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Sigh... another thread on racism

M

Mill

Lifer
I work with a lot of people from California, and they told me something that simply did not seem true. They said in California that race is not used to describe someone. Example: If there are 6 people in a room, 5 are white and one is black. They said they wouldn't say "the black guy" if looking/asking about him(assuming they didn't know that person or their name). They said they would just say "that guy." Same goes for those of other races(Asian, etc). I find this hard to believe on AT, because I've seen plenty of people from all over the country describe someone as that "black guy" that "Asian dude" or that "white guy." I have a feeling they were blowing a bunch of crap up my ass.

It isn't as if it is being done in a racist manner. Let's say someone is looking for a guy name James. They said that saying "James the black guy" is something that wouldn't be said in California. Their premise is that he would simply be called James, even if there were 4 white people named James, and 1 that was black. I've never seen this in practice. When it comes to describing someone I've always said their height or weight etc. Example: That heavyset black guy, or that large black guy, or that huge white guy. I've never thought of using someone's race when describing them as being racist. I'm speaking of a situation when it is obvious it isn't being used to degrade someone or single them out. Simply as a manner of identification. Several of them said they were "shocked' to see that. I didn't call BS because they are co-workers, but there seemed to be the insinuation that it was racist to do so, and that in California it was looked down on.

The thing that got me going further was that someone said that the OJ trial wasn't racial in nature out in LA, but they read an article in the paper here(no doubt an AP article, and not an actual article written by a staff reporter for the paper) that was talking about the racial tension regarding the OJ. Maybe I'm totally high, but i seem to remember that Mark Furman and the LAPD were branded as racists, and that it was a huge part of OJ's defense, and a reason for the jurors to vote not-guilty. I always thought that Furman's racist remarks impeached his testimony in the eyes of the juror. Is smoke being blown up my ass, or is it really like that?
 
I wish you the best of luck


Race is used to distinguish much like hair color or height. I've lived in CA all my life, both Southern and Northern parts
 
men say "that blonde chick" all the time... it's just easier and the most obvious trait to use at the time...
 
I prefer using African American. And California, as Heisenburg very nicely put it, needs to slide into the ocean.
 
Originally posted by: GoodToGo
I prefer using African American. And California, as Heisenburg very nicely put it, needs to slide into the ocean.
Click to expand...

what's wrong with California?
 
I live in CA and I would have no problem describing the lone black guy in a group as "the black guy". I also would describe the lone white guy in a group as a cracka muthafuka... j/k I would call him the white guy.
 
a friend of mine from college told me race wasn't an issue at all, and that he was comfortable enough with his black friends that they would call him n* and he would respond in kind. maybe its in extreme case but its true.

-Vivan
 
I think this is probably a matter of peoples description habits. I live in Texas and we usually leave color out of conversation, but when I went to GA for awhile back in 1990 it was "the black man this" and the "white man that". This came from both races. You cant tell me everyone was 100% racist. They simply have the habit of including color in their descriptions.

What pisses me off is when PC goes hyper and you have those stupid sensitivity training classes that makes everyone extremely paranoid about anything. You now cant say, "THAT FAT BLACK CAT PLOPPED ITS ASS ON DOWN AND WAS MUCHO HAPPY!". :roll:

Thank you Jessie Jackson. The thought police are now on patrol.
 
Originally posted by: GoodToGo
I prefer using African American. And California, as Heisenburg very nicely put it, needs to slide into the ocean.
Click to expand...

What's the deal with California? If I had to choose the worst of the country it would most likely be the infamous bible belt. ANYWAYS, I use race to describe someone that I don't know. So if I say James and people don't know which James, I'll describe him saying the tall black guy with whatever hair. For the ones that I DO know, I usually give a better description beyond race. I can say James, the YMCA guy or the finance guy or etc....
 
Originally posted by: GoodToGo
I prefer using African American. And California, as Heisenburg very nicely put it, needs to slide into the ocean.
Click to expand...

What if they're not american? I'm friends with 2 people in the MBA program at Rutgers that are students from Nigeria, so I wouldn't call them african american. I also worked with a black man from Jamaca three years ago, what about him?
 
There are a lot of people in CA that freak out whenever you mention race. My car was stolen by a black guy. Many people will find that to be a racist remark, regardless of whether or not it was true. No one wants to be a racist, so a lot of people wont even bring up the subject for fear of being labelled as a racist.

Of course, around familiar people, it's not necessarily a big deal. I can refer to people as "that black guy" or "that Chinese guy" among my friends and no one cares. Hell, sometimes if I'm in the car with a Vietnamese friend of mine, we'll try and guess the ethnicity of other drivers by thier car, before we can see thier faces.

That said, I wouldn't call up the IT dep't at work and ask to talk to "the black guy", because some people think that's a racist remark.
 
Mill, whoever told you that must have been blowing smoke up your ass. I've lived in San Diego and the surrounding areas all my life and never got this impression from anyone.

I refer to someone by their skin color or something if needed as a point of reference sometimes, but I certainly don't avoid referring to people as "black" or what have you, for the sake of being PC.

There's a difference between using someone's race as a point of reference and using it in a racist manner.
 
Originally posted by: UglyCassanova
Sometimes it is just the most convenient way to point out someone.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Racism is when you HATE another race. The day I stop saying "black guy" or "white guy" is the day I die. There's nothing wrong with it.
 
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