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[Reudh]

Namely, racism is "natural."

I fail see how it's natural when, as a child, one of my first friends was of another race. When the two of us found out that racism exists (we had to be told about it) we were shocked to find out that people actually shunned other people for having different skin colors. In fact, most of the class we were in at the time were surprised by that fact. I think racism may have been natural at one point, but if that's the case, I can find some pretty clear evidence the we're evolving out of it.

The primary school I went to was a very multicultural group - so we never picked on people for looking / sounding / doing things differently - i remember quite innocently referring to a Sri Lankan friend as 'brownie', when I couldn't remember his name (I was 5, lol) - parents hurriedly told me not to refer to someone by their skin colour, but as a young child i just thought of it as a descriptor, the same way you'd say 'that blonde haired kid with glasses'.

[Helgoland]

That reminds me - how acceptable/inacceptable is it to use the term 'black' in the US?

[Ultimuh]

That reminds me - how acceptable/inacceptable is it to use the term 'black' in the US?

As far as I (a non-American) know, I think its ok as long as you don't use the Spannish word.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

That reminds me - how acceptable/inacceptable is it to use the term 'black' in the US?

Non-racially, it's completely acceptable. Racially, it's mostly acceptable, with contextual exceptions. For example, you can say "he's black", or "he's a black guy", but you should never say "he's a black".

[Ultimuh]

But really, in my opinion.. It's rather strange to call a person black when they have a brown hue to their skin.
Overall, I think it's silly to define people by skin color.
Althtough it's even sillier to call someone an 'African American' when they live in another country, such as the UK.
Just my opinion tough.

[hops]

"Well, yes, Mr. Police, the robber was a young teenager about 16 years of age, with short black hair and -what, WHAT? What do you mean what their skin color is?!?!? YOU RACIST!"

[MetalSlimeHunt]

But really, in my opinion.. It's rather strange to call a person black when they have a brown hue to their skin.

It's not as if most white people are literally white either. "Pink-peach-tan" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Also, people on the far end of the melanin spectrum really do have a shade that can only be described as black (conversely, the skin of albinos can only really be described as white).

Althtough it's even sillier to call someone an 'African American' when they live in another country, such as the UK.

That's not standard practice, though morons who haven't thought about the term have been known to do it. You have to be American to be African-American.

[BlackFlyme]

Had to write an introductory letter for a course I'm taking. I'm terrible at writing about myself.

"Yes, hello. I am robot, here is checklist."

[Lord Shonus]

A cousin attempted suicide today. Wrists and pills. She's in the ICU now.

[kisame12794]

Shit dude, that sucks. I know that's a horrible understatement, but the medium of text is hard to get emotions across. I wish her a swift recovery.

[Dutchling]

Expected delivery date:
Thursday 5 June 2014

Shipping Method:
Prime Premium Shipping

whatisthis

[wierd]

Free shipping for prime service subscribers, of course. Amazon Prime isnt just for inexpensive movie streaming.

[Dutchling]

Yes but why must it take months if the book has been out since late 2013 >.>

[wierd]

It's after christmas. JUST after christmas in fact.

The US had serious trouble with package snarlups and labor issues, and Amazon was no stranger to this.

[LeoLeonardoIII]

Althtough it's even sillier to call someone an 'African American' when they live in another country, such as the UK.

That's not standard practice, though morons who haven't thought about the term have been known to do it. You have to be American to be African-American.

I think the term is poorly used in almost all situations. Those are landmasses, not genetic backgrounds. Check it:

Black-skinned person born in America, whose family six generations back were born in America: Not African-American.
Black-skinned person born in Cuba who immigrated to America: Not African-American.
Black-skinned person born in American who immigrated to Australia: Not African-American.
White-skinned person born in Nigeria who immigrated to America: This one is an African-American!

I suspect it came about as a politically-correct way to refer to black people, probably a result of census use and popularized by the police and military jargon. You know, like "I arrived on the scene and witnessed one male African-American individual and one male Caucasian individual conversing." It's just a thing people blurt out of their mouths hoping nobody gets offended.

Also people like to hold onto their ethnic backgrounds despite transplanting to a different culture. It must be very hard to immigrate somewhere where nobody speaks your language or uses your religion or customs. I think it's why ex-pats like to band together into sub-communities.