(Fill-in-the-blank)-American: Consequences.

Great Debates
1

We have covered how one decides to think of oneself as “Black” or as a “Jew” in America. We have discussed the changing racial make-up of America and disagreed about whether or not America is a melting pot or a hodgepodge stew. Now I would like to ask individuals of all ethnicities in America to share how that group identification effects how they view the others.

Does your ethnic/racial/religious identification inform your cultural view? Does it influence in any way how you treat or respond to people who are “in” your group versus those who are “out” and if so how? What are the consequence, not in how others treat you, but in how you respond to others both within and without that group, of your self-identification with a particular sub-group within American society?

2

As a certified WASP (more or less – a white male heterosexual American of English descent with admixtures of Dutch, French, and Welsh), I’m probably the last person who should give a perspective here.

But it would be my thought that a significant part of what is wrong with America is the focus on small-group identity. Certainly there are valid and laudable things that one derives from being Black, Jewish (ethnically and/or religiously), any of over a hundred ethnic groups, a Californian, a Southerner, a Texan, gay, transgendered, of a given age group, etc. But when belonging to one of these groups transcends one’s sense of being an American and a human being, with rights from and responsibilities toward all other Americans and all other human beings, one begins to forge a divisiveness that leads to conflict and problems.

There was a rather lengthy bit of commentary some time ago on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in which it was pointed out that what he is renowned for is not merely what he did for Black Americans, but what he ended up doing for all Americans, in terms of a new paradigm on how to effect change, a new sense of freedom within responsible bounds, etc.

We are the richer for Greek delis, Yiddish writers, les droits de l’homme, Sinterklaas, William Tell, opera in several languages, kielbasa, blutwurst, Goethe, the King James Bible, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Rabelais, Sibelius, Smetana, Kafka, Mozart, Beethoven, bagpipes, smorgasbord, Ibsen, Gregor Mendel, Leonardo, Wilde, Nikola Tesla, Sun Tsu, Hiroshige Ando, manga, anime, Thai cuisine, Zen, … But they all contribute to a common heritage in which we all share.

3

Poly,
Given the lack of enthusiastic response to this thread you seem to be the first and last one to respond to this thread! :slight_smile:

As to positive or negative, that was going to be a seperate question. I’ll argue some of both in a second, but first is the recognition, good or bad, that it is. We self-divide ourselves into in and out groups. We use our own group’s cultural heritage to refract our common experiences. And we treat member’s of our group differently than we treat others in many ways, some benign and reasonable and some not so. It is an unavoidable consequence of the programming we have for kinships.

Some of this is very subtle and just happens without our recognizing what we are doing. Some is more explicit even if not neferious: my Dad who felt that all Jews were part of his mishpacha, his family, and would go out of his way to help a fellow Jew in need, a needy Russian Jewish immigrant commonly, and would feel pride for any accomplishement by someone identified as Jewish in any way. My Dad was work and family so it didn’t limit who he’d socialize with; he didn’t. I probably have some of the same attitudes just diluted some and less explicit.

Just as an example.

4

I’m white, raised Catholic, I don’t care about race, and fuck yooo!

5

Reading my response I realized I never did come back to good or bad. Eh. You covered it. If it results in isolationism or systemic lack of opportunity it is bad. But in so far as it brings a variety of perspectives into a mix, and fosters some borrowing of each others ideas, cross fertilization, it then stimulates creative answers to new situations.

6

I didn’t mean literally “fuck you,” I meant that I’m so sick of the notion of race, being judged by my race, etc. I’m a while guy living in Japan, so I know what it’s like to be judged by one’s appearance 24/7. On the other hand, when I’m in the US, I don’t want to seen as “just a white guy” who doesn’t add “diversity.”

7

That’s good cause I doubt you’re my type and I’m a faithful married man anyway.

You responded to the question at very simplistic level. Maybe you want to try again? Not with how it is to be judged, but you as the judge. Do you respond differently based on how you identify others as members of “your” group or not? In Japan do react differently to other White folk? (for example.)