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Skin Colour, Races and Racism

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Yes, interesting topic. I used to never take notice of it at all - even when interacting with other races I never consciously took notice.

 

In the past few years though it's impossible to avoid. After being made aware of past racism was really damn fascinating. I feel ashamed that sometimes someone's race is so prevalent in my mind even when I'm talking with them. In the past 2 years or so, I've become really really pale so I do have some people point that out to me. I've also, in the past year, made many non-white friends so it has this kinda double effect where I don't notice it anymore but then we all look so different together. I like it though.

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Race/skin colour is one of those things that seems so insignificant, I'm baffled something like racism exists. I can understand xenophobia (cultural intolerance in general, really) to an extent, at least (not that I endorse it), but I can't understand something as small as appearance being such a big deal. I mean, why?

 

It's a funny thing, I'm completely Danish as far back as I know, yet my complexion would suggest Latino. I was actually mistaken for a Spanish exchange student once. :heh:

 

I'm glad you brought up this point, because the White/Latino distinction is the most baffling thing for me. I'll see characters in shows/films being referred to as "Hispanic" like it's obvious, but I still can't see the difference between them and the supposed "White" people (they usually have black/brown hair and eyes too, so what's the difference?).

 

Here in Portugal, sure, we make fun of the pale Brits who get burned in the sun, and blond-and-blue-eyed is sure to make people think you're Swedish or German, but nobody considers them a different race or anything.

 

Goes to show how insignificant it is. The distinction should only matter culturally (as in, it basically announces what other cultural ties you're likely to have), but this is not usually the case.

 

Also, what are your takes on racist jokes? Do you mind? Do you straight out hate them all or do you have a limit?

 

I don't mind a racist/xenophobic joke if it's funny. They can be clever, as long as the punchline depends on the specific group/culture.

Of course, there are jokes that can be quite insulting and, even if they're funny, I try to convey that I also find them horrible :heh:

 

What I hate are the easy (and insulting) "Dumb people jokes" when referring to any group/person you're trying to make fun of. Blondes are the most affected (and if I ever tell one, it's blondes I use, because it's so widespread, and mimicking an air-headed girl just works), but I've seen these Blonde jokes being rehashed by misogynists/feminists talking about (wo)men, Brazilians talking about the Portuguese and football fans talking about whatever club they dislike.

 

Basically, if the racist joke can be rewritten with any other group instead, it can't be anything other than insulting.

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I'm glad you brought up this point, because the White/Latino distinction is the most baffling thing for me. I'll see characters in shows/films being referred to as "Hispanic" like it's obvious, but I still can't see the difference between them and the supposed "White" people (they usually have black/brown hair and eyes too, so what's the difference?).

 

Well, on my part I think it's that I'm as dark as can be while still being a white boy. :heh: A lot of black hair, brown (hazel) eyes and a relatively dark skin tone considering I'm a Scandinavian geek. Someone even asked me once if I went tanning! :p There also might be something characteristic about the facial structure, but I'm not certain about that.

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There also might be something characteristic about the facial structure, but I'm not certain about that.

 

Speaking of which, there's one guy studying here that might just be your twin brother. Totally the same facial structure...

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I don't tend to have many difficulties with my skin colour. (Half Mauritian, Half English, so a nice tanned colour).

 

In Lanzarote I did get approached by a guy working on the beach saying "Nice colour... What are you?", I reply "English..." he replies... "No... No You must be Indian!"

 

Didn't really get to me, but still as @Animal said it's a reminder that you are actually a different colour, despite being English!

 

 

 

I find I get more frustrated when Colour of skin and Religion get mashed into one offence slur. Obviously at the moment these Islamic protests about that Anti-Islam Film are a rather large topic of conversation.

 

My father is a Muslim, and while I'm definitely not, I still really hate over hearing people's opinion of Muslims with regards to what's happening. My Dad gets wound up about it, saying its a minority of them re-acting, not the majority.

 

But yeah, that gets me the most, the finger pointing and racial slur at a WHOLE religion when in fact it's only the X amount of extremist's that's making other people look bad.

 

 

Guess that was kinda off topic.

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Bit late to the convo here, haven't read all the previous posts just skimmed them.

 

I'm fairly tanned skin, my dad is Irish my mother is Filipino (her grandfather is Spanish too so there's a bit of spain in me too I guess)

 

Growing up my mother was the only non-white foreigner in the town so it was kinda hard to not notice I looked "different" from everyone else.

 

I used to always get sterotyped as Asian (not many people knew of The Philippines back then and would ask me if I was Chinese or Japanese) if someone first met me, they just see me as Irish but that is what I would always tell them I am...and still do.

 

I actually still remember at age 11 once cycling to school and having students from another school probably 11 or 12 also shouting "Nigger" at me from across the street (again at the time there were no black people in the town)...they did this from just outside their school gate so just ran inside soon as I started to cycle towards them, I just left it then and went to school.

 

Though I remember almost decking someone once when I joined the local football team and during training once when picking teams when I was picked one of the lads (who was still waiting to be picked) shouted "Franklin from the Philippines"...I got pissed off shouted back I'm from Ireland (prolly had a few "choice" words too) and was gonna run to punch him but the manager stopped me.

 

Even though I knew people saw me as different cause of my skin I never considered myself as being "Filipino" or "Half Irish Half Filipino"...that is not to say I ever thought of myself as "white" or course not, my skin colour didn't matter to me but it seemed to matter to everyone else. To me I also have and still do just consider myself Irish, I was born here I grew up here, I know about Irish history and culture etc, I can speak Irish. I didn't grow up in the Philippines I didn't visit there on a holiday till I was 7 or 8 (well my parents brought me when I was 1 but I don't remember that...first trip to me was when I was 7/8) after that didn't go again for 4 years, then something like every 3/4 years till I finished secondary school. I know very little of Filipino history and culture and I do not speak Filipino...I feel no real connection with the place other than I just happen to have family there and it a nice place to visit.

 

That's not to say I don't respect my filipino heritage, I do. I'm not trying to say I would ever try to hide or ignore/avoid that I am half Filipino, that is what my past/ancestry is. I got a tattoo of both Irish and Philippine flags on my right arm. My online name "Mokong" is a filipino nickname (never had a nickname in school..other than "The voice" after my voice broke, that lasted only a year and never stuck)

 

But as I said I never grew up there, my mother never really taught us about the Philippines growing up, she had no other pinoys around her well we were young so she didn't speak Filipino around us so I never picked it up. I just never identified myself as being a Filipino or half.

 

Ack, hard to explian I guess

 

My own son has been refered to as being 3 quaters Filipino and 1 quater Irish, in relation to his "heritage" or "blood" I guess, which I guess is technically right, but if someone says that I correct them and say he is Half Irish Half Filipino (in terms of heritage/blood/whatever)...if asked where he's from or "what is he", I say he is Irish

 

If someone were to ask about my "background" (ie: or some other way of asking why I'm not white I guess I'm trying to say) I'll explain my mother is from the Philippines.

 

If I'm asked where I'm from I say Ireland cause that is where I'm from...or they'd ask what natioanlity I am, which is again Irish...then they look at me all confused wondering if I understood the question :heh:

 

The gas thing though is when I go over there (Philippines) even though I am tanned I somewhere become a bit paler or less-tanned (or maybe less in comparison to those there) when I'm there and get called "white" and/or "American" :nono:

 

And actually every now and then I get comments on a youtube video along the lines of "why is this asain/mexican/spanish/american kid speaking Irish" or worse :heh:

 

Ok maybe went a bit off the "skin" topic, but that is my expereince I guess of how I've been treated because of my skin.

 

I never think of myself as a "brown skinned person" or a "Mixed race" person but alot of other people just can't get passed the looks it seems :heh:

Edited by Mokong

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Though I remember almost decking someone once when I joined the local football team and during training once when picking teams when I was picked one of the lads (who was still waiting to be picked) shouted "Franklin from the Philippines"...I got pissed off shouted back I'm from Ireland (prolly had a few "choice" words too) and was gonna run to punch him but the manager stopped me.

 

:

 

China would be the worst place in the world for you, or anyone else even slightly bothered by being singled out as foreign or different. There are three countries in the world for Chinese people: China, Evil Japan and Not China.

 

Walking down the street can be a bit of an annoying experience: one in ten people will shout "HELLOOOOoooooooOOOOOO!" at you. It's not friendly, most of the time, it's said with the same inflection as "NIGGER!". Which, by the way, they also say.

 

Speaking personally, I am ethnically mostly white, but mongrel Irish and native American. I identify as "White Other" because I don't see myself as purely Anglo-Saxon. It annoys me a little when people say "But you're white!" I usually retort: I am many things, many terrible, terrible things, but I am not white.

 

But yeah, blue eyes like a motherfucker.

 

To anyone concerned by racism/rabid nationalism, there is one way to think about it: when you are born, the first thing you are is not a race, colour or nationality, but a human being. That never changes.

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Walking down the street can be a bit of an annoying experience: one in ten people will shout "HELLOOOOoooooooOOOOOO!" at you.

 

 

I immediately thought of this:

kim-jong-il-puppet-team-america.jpg

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To be fair, Mokong, I kind of know what you mean with that. It's like people would call me black but, even though I think of myself as me, I would say I'm white. I know the actual answer would be mixed race but I'd be lying if I said I thought that.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of my Jamaican heritage or blood or anything like that at all. In fact, I'm proud. I just have no actual, real connection emotionally on that side of the family. If anybody asks, I say I'm English and I will always say that.

 

Most people look at me and would instantly connect me to being black and it's a little annoying but I can see why they do. The most annoying thing of all is having people talk 'street' to me or having someone else who is of the same skin colour call me "Blood", "Bruv" or "Cuzzie". I don't mind if they're actually Jamaican but it irritates me when people who are born here who never used to talk like that talk like it. I know a couple of people (not personally) by me who used to say hello and ask me how I was and stuff. Nowadays, I get "Wah gwarn Bruv, how's your fam? You still at your old yard, yeah? Yeah, safe bruv!". Just annoys the shite out of me! Oh and don't even get me started on people assuming I love reggae and smoking weed...

 

That's really to do with stereotypes but it's stereotyping skin colour so I thought it might be a bit relevant. Actually, it does bring another question I have up for everybody. Have you ever had any kind of experience where people have judged you because of your skin?

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I've never let my heritage or culture define me as a person. My parents are both mixed race and I haven't associated with any of their backgrounds either. I turn white during the winter and brown during the summer, and I think when living in a global society that still operates on racism at a sublime level it is more favorable to be white.

 

Out of all the problems my country is facing, I'm glad to say prejudice based on skin color is not one of them. People come in all shades here in the Middle East so there's not much room for hating someone because of their melanin count. There is, however, a different manifestation of hate within the region: most people don't like Africans. It's not something that stems from race, though. It's because a lot of the migrants/refugees who move to Arab countries cause a lot of trouble and become very burdensome to the government. Most Arabs feel the same way around Palestinians because they think they're expecting special treatment for not having their own country.

Edited by arab_freak

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The only instance of racism I've come across was at uni. Me and my gf at the time lived with an African guy, and he for some reason had no respect for white girls. Any problems he had to do with the house etc he would only talk to me as the man, and he would say derogatory comments to her and about all white girls in general, that they were generally sluts etc etc makes you think well why the hell did he move here if he hates the local girls so much really.

 

I'm mixed race myself so I like to joke and play the middle ground when it comes to racial banter (only with friends of course!).

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Sorry to bump this thread but I thought that this was the perfect place for this to go:

 

Has anybody seen this article?

 

Parents "black up" baby to look like Balotelli

 

Seriously? How are the parents sick for doing that? I saw it and thought it was quite funny. I'm more offended at the fact they're being called sick for doing it. It's just a laugh! It's not as if they dressed their baby in a KKK outfit! Also, would it be equally as racist if a couple with darker skin put white chocolate over their baby and dressed them up as a white person? Somehow, I doubt it!

 

Guys, what are your thoughts on this?

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It's utterly disgraceful.

 

No baby should go through the shame of being made to look like Balotelli.

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I must say, that does look rather crude and I can see how it might cause offense. What is/was the point behind it?

 

More aptly does anybody remember a news story similar a few months ago where a kid's dad was being criticised for letting his son 'black up' so he looked like Diouf? That one I think was fine despite everyone's criticism, this baby one looks a bit...questionable.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256190/El-Hadji-Diouf-Father-apologises-son-engulfed-Twitter-race-storm-blacking-face-resemble-player.html

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I must say, that does look rather crude and I can see how it might cause offense. What is/was the point behind it?

 

More aptly does anybody remember a news story similar a few months ago where a kid's dad was being criticised for letting his son 'black up' so he looked like Diouf? That one I think was fine despite everyone's criticism, this baby one looks a bit...questionable.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256190/El-Hadji-Diouf-Father-apologises-son-engulfed-Twitter-race-storm-blacking-face-resemble-player.html

 

The only thing sick about that is how anyone's idol could be Diouf.

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This! This is exactly what's wrong with modern perception of "racism"; we're fucking afraid of even acknowledging the fact that we look bloody different!

 

Look, if I'm going to dress up as someone with a different hair colour, I dye my hair or get a wig. The hair is a very distinguishing feature of a character, just like skin tone, and few people see a problem with dying one's hair. So since we have absolutely no problem with that, why is it suddenly a huge problem when it comes to skin tone? Because people are scaredy cats who are terrified of offending others by being politically incorrect, and because race is such a taboo topic that no one dares to go near it; the recently posted video with Samuel L. Jackson springs to mind.

 

In fact, why aren't these people objecting to tanning? Surely that's also racist, then?

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This! This is exactly what's wrong with modern perception of "racism"; we're fucking afraid of even acknowledging the fact that we look bloody different!

 

Look, if I'm going to dress up as someone with a different hair colour, I dye my hair or get a wig. The hair is a very distinguishing feature of a character, just like skin tone, and few people see a problem with dying one's hair. So since we have absolutely no problem with that, why is it suddenly a huge problem when it comes to skin tone? Because people are scaredy cats who are terrified of offending others by being politically incorrect, and because race is such a taboo topic that no one dares to go near it; the recently posted video with Samuel L. Jackson springs to mind.

 

In fact, why aren't these people objecting to tanning? Surely that's also racist, then?

 

It's the motives as to why they choose to do it. It's not okay to do it if it's derogatory to that person. If it's out of respect then yeah it's fine. However, because people usually do it in a racist way, it puts normal people off as they don't want to be associated as being racist.

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Hence why it's completely absurd that people are up in arms about kids dressing up as their favourite athletes.

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Work currently has a "diversity fortnight" which is fine, an understandable idea, but they've gone around it in such a bad way.

 

There's a "best photograph of diversity" competition. I wanted to respond with "so we're just supposed to take a photo of some black people then?" And then today got an email saying on Wednesday there is a "meet your Muslim colleague" event. They're not bloody zoo animals! And I'm in East London, I've met my Muslim colleagues already!

 

#moan

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There's a "best photograph of diversity"

 

I think you need to take a picture with a mixture of black, yellow, brown and normal people.

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I wanted to respond with "so we're just supposed to take a photo of some black people then?"

 

You could take a photo of a group of people, and then in photoshop just black out all of their skin, or change it's colour, so you can't tell their ethnicity.

 

Surely true diversity and equality is not even thinking about things like that.

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You could take a photo of a group of people, and then in photoshop just black out all of their skin, or change it's colour, so you can't tell their ethnicity.

 

Surely true diversity and equality is not even thinking about things like that.

 

Human_Being.jpeg

 

Anyway. I understand/support the idea of having talks, presentations etc about issues regarding diversity in universities/the workplace and a chance to explore these issues but that's not what appears to be going on. It appears to just be "oh look, someone that's not a white middle-class male! How quaint!"

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