2 ms·
Most countries have ethnic divisions, but they're not the US race categories and not based on skin colour. I am of my ethnicity and this affected how I was trea
by lmm 2y ago
Most countries have ethnic divisions, but they're not the US race categories and not based on skin colour. I am of my ethnicity and this affected how I was treated, whereas the US flattens that to "white" and treats me as such.
(More baffling is how the US is in complete denial of its class system - so much so that anyone who tries to talk about class is immediately told they're talking about race)
- wruza 2y agoExactly. Looking from outside, US just paints literal colors over what is really a multitude of ethnicities and cultures and thinks it’s progressive and inclusive. This black, this black, this white, this white, this asian. Awesome reduction.
- sojournerc 2y agoYou similarly reduced all Americans to a stereotype with this comment. If you get your idea of Americans from internet discourse, you may come away with this impression, but it's a shallow view of a diverse country.
- HeyLaughingBoy 2y agoLooking at it from the inside as a black American, I 100% agree with you. My experience as a black person in the US has been wildly different from someone who grew up in the 'hood or someone living with his nephew in Bel Air :-) But yet, we're all mushed into the same category and expected to think alike and have the same ambitions. It's frustrating, but there's not a whole lot that I can do about it other than engage with people using my own perspective.
- erikerikson 2y agoFWIW: while you are absolutely correct that many activists will replace class discussions with racial assertions, it is not universal here. Many of us are quite aware of and discuss our extreme divides and the mechanisms that keep ratcheting them, perhaps including this redirection habit.