Obama and the whole 'african american' thing

[rh71]

Just "American" is a citizenship and does little to tell someone what you are. I agree it depends on context if someone asks you, but I don't see why african american would not be used in Obama's case here.

It's not about making yourself more important than another race - it's simply a fact that race here matters because it's the whole point of this conversation about Obama paving the way. If you are sick of that, I'm thinking there's deeper annoyances than just the semantics of these words here.

I think it's real simple... if I were to become president, would people say I'm the first chinese to become president or would they say I'm the first asian? Asian. Not chinese, not yellow, etc. Put this in Obama's context... he is not the first african president... he is the first african american president. This is an EASY choice for the media.

 

[jonks]

I don't use anything-american since it's making an assumption based on someone's appearance. For ex, if a black guy from England is visiting the US he is not an African American, but he is black.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: compman25
Do they say African-English? African-French? African-Dutch?????

They say British-Asian over here - usually for 1st gen immigrants who have British citizenship but maintain a very Indian/Pakistani/etc lifestyle.

 

[hanoverphist]

do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

 

[yours truly]

if you were to call a black person in britain african english you'd get a smack in the face

contentious issue in the uk, but a non white briton is seen as british not english

as stinging remark by bernard manning a fews years back, he said just because a dog is born in a stable, doesnt mean its a horse

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend
Because he's of English, Scottish, and Irish descent as well.

If you put it that way, why would the media NOT say african to push their point across since we all know what the biggest breakthrough is here...

You mean that he's black?

see above. You don't think these newscasters call black people black at home?

 

[zoiks]

It's weird for me. When I meet someone, even though I don't realize it, I do in fact subconsciously know or am aware of their ethnicity even when I meet people of my own race. With Obama, it was never the case. I was in fact really happy when he won the elections since I thought he would make a better president. It was odd for me to hear people screaming racial epithets during the campaign about him.

 

[WA261]

Originally posted by: Wheezer
well if you are born here, you are an American period.

You, in this case have Asian heritage in your genes.

Obama has African genes in his heritage.

He is not African American nor are you Asian American.

He is an American with African Heritage and you are an American with Asian heritage.

This whole idea of putting your heritage before your nationality is just bullshit.

 

[Wheezer]

Originally posted by: Juked07

Originally posted by: Wheezer

Originally posted by: Juked07

Originally posted by: Wheezer
well if you are born here, you are an American period.

You, in this case have Asian heritage in your genes.

Obama has African genes in his heritage.

He is not African American nor are you Asian American.

He is an American with African Heritage and you are an American with Asian heritage.

This whole idea of putting your heritage before your nationality is just bullshit.

All it is, is just people standing up pounding on their chests to affirm to everyone that they are not just your average run of the mill white man....well, no shit...I can tell that by looking at you.

why don't the Catholics say "Catholic-American"

or the Protestants say "Protestant-American"

or the Buddhists say "Buddhist-American"

why?...because it's fucking dumb.

Racism will NEVER...EVER go away...EVER....it is human nature to pick on someone who is not the same.

but, if you want to "try and get along"...then don't segregate yourself by proclaiming your heritage first....you want to put your heritage in there...fine....why not say American-Asian or American-African?

....why?...because that is just as fucking stupid.

If you are black and born here....you are an America...if your black and born in Germany...you are German....if you are Asian and born in Australia...you are Australian...your heritage means nothing to anyone but you and your family....so just stop it.

0/10 rant

Edit: And since some other posters don't agree, let me just very briefly state why I think so. The fact that you care so much about it is the exact opposite of the attitude you are trying to promote--that of not caring about heritage.

Also, that the adjective comes before the noun in those phrases is NOT an indication of which the speaker feels is important, it's simply the most logical way to say such a phrase in the English language. As your very own thread demonstrates, trying to order it the other way around is awkward from a linguistics standpoint.

Furthermore, saying no one cares about heritage is simply not true. I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain this.

no, see I don't care.

the fact that other people find it so damn important is annoying.

does Schwarzenegger say I am a "straight -American"?

did Liberace say he was a "gay-American"?

no.

why?

because it does not matter...period.

your families lineage is only important to you and your family the way your sexuality should only be important to you and your partner(s)...I along with the other 99.99% of America don't give a rats ass.

Everyone would like to thing that everyone should be treated equal....if that is the case then why put your heritage in front of your nationality?

what do you hope to accomplish?

who do you hope to impress?

why do you feel a need to address yourself in a way that makes you different when you "claim" you want to be treated equally?

equally to what?

Americans?

other "Asian-Americans"?

"African-Americans"

"German-Americans"?

"Irish-Americans"?

what group exactly to you want to be treated equal to?

If you carry this sort of hostile attitude about things you "don't care about," I hate to imagine what you do once you become passionate about something. I don't buy it.

LMAO...hostile?...hostile?...you think this is hostile?

you must be the kind of person that wears their heart on their sleeve.

This is no where near hostile.....this is just sick and tire of people crying about how they want to be treated equal and yet they want to go out of their way to make sure EVERYONE knows that they are different and "special"

I mean look at it this way.....do people with downs syndrome say I am a Downs-American?

or HIV infected people say I am an AIDS-American?

or Lepers say I am a Leper-American?

do midgets say I am a short-American?

I mean why do people feel a constant need to differentiate themselves and say "look at me!!! I am different.....now treat me equal!"

it does not wash.

I used to have a friend that has German parents that came over directly from Germany...they called themselves Americans when they obtained citizenship....their daughter was born here......as we got older she stated calling herself a German-American.....after a while I got tired of hearing it and I told her how stupid I thought it was that she did that......her parents agreed with me and thought it was insulting that she did not consider herself just a plain old American....she continued to do this and finally we got into a heated argument over it, yeah alcohol played a roll....and she basically told me that if I could not accept it then perhaps we should not be friends...that was 15 years ago and I have not seen her since, never looked back......I thought it was bullshit then I think it's bullshit now.

 

[sandorski]

For 8 years Clinton was Criticized and Investigated over Sexual issues. Do we have 8 years of the same regarding Obama's Racial background?

hehe, ok, I'm being Sarcastic, but we're off to a bad start with all these threads focussed on whining about whether he is "Black", "African-X", yaddayaddaya.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Racisim will go away when we all become the same brownish color in a few million years.

It didn't take nearly that long to get the range of colors we have now. What makes you think it will take that long?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

 

[Wheezer]

Originally posted by: sandorski
For 8 years Clinton was Criticized and Investigated over Sexual issues. Do we have 8 years of the same regarding Obama's Racial background?

hehe, ok, I'm being Sarcastic, but we're off to a bad start with all these threads focussed on whining about whether he is "Black", "African-X", yaddayaddaya.

You can partly blame the press......I have a color TV, I have seen the pictures in the paper and the web....I get it...he's half black....so what...he is the A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N President....for ALL OF US who are citizens of this country.

 

[rh71]

^ same would happen for Palin's gender thing. Wouldn't play into the we're-all-the-same speech either. There will be a cooling off period.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

as a person that already shows respect to people in general, i refuse to call a short person vertically challenged. I will not type in a memo anything of that sort. I will also not tolerate a person walking up to me and telling me to not use the word retarded, but instead mentally challenged (this was due to my daughter saying the cashier seemed retarded in a store. the cashier was a total dipshit, in her defense). these things have nothing to do with respect, it has more to do with a group of people wanting to control words people are allowed to use, in the name of being offensive to someone, somewhere.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

Anti-PCers are as annoying as Hell. Mostly because they whine about anything else that requires them to change something, like Wearing Seatbelts, Women/Minorities in the Work Place, Women having Choice, wearing a Helmet, etc etc etc...

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

as a person that already shows respect to people in general, i refuse to call a short person vertically challenged. I will not type in a memo anything of that sort. I will also not tolerate a person walking up to me and telling me to not use the word retarded, but instead mentally challenged (this was due to my daughter saying the cashier seemed retarded in a store. the cashier was a total dipshit, in her defense). these things have nothing to do with respect, it has more to do with a group of people wanting to control words people are allowed to use, in the name of being offensive to someone, somewhere.

You are clearly: Socially Challenged

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

Anti-PCers are as annoying as Hell. Mostly because they whine about anything else that requires them to change something, like Wearing Seatbelts, Women/Minorities in the Work Place, Women having Choice, wearing a Helmet, etc etc etc...

generalizing is fun! but youre not really spot on there. i have no problem with any of the supposed issues you put in there. i have a problem with people telling me my word of choice to describe something is wrong. if it is a curse word ill refrain from using it, if it is the N word or something akin to that i wont use them either. but really, im friggin bald. not follically challenged. my mom is short, not vertically challenged. we already have perfectly good words for most of the PC changes, why not use them. i wear my seat belt always, btw. i have a helmet for my mc as well, but rarely wear it. i see that as a personal choice, made with much knowledge of the negative side of that decision.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

as a person that already shows respect to people in general, i refuse to call a short person vertically challenged. I will not type in a memo anything of that sort. I will also not tolerate a person walking up to me and telling me to not use the word retarded, but instead mentally challenged (this was due to my daughter saying the cashier seemed retarded in a store. the cashier was a total dipshit, in her defense). these things have nothing to do with respect, it has more to do with a group of people wanting to control words people are allowed to use, in the name of being offensive to someone, somewhere.

You are clearly: Socially Challenged

:laugh:

 

[KeypoX]

kill whitey

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

Anti-PCers are as annoying as Hell. Mostly because they whine about anything else that requires them to change something, like Wearing Seatbelts, Women/Minorities in the Work Place, Women having Choice, wearing a Helmet, etc etc etc...

generalizing is fun! but youre not really spot on there. i have no problem with any of the supposed issues you put in there. i have a problem with people telling me my word of choice to describe something is wrong. if it is a curse word ill refrain from using it, if it is the N word or something akin to that i wont use them either. but really, im friggin bald. not follically challenged. my mom is short, not vertically challenged. we already have perfectly good words for most of the PC changes, why not use them. i wear my seat belt always, btw. i have a helmet for my mc as well, but rarely wear it. i see that as a personal choice, made with much knowledge of the negative side of that decision.

^ FYI newscasters (and I use them as the barometer) say handicapped all the time... they don't have to say mentally challenged or physically challenged. You're taking it too far.

I don't think it's too much to ask that you not call a guy with a cane on the street a gimp to his face... you wouldn't do it on tv either.

 

[Dumac]

The reason terms like African-American exists, despite how silly the term itself sounds, is because of the difference minorities feel from mainstream America.

Germans, Catholics, and many of the other hypothetical categories have voluntary ethnicity. A white German or Catholic can turn their ethnicity on or off as need be, and their ethnicity becomes symbolic.

African Americans, Asians, and other minorities wear their ethnicity on their skin, however. A black person can't turn on or off being considered black. Racial minorities can notice how others react to their skin color, and that skin color is an involuntary aspect of their persona. This is why silly terms like "African-American" are necessary, to show the separation that minorities feel from mainstream America.

 

[JM Aggie08]

the term n***a is thrown around very loosely these days...

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
do those other countries have a "politically correct" movement in them like america does? personally i think the whole PC thing is crap. it should be at least renamed PP (politically polite). it is not correct at all, and rarely saves peoples feelings.

You don't see the media saying this and that "sucks" either... they say "poor performance" or "underperformed". Just like there's business-speak, there's media speak.

As commoners speaking to each other, we all know it's fine to say these things, but you would never say it in a national/formal setting. You get on a tv interview and claim something sucks, you're going to look unprofessional. It's just simple etiquette.

the PC movement here is more than just people in media or "professional" people. it is people in grocery stores correcting people. its busybodies telling others how to refer to others. newscasters here wouldnt say something sucked either, unless they were like that one guy on every station that gets to go there.

To be honest, I've never seen or experienced that myself where people stop others in everyday public places. From what I can see, there's more of an anti-PC movement (hold-off on the Mac jokes) moreso than the other way around. I guess I don't understand why being PC irritates people as much as it does. It's not exactly a problem we have to face. Think of it as having a certain respect for elderly or authorities. Ugh... maybe this is the wrong place for that statement.

Anti-PCers are as annoying as Hell. Mostly because they whine about anything else that requires them to change something, like Wearing Seatbelts, Women/Minorities in the Work Place, Women having Choice, wearing a Helmet, etc etc etc...

generalizing is fun! but youre not really spot on there. i have no problem with any of the supposed issues you put in there. i have a problem with people telling me my word of choice to describe something is wrong. if it is a curse word ill refrain from using it, if it is the N word or something akin to that i wont use them either. but really, im friggin bald. not follically challenged. my mom is short, not vertically challenged. we already have perfectly good words for most of the PC changes, why not use them. i wear my seat belt always, btw. i have a helmet for my mc as well, but rarely wear it. i see that as a personal choice, made with much knowledge of the negative side of that decision.

What about the "etc etc etc"? That covers EVERYTHING!! Gotcha!!! 😛😀