5 ms·

One of the most pernicious consequences of this fixation on race is the definition of a person by an arbitrary social construct. Although they all check the sam

One of the most pernicious consequences of this fixation on race is the definition of a person by an arbitrary social construct. Although they all check the same box, they have very different experiences and cultural backgrounds: * Black descendents of slaves vs African immigrants [1] * Chinese Americans vs Hmong Americans (a higher poverty rate than Black Americans! [2]) * A Korean who grew up in Koreatown LA vs one who grew up in Utah * A Boston Brahmin vs an impoverished White Virginian whose family members were targeted by eugenic boards That said, Affirmative Action can reasonably make those from marginalized groups feel more welcome. In elementary school for example, I felt very out place among the largely affluent members of my accelerated math class. By contrast, I related much more to the mischievous truants who would later go on to be low-level criminals. [1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/us/top-colleges-take-more-blacks-but-which-ones.html https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/us/top-colleges-take-more... [2] - https://tcf.org/content/commentary/misleading-data-policies-hide-southeast-asian-student-challenges-and-achievement/?agreed=1 https://tcf.org/content/commentary/misleading-data-policies-...

rayiner 4y ago
Different waves of immigration also makes a huge difference. I’m part of the wave of people from the subcontinent who came here from 1970-1995, largely before H1B was created. Most Indians I knew growing up were doctors or business owners who moved to southern states. Like most Asians until 2000, they voted Republican. Indians who came to Silicon Valley or NYC after 2000, by contrast, are a very different group who assimilated into a different domestic culture and had a different experience.
nanidin 4y ago
When I was in 11th grade, an Egyptian-American had a future scholarship rescinded because she was not African American.
- leereeves 4y ago
  That sounds silly, until you realize that "African-American" is just code for black, from a time when saying "black" was considered mildly racist.
  - tanseydavid 4y ago
    Seriously...What?!??!
    - leereeves 4y ago
      > Most of us became familiar with the ethnonym African American in the 1980s, when Jesse Jackson began popularizing it as an alternative to black. https://yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/4216-the-origin-of-african-american https://yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/4216-the-origin-of-a... > African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans
    - bolt7469 4y ago
      Interesting example: Elon Musk is technically an "African American," except the word is actually used to mean Black American
      - jjtheblunt 4y ago
        similarly, I think Charlize Theron has joked about the same for her, how confused the terminology is.
  - 93po 4y ago
    It's still mildly uncomfortable depending on how it's used. As a white guy I usually say "they're a black person" or "a person who's black" when referring to a non-specific person. Adding "person" I feel is helpful in the same way it's better to reference "a Jewish person" versus "a Jew"
    - kortilla 4y ago
      Mildly uncomfortable for who?

rayiner 4y ago

Different waves of immigration also makes a huge difference. I’m part of the wave of people from the subcontinent who came here from 1970-1995, largely before H1B was created. Most Indians I knew growing up were doctors or business owners who moved to southern states. Like most Asians until 2000, they voted Republican. Indians who came to Silicon Valley or NYC after 2000, by contrast, are a very different group who assimilated into a different domestic culture and had a different experience.

nanidin 4y ago

When I was in 11th grade, an Egyptian-American had a future scholarship rescinded because she was not African American.

leereeves 4y ago
That sounds silly, until you realize that "African-American" is just code for black, from a time when saying "black" was considered mildly racist.
- tanseydavid 4y ago
  Seriously...What?!??!
  - leereeves 4y ago
    > Most of us became familiar with the ethnonym African American in the 1980s, when Jesse Jackson began popularizing it as an alternative to black. https://yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/4216-the-origin-of-african-american https://yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/4216-the-origin-of-a... > African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans
  - bolt7469 4y ago
    Interesting example: Elon Musk is technically an "African American," except the word is actually used to mean Black American
    - jjtheblunt 4y ago
      similarly, I think Charlize Theron has joked about the same for her, how confused the terminology is.
- 93po 4y ago
  It's still mildly uncomfortable depending on how it's used. As a white guy I usually say "they're a black person" or "a person who's black" when referring to a non-specific person. Adding "person" I feel is helpful in the same way it's better to reference "a Jewish person" versus "a Jew"
  - kortilla 4y ago
    Mildly uncomfortable for who?