odd

[svalar_unnir]

So why is it "Asian American" and "African American," but then "White?" Why not "European American?"

Comments

[ajodasso]

That's a good question! Let's start a movement.

[svalar_unnir]

I feel like "white" is associated with race, a concept we're trying to move away from, but "European American" would better signify ethnicity.

[svalar_unnir]

Hmm, interesting. Apparently Berkeley has already made me forget about Freedom Fries ; ) Though I'm trying to imagine Billy Thibodeaux down in Louisiana clamoring for "Freedom Toast."

(I shouldn't question it. It never makes any sense.)

[doom_lord]

I think it's more of an issue that 'white' has never really been used in negative connotations. Black as a word is associated with darkness and evil, so people take offense to being called such. Oriental refers to a very specific area of Asia. Most Asians I've talked to about this same issue take offense because their families aren't from the orient. It would be similar to referring to a Croatian as Italian or Slovenian (which pisses us off), but to the extent of ALL Asia no matter where the origin of the people.

[svalar_unnir]

Good point. When I hear "white," though, it says "race" to me pretty strongly. "European American" seems to refer more to ethnicity, which seems like it would make more sense as we all know that race is a bogus concept.

[thickets]

I tend to usually refer to myself as Caucasian, actually. XD And then you break it down. "Irish-American", "Italian-American", etc. But you are right that logically speaking, "European-American" is more in line with the other two. In the case of "African-American" it's often impossible to be more specific since families usually don't know what region of Africa their ancestors came from, and in any case the geography of Africa has changed so greatly over the centuries due to the end of colonizations and all of the wars. Asia, I'm not so sure. Possibly it's because Asian countries have a greater history of involvement with each other (political and cultural) in the last two centuries than Europe has. But I don't really know.

[svalar_unnir]

See, I feel like both "white" and "Caucasian" are race signifiers (because of their history) while "African/Asian American" is more of an ethnicity thing. However, that could just be my perspective (I'd never heard the word "miscegenation" either, if you came across that wank). In my case, if I were talking about my ancestors, I would have to be "German-Irish-English-plus a few extra American," and I bet a fair number of Americans are like that as well. It's just odd to be sitting at the DMV and looking down a multiple-choice column of "White/Asian American/African American/Hispanic American/Pacific Islander/etc." To me, it seems like a double standard.

You make a good point with African Americans not knowing their ancestry, that makes sense as a possible genesis for all these terms.

[sidewysreindeer]

That is interesting...I never noticed before. However, reflecting upon it, I do agree that it's a double standard. I think that the term "white" does propagate racism, if only by reinforcing the negative terms associated with "white", some of which are no longer used ubiquitously in society (and rightly so for particularly derogatory "classification" words

[svalar_unnir]

But it was an interesting rant : ) I do think "white" has some negative connotations of sterility--for example, look at the portray of WASPs in pop culture: very American, but also stiff, closed off, unimaginative (think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"). White men can't dance.

Though personally, white makes me think of fresh snow and quilts and sugar. Peaceful is my first thought, but again, with that peace comes a restriction of chaos, creation, whether through dormancy or death.