Others have said it here already, but I think it bears repeating that you should never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
And we have a textbook case of that here.
OTOH, malice and stupidity are not mutually exclusive–and I suspect that we have a good example of that before us.
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow]
Personally I’m not in favor of anyone stopping anybody from dating who they like. I do get uncomfortable around some White guys I’ve known who are into “Asian chicks,” “Black chicks,” “Indian chicks,” and so forth. I knew a White guy who dated exclusively Black women, and I thought it was a little strange, like he had a fetish or something.
[/QUOTE]
Do you feel the same way about guys who prefer blondes or redheads? I’m not trying to undercut your point, because I understand why you might feel that way, but for some guys, being more attracted to certain races is simply an aesthetic preference, one of those subjective things that you just can’t explain. I can appreciate the beauty in all different races, but I’m particularly attracted to Asians and to redheads (the ones with lots of freckles, like Julianne Moore.) Why? I don’t know. It’s aesthetic, for me. I don’t think of it in terms of “race” (what the hell does that even mean, really?) but in terms of appearance.
[QUOTE=bigbabysweets2000]
You forgot this jewel :Is it offensive for me to refer to black people as “brothers?”
[/QUOTE]
Good Lord. The few times I’ve heard white people refer to a black person as “brother”, it was always in a negative context. “Some brother took off with my bike yesterday!” Same thing with other words that members of different ethnic groups use to refer to each other in informal conversation. “Some damn goombah in a Monte Carlo cut me off on the way to work!”
Do blacks even call each other “brother” that frequently anymore? reminds me of a scene from some movie from 1972, where two men with towering afros greet each other with “Sup brother?” followed by an elaborate handshake ritual that takes about a minute to complete.
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow]
I do get uncomfortable around some White guys I’ve known who are into “Asian chicks,” “Black chicks,” “Indian chicks,” and so forth. I knew a White guy who dated exclusively Black women, and I thought it was a little strange, like he had a fetish or something. But it’s a free world. People are welcome to pursue whomever they like for whatever reasons they like. I can see parents having a problem with this (though their reasons may be more rooted in racism and ethnocentrism).
[/QUOTE]
What about black women who prefer white men? Asian women who prefer black men? Somehow, I get the impression that the attraction by white men to women of other races and ethnicities is widely perceived as a fetish, while for women and non-white men, it’s just a preference. Still, the anime nerds that focus their romantic attention towards Asian women strike me as a bit creepy.
When I hear someone call a Black person “Brother,” it’s usually in a church-related situation.
VC03,
Do you consider people from Ethiopia African? Are Africans black enough for you?
Coffee plays an important role in regular Ethipoian life.
I’ve been to a couple of Ethiopian-American homes and I’ve had coffee and popcorn.
You?