A while ago, Tiger Woods caused a bit of a stir by saying (on Oprah IIRC) that he thought of himself as a “Caublinasian” - refering to his Caucasian, Black, Native American Indian and Asian ancestry. This caused some rather angry African-Americans to loudly declare that he was BLACK and that he should accept that!!
In the same vein, a certain official of the Apartheid regime in South Africa achieve noteriety by declaring that [paraphrase]it was easy to tell if someone was Black - a Black person was someone who had the smallest amount of Black blood in thier family[/paraphrase]. This caused no small amount of hilarity among the liberal community there as applying the same standards, a White person would be…
So, the rather long-winded question that I wish to pose is: How do you define yourself racially? What criteria do you use? If you try not to think of yourself in that way - why not? Do you think it is reasonable not to “classify” people in this way?
I will say human, as that’s exactly what I am. The whole concept of race is purely artificial. Why classify people in this manner? A man and a woman of two different races can produce offspring who are themselves capable of reproduction.
I’d be classed as “White”, although I’d reject the label. I can and have dated women of other races. My girlfriend is mixed-blood.
IMO, it’s up to the people who want to impose artifical distinctions to justify their decision. It’s not up to me to justify my choice.
When others look at me they assume I am Caucasian, and though I have never been to Caucasia, I plan to visit there before I die…if I could only find it on a map! I consider myself a Caucasian because I am of European descent.
Do I feel compelled to convince myself or others that I am of anything other Caucasian “breed”? Fortunately no. I rarely ever think about my race during my daily life. For others it is a serious issue that they feel demands their attention on a regular basis.
I feel it’s reasonable to let a St. Bernard call himself a chiuahuah if he feels so compelled. Some people will chastise the St. Bernard because his decision and call it a big dumb hairy dog, but that is his perogative. Others will praise his “bravery” and commend his freedom of thought, maybe even let him carry some scotch around his neck.
Well, “racially” speaking…I have no idea, since I don’t accept the notion of race at all (which includes “human race”; if race is artificial, it’s artificial in all contexts). I am of the human species, as are all other humans, regardless of national origin or cultural background.
I also do not have, last time I checked, any trace of black, or white for that matter, blood. I have red blood. I’ve seen it leaking out of me enough to know this for a fact.
My skin color is not white, either. It is some sort of pale pinkish-yellowish color which is actually somewhat difficult to describe. It also changes color, depending on the amount of sunlight I receive, or my general state of health. Kind of like mood skin, I guess. I can tell you that it ain’t white, though! And I have yet to see anyone who did have white skin (except maybe an albino), or black skin.
I am human! Hear me…er…whimper pathetically as I am being mauled by a roaring lion…
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Genus: Homo Species: H. sapiens
Which one of those things is “race”? Whichever one it is, that’s what I am.
Do you mean what ethnicity am I? Beats me. My mother was mostly Irish, with some German, Swiss and French several generations back. My father was Jewish of Eastern European descent (mostly Hungarian and Romanian) and Italian. I don’t think that my genes would indicate any of that, though.
::d&r::
In other words, Grimpixie, too many people are way too hung up on the various skin colors, hair types, and epicanthic folds within the human species.
Lets see… I have two Jewish lines, one Ashkenazic, the other Sephardic. The Sephardic side also lived in Italy, making me part Italian, they also lived in Chile from the 1920’s to the 1970’s. Also there is a bit of old stock Virginian with a twist of Upshaw (thanks to a certain Mr. Upshaw) on my mother’s side.
…so I guess I am of the “American race”.
Whatever Adam and Eve were. But since they didn’t exist, I’ll have to go with whatever race monkeys are. No wait, but I kinda believe the Pansperia (sp?) Theory so my race is whatever race amino acids are classified as.
I check the “White, of European descent” box on the bureaucratic forms, but I’m waiting for them to put in my true description: “Off-white and of a pinkish hue.”
(Caucasian actually refers to the Caucasus region, or the Caucasian Mountains-which includes Georgia, Chechnya, etc etc. That’s where the Cossacks and the Tartars come from. I have a professor who was born and raised in the Caucasus.)
My race?
Well, lets see, my skin is usually peachish, sometimes green, sometimes yellow, sometimes red, and it varies in lightness and darkness (hopefully after next week when I get back from the beach it will be darker!). It hasn’t turned blue yet, but someday it probably will.
I think that my ancestors were from Germany and Austria (mostly).
What race would that make me? I'd say human :)
When I take those wonderful tests at school that have a box that asks you what race you are, I usually leave it blank, although I don't recall them having an other box. (If they do I'd love to write human beside it.)
I don't think it is right to classify people how they look. That's like saying all blondes are dumb (and we aren't!...really we aren't.), people who have green eyes are better/worse than those who have blue, etc. Why worry about what color someone's skin is?
But since they didn’t exist, I’ll have to go with whatever race monkeys are. No wait, but I kinda believe the Pansperia (sp?) Theory so my race is whatever race amino acids are classified as.