Why do white people criticize one another for being white?

(... and at the idea that someone would see a bristol palin animated gif and immediately think of this thread)

All you middle-class white assholes always pull this shit. (I'm a working-class white asshole, so it's okay for me to say this)

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, March 28, 2003 12:39 PM (9 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Kinda wonder whether Y. would still describe himself that way.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/04vogFRgWNeUw/576x.jpg

uh, holy shit. how did i not know that one of our own cofounded kickstarter?

ilx: i've never seen such indignant white people in all my life.

gonna be at my desk cracking up all day and am not gonna be able to explain why

I prefer the term "caucasian" for "race". White has cultural connotations. Some day really soon it's going to seem like a stupid term.

it really doesnt but people try to make it that way

rewind, rewrite -- obv it has 'cultural connotations' b/c thats all it is, but the way its typically used in these convos is coded for 'middle class'

lol @ suggestion that "caucasian" does not have cultural connotations

The term "Caucasian race" was coined by the German philosopher Christoph Meiners in his The Outline of History of Mankind (1785).[4] In Meiners' unique racial classification, there were only two racial divisions (Racen): Caucasians ("white and beautiful") and Mongolians ("brown and ugly"). These terms were used as a collective representative of what Meiners personally regarded as good looking and far less attractive, based solely on the appearance of the skin of the face, for example the Germans and the Tartars he considered Caucasian, and the best looking, while Jews, Slavs and Native Americans as Mongolian, and ugly in the face.

like let's not pretend these nomenclatures are based on science or logic or anything, because they aren't

so ugly

in the face

Sure, "Mongoloid" and "Negroid" sounds terrible today, but at least it relates to geography and not skin color. What do you suggest (instead of "white" or "Caucasian")?

what

haven't really read this thread, but seeing the title today has got this song stuck in my head all morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfbVN48TdUM

The "Caucasian race" was grafted by the evil scientist Dr. Yakub in his secret cave laboratory in the Caucus Mountains.[4] In Clarence 13Xs' unique racial classification, there were only two racial divisions (Racen): white devils ("white man") and the original man ("black man"). These terms were used as a collective representative of what 13x personally regarded as politricks, based solely on the 85 percent's lack of overstanding and inability to study their lessons, despite the 5 percent nation of gods and earths' efforts to educate.

― retro-shittified (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, June 12, 2012 11:52 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fixed

hahaha

lol

Sure, "Mongoloid" and "Negroid" sounds terrible today, but at least it relates to geography and not skin color.

not really - it's totally arbitrary (Tartars are Caucasian but Slavs are not even though both are from the same region in Europe. Why? because Slavs are ugly in the face of course)

Tatars were from Mongolia originally, just to make it funnier

well yeah as with any of these terms, how far back do you wanna go...

there is some use - for historians at any rate - in talking about cultural identities, migration and settlement. the problem is that a lot of pre-20th century thinking about these things garbled it up with race mentalism and measuring skulls etc etc

I would never identify as "caucasian" and hate when forms require me to do so--it's amazing to me that such a stupid, pseudoscientific notion can have such a long half-life. "White" is dumb because A.) i'm pinkish-yellow B.) The notion of one unified 'white (european) race' was fabricated in the 17th century as legal justification for denying rights to 'non-whites', so.

"Anglo" is okay w/ me because I think of it as more of a linguistic thing. I am uncomfortable when latino coworkers use "negro" but have not told them to stop and can't really imagine doing so. I don't particularly care for "gringo" but am good-humored about it.

Anything else?

i probably just put white, it's been awhile.

or caucasian. i do as i'm told

I'm a Jew, nobody can agree what we are

i mark 'other' and write in 'fabulous'

forms asking you to specify race are already hopelessly outdated, I expect them to disappear entirely within my lifetime

then just write "pinkish-yellow"
obviously having to identify a race on a form is stupid but I can only remember like, three times when I've had to do this

complaining about using the term "white" because it's dumb strikes me as weird ; the terms are obviously stupid and not really accurate but that's not really the point of them is it?

actually that is totally the point of them

step away from the race thread xp

"I expect them to disappear entirely within my lifetime"

you're gonna live 300 years?

since they're very rarely actually white, i move we refer to them as wites

actually that is totally the point of them

the point of them is to be intelligent terms that accurately describe a person's color?

step away from the race thread xp

hey there's this new "flag post" feature, you can just hit that button instead of playing thread police, it's really neat

no I meant the point was that they are stupid and not really accurate and are used specifically to facilitate stupid/inaccurate generalizations

Ehhhh, that just leads to a bunch of "colorblind racism" bullshit.

I am uncomfortable when latino coworkers use "negro"

This reminds me of a funny story my dad told me about his coworker, a black man, who is married to a woman from Costa Rica. When they visit his wife's family in the old country, they all call him "negro" as an affectionate term. They mean no offense by this and he is fine with it. This was all fine and dandy until his wife's fam visited him up here and he had to shut them down like "no, you can't call me that here".

"Leave us out of this!"

http://www.labonita1067.com/site/media/k2/items/cache/8da476f72f06a276b1f930cdb28c21f1_XL.jpg

Can we get "Tumblr White" added as an option on government forms?

"Black is black" is a timeless song!!

the answer to this thread title is really simple. most american white people are totally lame and uncool. that's why smart cool white people from small towns move as fast as they can to new york. that's why cool jazz musicians have to make a living playing music in sweden. sweden! i'm sure they would rather play gigs in ohio if they could get paid well for it. but ohio is lame and doesn't appreciate post-bop AT ALL. european white people are cooler. the smart arty ones anyway. they still have a child-like sense of wonder. and they dress better. and they eat better cheese. this country was founded by and filled with racist lunatic bores. i think we can all agree on that. i'm not saying that european white people - even the arty ones - aren't just as racist in their way as american white people, but the european white people at least make some killer motherfucking shoes. like, amazing footwear, in general.

amen

Wow, that's not how I see this country at all. I don't expect Cleveland to have a big turnout for post-bop concerts and I'm not gonna make a bunch of accusations about it because it doesn't.

canadians are pretty chill. as far as white people go. they have a certain dull grace that i find pleasing. and just so you know, i'm nice to normal white people when i encounter them outside. i have manners. plus, the whole there but for the grace of god thing...but i hate almost everything that they stand for. percentage of white america that owns a fatback record: less than 1%. percentage of japanese population that owns a fatback record: 66%. case closed. fuck this place.

Guys, know what I really hate? How white people dance. What's up with that? It's like, totally lame. And what's up with white people liking all kinds of cheesy stuff like mid 70s Al Stewart and foosball? It's like, wake up white people! You're so lame!!!!

Amirite? Isn't it like totally true?

foosball was created after the inventor watched a Tottenham Hotspur match. foosball is also known as babyfoot. foosball, tottenham, hotspur, and babyfoot are all really cool names. and al stewart is rad. and there are plenty of great white dancers. so, no, not true.

I can't help but hear this thread title in a plaintive, Curtis Mayfield-type voice

"We've got brothers killing brothers in gunfights/and white people critcizing one another for being white"

canadians are pretty chill. as far as white people go. they have a certain dull grace that i find pleasing.

I know you're not fishing for compliments, but thanks--it means a lot to us.

xpost "we got to find a wayyyy to get together and watch Lena Dunham's show"

i'm nice to normal white people when i encounter them outside

i'll bet you get all bill magill with the ecrus, eh

I had a boss who found that damn stupid thingswhitepeopledo.com or whatever it was. Dance to Dave Matthews. Eat mayonnaise sandwiches. Whatever.

And she just goes on and on about how funny it is before confiding to me, "I can share all this with you because we're both white."

I had never had this feeling before. A white person makes a broad assumption about my sense of humor based solely on the color of my skin? I mean, yeah, I've had racists make assumptions before too that I shared their ignorant logic, but that was different. Where the racists may have just been "feeling me out", this woman really thought I'd give a shit about Ally McBeal t-shirts or something from the Sharper Image.

The whole "...because we're both white" thing too... I can't quite put it into words, but maybe it's the closest I can come to being critical of another white person for assessing my whiteness.

I do feel satisfied on the Census forms checking "Non-Hispanic". Not because I have anything against being Hispanic, but because it's easier just to tell people what I'm not. Should be two choices - Native American or Non-Native American.