I did that already. I'll do it again.

I saw that, cute!

Beautiful

I think that we make a lot bigger deal of it,here in the U.S. than they do in other parts of he world,since we had institutionalized slavery,and had to suffer through our civil war that was mainly about whether or not races were equal or not.

even hundreds of years later,we STILL have factions here that fight about that out of insecurity,and still fear contact with different races!

but,i feel that one of the MAIN things that is breaking down the walls between races here in the U.S. is the fact that NOW,ALL of our young people share the same taste in music!!
they are all listening to the same music,and it is bringing them together to share,and celebrate it!

despite the feelings of their elders,our young people no longer feel the same hatred of people of other races,because they have embraced the same culture and NOW, they do not feel like the people of other races are 'different',like their parents,and grandparents did,because they enjoy,and share the love of the same things.

they are socially intermingling,and intermarrying,and as the older generations die off,so will the irrational hatred that they felt about people of other races,and then we will be left with only the culture of our young people,which will be the culture of ALL races.

so,in just a few more generations,HOPEFULLY,the insecurity that fed the racism that the older generations felt will have totally vanished from our country.

hate doesn't go away, there's always something or someone to hate...been that way for 200,000 years, another 50 years won't change anything...

I love all people, as humans. I have lived among several nationalities/races/cultures. I find it fascinating to learn we all care and worry about the basics of our family and the life around us.




I do NOT like people who behave as animals.

I love another white person who feels like me! Way to go sir much respect.

I love everyone on this forum and the topic concerned

Thanks very much because not everyone treats black races the same my dear friend

I love everyone here on this forum

hate doesn't go away, there's always something or someone to hate...been that way for 200,000 years, another 50 years won't change anything...




He's right. Until we do like other countries do and declare our race based on the country we live in instead of our "skin color" there will always be hate within our own borders.

I am so sick and tired of being forced to call myself "African" American! My mom just traced our genealogy and we are of Middle Eastern and French decent. Not African! That part didn't come into play until our ancestors got to America. And even though I learned French, I am American born, and bred! So why the heck can't I just be an American!? I'm proud of the country I live in and Africa doesn't consider me African (as well they shouldn't) so why the heck does America force me to claim a country that wants no part of me and that I have no part of??

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN FEMALE

as a point of distinction.

there is a difference between nationality, citizenship, and race. Nationality is, indeed, the country one is born in. citizenship is the country one is declared to live in. and RACE is the continent of ANCESTRY.

so, for instance. My nationality is what is called American because was born in the USA(which is on the continent of North America)

My citizenship is also American, because I have been declared to live in the USA.

My RACE is African American. Because my ancestry goes back to the Continent of Africa.

Now, there is of course, the classifications of RACE created during times of european colonization and have been changed over time, mostly by European standards.

Modern North America, based on census, has the terms White and Black and Asian, and Pacific Islander et cetera, and in the USA people are free to identify themselves with those categories.

However, during civil rights era, "Black" people took control of their own labels and some with a particular reverance for the English language and semantics discarded the term "black" which has a general context of negativity, darkness, and evil, and being what is often considered the opposite of WHITE. Those people chose the term African American as a RACE because it denotes the Continent of their ancestry.

and of course, many people have ancestry from different continents, but in social, cultural, and historical context, Blacks or African Americans, only needed to have one eighth of ancestry for Africa to be considered Black or African American, and so most in USA identify as such based on that social, cultural, and historical context.


There is nothing wrong with identifying racially as Black OR African AMerican. No one is forced which one to pick (Except on the Census, where I must still choose "Black")

Census, voter registration, dmv, job applications, federal income taxes, state tax forms, medical forms, school registration....anywhere you are asked to identify your race and it's in more places than you think.

Your description of classifications is accurate but based on that, I "technically" would be Middle Eastern American. I guess I'll keep check marking "other". I had no issues and still have no issues with being called "black." I've been called worse and we know there is worse out there. Until people begin being proud of the skin they are in and less concerned with what to call it, I guess we will keep having these issues.

To be cliche, its all good. But Middle East is not a continent. It is on the Continent of Africa, although our census does make a continental distinction of 'white' as having north African, or middle eastern ancestry for some reason.

In my own ancestry (mother side only, my father did not do a similar review of his ancestry, but he was definitely an african american), we have ancestors from several continents which INCLUDE Africa. But on this continent and country, we have never been treated or seen as anything other than having ancestry from Africa, or 'black', and I was raised to be fine embracing and identifying with what my ancestors on this continent went through and endured.


I believe it is a good thing we still document race, because it is the only way to record and document potential RACISM which is a historical mainstay in this country.

some have issue with 'black' and some do not. I personally prefer African American. My skin is nowhere near the color of "black' nor do I take pride in things I have nothing to do with. But everyone has their own thing. And it is still good that we can choose to identify ourselves however we wish in this country.

When I am interacting with different people, skin color is not a thing.
Its never a thing until someone makes it a thing.

There certainly is people that make skin color a thing. There certainly is people that make race, gender, religion and a whole list of specific differences a thing.

I remember an old Star Trek TOS episode where one man was black on the left and white on the right and the other was black on the right and white on the left and they hated each other.
Some people are wired so tangled they can't deal with anyone that is different from them.
They forget that they are the same species.

To elevate or depreciate someones worth because of differences is a sign of ignorance and immaturity.
To elevate or depreciate your own worth because of differences is esteem issues.

Its a non-issue thing that is kept an issue by the ones that have the biggest issue with it.
If that's not insanity, what is?

Sorry to bust your bubble but the Middle East is not all in Africa. Only one small part of it is. Most of it is in Asia and some of it is in Europe. My genealogy traces to Isreal which is on the continent of Asia. But if I were to claim "Asian American" status, you would say I was wrong. Just like when a white Afrikkan moves here and claims American citizenship but says they are African American, technically they are correct, but are told no because their skin is not black???

This whole system is skewed. Again, people need to be comfortable in their skin. Their is no skin color on this planet that is truly "black" like coal or truly "white" like paper. Native Americans in times past were labeled "red". People of Asian decent "yellow". If you really look at a color wheel no skin color is an exact match to any Of a those titles.

The only reason the color names became an issue is because people became offended with being labeled by a color. Well guess what? Mislabeling is turning out to be an even worse issue.

I dislike everyone equally.

shared ancestry is not a problem, the way people react to it is ...

I think of it in the social context in which it is used, that is to say, if you were to commit a crime tomorrow, how would the victim describe you

that would be the social construct of race by which one is identified, but one can always SELF IDENTIFY based on actual genetic ancestry as well, where the predominant ancestry will usually collaborate with the social one.

that, this I do not know.
but I know good that ;
If a person loves him, he must love him more than anyone.
...

point (.)

Race is one more adjective to describe people. Adjectives are not inherently bad things.

I am so many things and each one connects me in some small way with others who are also those things

whether its my nationality, which ties me to others born in the same nation

or my sex which ties me to others with the same anatomy

or race which ties me to people with similar ancestry and historical treatment


the problems come when these adjectives are used not just to highlight similarity or difference, but to indicate superiority or inferiority. And that is something that can happen with any descriptive adjectives

tall/short overweight/underweight dark complexioned/light complexioned

you name it, there is not a culture or history somewhere that has not put a system in place that pits one against the other, or places one above the other.

But it is still all being Human, which I think is where the OP was coming from, that should help us to not be hesitant to love each other based on something like those labels and adjectives.