, SG

[Trillian]

@Dragon_Tear

And not only by mexicans. =^^=

Yeah…I think there are unflattering terms for foreigners in every culture. :\

[Shimo]

@Infonick

Actually, she is from South Africa, so she is techically South African American. That is the problem with trying to define by race and country. It is understandable to call blacks whose families were slaves African American since there is no way of knowing much ancestory, I know I don’t know my families origin further than Africa. Africa is a whole fucking continent, yet it is treated like a country. Many white Americans say things like “oh I’m German/English/French/etc. American,” but keep blacks grouped as African. Converserly white Americans should then be called “European Americans” since Europe is a continent too. The differnce is that white Americans for the most part know their ancestory. What is also fucked up is how Mexicans, Cubans, Spainards (especially them since they are from Europe), etc. are all grouped as one ethicity too instead of the varying countries when they do know their backgrounds and where their family originates. European Americans are special in that they are individualized, while all other ethnicities are grouped together. This is nothing against anyone here, just something that has bugged me for awhile and was brought to light even further with a class I took last semester.

I’m not sure whether you are fully right there.
You say “they” treat African Americans as if they were from one single land, while white Americans are called by the country they are originating from, but who really does that? The major authority for these issues, the Census Bureau, classifies the inhabitants of a certain city in America as following:

The racial makeup of the city [Los Angeles] is 46.93% White, 29.75% non-Latino white, 11.24% African American, 0.80% Native American, 9.99% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 25.70% from other races, and 5.18% from two or more races. 46.53% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
So you see, it neither calls the whites by their origin nor sums it up the Hispanic population as one race. But honestly one has to admitt that the Census Bureau publishs some figures in additional which breaks down the white population into their origin countries.

[Infonick]

@Shimo

I’m not sure whether you are fully right there.
You say “they” treat African Americans as if they were from one single land, while white Americans are called by the country they are originating from, but who really does that? The major authority for these issues, the Census Bureau, classifies the inhabitants of a certain city in America as following: So you see, it neither calls the whites by their origin nor sums it up the Hispanic population as one race. But honestly one has to admitt that the Census Bureau publishs some figures in additional which breaks down the white population into their origin countries.

I mean that when you talk with people or how certain groups are talked about. The census groups, but many people I know say that they are “some European country American.” The census thing also has problems with things such Charlize Theron, she is white and “African American.” Also, the grouping is fucked up in that white people are called just “white,” despite them beign from various places and fitting into several groups. Once again Charlize Theron is a good example, she is abotu as Afican American as you can get, but she is still technically white and isn’t the Afican American people think off. I am only using her as an example so much since she is famous and we are already talking about her. I know plenty of examples that make things even messier (such as I’m half white and half black). Ethnicity (race is a social contruct and doesn’t really exist) is very complicated. Also, why say “white” and “African American?” They are quite different ways of defining someone. White refers to skin color, African American refers to place of origin. Shouldn’t it be “European American” and “African American” or “black” and “white?” However, that doesn’t really work anymore since either since that thinking and classifying is old and stems from before the “New World.” Ethnicity and race really shouldn’t be talked about or the the classification needs to be seriously overhauled since it no longer works to accurately or fairly classify everyone.

Keep in mind that this is a VERY abridged version of my thoughts on this. I could easily write a whole essay on this that none of you would read and it would get into the various other ethnicities and why they don’t work for classification purposes, but I’ll spare you.

EDIT: Shimo, you aren’t from America so you don’t get the cultural aspect, you just get the professional version, not how the majority of people deal with the issue on a day to day basis and in interactions.

[Arac]

I’m putting myself behind Info on this one. Ethnicity breakdown, as it stands or has ever stood, is a very bad thing.

[Shimo]

@Infonick

The census thing also has problems with things such Charlize Theron, she is white and “African American.”

1. Due to the fact that most of the Americans with African ancestry originate from West Africa, that isn’t really a big problem.
2. Basically, the definition of the Census Bureau of an African American is as following: “Black or African American refers to people having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.” Buuut, it includes people for instance from West India when they specifify themselves as Black, and if Charlize Theron counts herself as African American and writes that in the census, it includes her as well.
3. You are right that it isn’t correct that some (I don’t know it because, you are right I’m not from America and hence lack daily experience) people call a person with dark skin simply African American but break the whites down to their originating countries.
   But maybe, in who knows how many years, nobody even is able to classify Americans in races because the people in America mixed themselves and became a new ethnicity, “American”.

[Infonick]

@Shimo

1. Due to the fact that most of the Americans with African ancestry originate from West Africa, that isn’t really a big problem.
2. Basically, the definition of the Census Bureau of an African American is as following: “Black or African American refers to people having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.” Buuut, it includes people for instance from West India when they specifify themselves as Black, and if Charlize Theron counts herself as African American and writes that in the census, it includes her as well.
3. You are right that it isn’t correct that some (I don’t know it because, you are right I’m not from America and hence lack daily experience) people call a person with dark skin simply African American but break the whites down to their originating countries.
   But maybe, in who knows how many years, nobody even is able to classify Americans in races because the people in America mixed themselves and became a new ethnicity, “American”.

1. I’m not saying it is a big problem, but it still hases problems with some rare instances, such as Charlize Theron. Since if you go by the white European classification method, she is “African American” since Africa is treated as a country and not a continent.
2. I know how the census works and that is why it is flawed. Also, like I said earlier, the term “African American” is inaccurate since it is refering to blacks in America who don’t know their ancestory, however, it still excludes other ethnicites that immigrate from there. Also, that definition seems a bit dated. If that is that current definition, then I’m very surprised since it shouldn’t include the term “race.” Also, I’m only dealing with one instance, I’m not going into things like “Asian Americans” who vary between background.

Bottomline is that ethnicities shouldn’t really matter and the system sued to define is is archaic.

[ClothHat]

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a white person referred to by their specific national ancestry unless the topic of conversation is everyones respective ancestries; or if it’s a standup comedian talking about how crazy it was growing up with an Irish family like his.

@Infonick

That is the problem with trying to define by race and country. It is understandable to call blacks whose families were slaves African American since there is no way of knowing much ancestory, I know I don’t know my families origin further than Africa. Africa is a whole fucking continent, yet it is treated like a country. Many white Americans say things like “oh I’m German/English/French/etc. American,” but keep blacks grouped as African. Converserly white Americans should then be called “European Americans” since Europe is a continent too.

I tend to hear white, black, caucasian, and african american all used interchangebly. I don’t know why caucasian is used, weren’t the caucasians some specific barbarian group during biblical times?

[Shimo]

@ClothHat

I tend to hear white, black, caucasian, and african american all used interchangebly. I don’t know why caucasian is used, weren’t the caucasians some specific barbarian group during biblical times?

No, Caucasian means that you originate from Europe, North Africa, India or the Middle East. At least if I remember correctly.
Ah, that’s what Wikipedia says: “in common usage and political contexts in the USA and Australia, Caucasian refers to light-complexioned people indigenous to, or descended from Europe, northern Africa, southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. In North America, Caucasian usually means a white person of northern, southern, eastern, and western European descent, excluding people with significant Asian, African, or American Indian ancestry. Usage of the term “Caucasian” for “White Person” is mostly restricted to the USA and Australia.”

[Mastermune]

ES UN GUNDAM!!(It’s a Gundam)

Anyway,it’s stupid that the goverment came up with this idea,it just would make things worse,they’re trying to stop ilegal inmigrants, but this just makes more people want to go.What’s next?Tours of the correct way to cross the border?