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Originally Posted by Brucelee
I am not a huge fan of being a hyphenated American or in even recognizing this distinction. While my ancestors were from Germany and Ireland, I do not describe myself as German-American or an Irish American. I am simply an American, as I was born here and am a citizen of the United States.
The first step towards relaxing the tensions that exist around race in America is to use language as a tool for unifying, not dividing the citizens of America. I would suggest that the so-called "leaders" of "black america" get off it and stop making distinctions that separate rather than unify. Ditto for the pols who use the race card as a way to get or retain their jobs.
It is very disingenuous to attack racism when in fact, you claim to "lead" folks who insist on being addressed by their race! It is also disingenuous to want to be treated equal while asking to be treated differently and in some cases better.
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This is a very common argument against racial advocacy. Why should we treat you different? Why should we have to treat you any different than anyone else--why do you want to point out your differences?
The problem with that argument is that it ignores the fact that the societal norms that exist without countermeasure are skewed in favor of ingrained social groups. To pretend that there is not an inequity between the treatment of races in America would be unjust.
Meh, I don't feel like I've really countered you with much on this one. I wish I could remember all the arguments about this topic but it's been a long time since I've discussed it with anyone--back in my college days when I was all big on the ethnic issues.
Anyhow, it's an interesting issue overall, but my basic, unfounded (because I'm sucking tonight) point is that you can't pretend that racism doesn't exist in America, and that if the minorities didn't complain, there would be more unity.