Question for non-US members....

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Canada has erased the category of race from its census. Personally, I agree that race should be erased altogether.

Actually, that started before census. It was police profiling that caused the uproar. A suspect's description excludes his ethnicity......?

It’s best to describe individuals using adjectives, not outmoded anthropological categories.

I'd agree. Yet, 'African-American' ,'Hispanic', Asian-American and any others of that class, are deemed 'politically correct' in the U.S.. They supplant the usual derogatory labels that crop up, I would suppose.

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme
To my knowledge no other country categorizes like the USA. I have a Canadian friend who is now a USA National. She likes the joke:
What do you call a black person in Canada?
A Canadian.

Hmmm, then there's the Frogs, the Newfies, the Bohunks.....shall I go on?

All terms I have never heard. Please do go on.

Really? You live in Canada? Must be quite an insulated circle you travel. The ones I cite are more of a 'blue collar' environment.

No I live in California. And am Blue collar to the T. Perhaps America isn't so keen on profiling?

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme
To my knowledge no other country categorizes like the USA. I have a Canadian friend who is now a USA National. She likes the joke:
What do you call a black person in Canada?
A Canadian.

Hmmm, then there's the Frogs, the Newfies, the Bohunks.....shall I go on?

All terms I have never heard. Please do go on.

Really? You live in Canada? Must be quite an insulated circle you travel. The ones I cite are more of a 'blue collar' environment.

No I live in California. And am Blue collar to the T. Perhaps America isn't so keen on profiling?

Ah, that explains. Most nations, unless I'm mistaken have 'names' for those outside their particular race. It is less so as political correctness supplants many of them, to which I agree, and the ones I cited were, in most cases, peculiar to Canada, at least back in the day.

The list of derogatory labels are long and world-wide.

California is rather unique in the collection of States that comprise the 'Union'. That one area, they've done a fairly good job of, IMO. Most of the ones I cited are no longer considered acceptable. Are you from the U.S., originally?

Mostly we call people from the US -Canadians and we call Canadians- Yanks

That generally causes a bit of angst, Go figure

There was a time when all foreigners in China and even Taiwan were referred to as foreign devils.. Japan has their own version as do the Cambodians, Thai's and no telling who else.
Asians have always been what many would consider the most racist as far as their terms for foreigners.. Once you understand it is not necessary a derogatory term you live with it. As far as Black people they are referred to as black foreign devils or black farang (pronounced falong)... See equal for everyone !! hahhah Farang is a catch all for European decent or African.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Canada has erased the category of race from its census

But we still have our Nufies .

In Germany you have Russian Germans (repatriates and their descendants) and German-Turks (guest workers) as relatively large naturalized migrant groups.

As an US American you would be called an American in Germany.

a reply to: Vasa Croe
The United States is a special case, as a country deliberately formed from different groups of migrants.
In other countries, the existence of minority groups is not taken for granted to the same extent, and the descriptions will not be so systematic.

In England, for example, migrants originating in Pakistan or India would be called "Asians". I once had a Filipino colleague who refused to call himself "Asian", because of this usage. If he had to tick a box on a form, he would go for "Other".
Or there is the popular usage "Paki", used indifferently for Pakistanis and Indians.
As an American in England, you would be called a "Yank". Even if you came from Texas.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

in my part of the woods...you would be called an American.

We dont have such segregations within a national groups. All Americans are just..Americans. It's probably because..my neck of the woods is not all that diverse, overwhelmingly white. We are almost devoid of the meaning of the concept of racial division within a nation.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

In asutralia we have indigenous Australians and everybody else is just Other Australians.

I knda susepct that will change soon because for the powers that should not be, that it not sufficiently reacially divisional.

I reckon we can look forward to people from all the planet bring shipped in the next few years to create a greater degree of racial disharomony, divison and race based voilence.

Many of them, I suspect will be shipped in from countries where the populaiton has been traumatised and are culturaly trained in voilence.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

They are just people. Why refer to peeps by the colour of their skin. You might as well define them by nose length.

:-)

My English ancestors had been in India since the late 1700's .... They had been

responsible for the survey of India, been surgeons for the Nizam of Hyderabad,

and served in various armies. Always considered English/British in India.


When as a school girl I arrived in England, looking no different to any other child

of the same age, but with a slightly different accent, I was taunted with being

Indian to which I always answered that my DNA came from my father and mother

and NOT the country I was born in. Had I been born in China or Africa I would

still have been English and NOT Chinese or African.


People surely are their DNA and not the country they are landed in?

I call them people. If I know their name, I call them by their name. If they are a female I call them a woman or girl, if they are male, I call them a man or guy. If I know their country of origin I say for example "Yea that Iraqi guy said ...".
Only people who actually believe 'race' is a still a thing call categorize people by their general region of ancestry or origin of culture, or categorize them by color.

Honestly, why do you need to point out the obvious that someone is black or or has a darker tone of skin and say "yea that African american guy over there!" Yea thanks tips I can see he's not an Asian, or white dude.

a reply to: Vasa Croe


Mostly everyone is just British, the only times it crops up they are British Asians/etc.
Some times you see references to AfroCarribean.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I'm Scottish Australian.

None of that Anglo malarkey here.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

That depends.

When I describe my countrymen to people from other places, I call them my countrymen, my fellow Britons. When I have to describe one of them to the police, I make a detailed description of their physical characteristics and attributes, their manner of dress, any small detail which makes them identifiable from others.

Context is important.

The other day I was watching a youtube video and in the comments section there was a guy who posted a comment. The first thing he said was "I am Korean-American" and then he said "I am against multiculturalism". I responded to his comment and I said something like "How can you say this if you can't even call yourself an American ? You live in a country where everyone is labeled by his origin like African-American, Indian-American, Arab-American, Italian-American, etc.., and you say you're against multiculturalism ?".

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I remember watching the news about a terrorist attack in France and the CNN reporter referred to one of the witnesses as an "African-American" even though the guy was a French national.

The biggest reason they name themselves that way is because their own family history is very short. ie. I'm British and can trace my family back centuries yet Americans (the majority) can only go back maybe a century or two centuries and then they have to go to their country of origin.
It's not the government that designates them such but themselves. Be truthful now, how many Americans can honestly say when the go to any city in the US virtually all of them has a Chinatown, an Italian Area, an Irish area, a Black area an Hispanic area etc. etc. The people themselves do this because they want an historic identity.
That is why their country of origin comes first before American.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Personally, i just call everyone a (SNIP) bastard.