IS IT WRONG TO SAY SOMEONE ACTS WHITE? (page 3)

dust

If "I laugh every time he acts clever" means that I laugh every time he pretends to be clever, then does "he acts white" mean that he pretends to be white? How can anyone pretend to be that pale? I mean, I can pretend to be sad or happy, but how can I pretend to be white without actually becoming white (e.g. by using paint?). "The house acts white, it pretends to be white, but really it isn't."

Hm... But if someone acts wisely, then maybe to act whitely would mean to act in the same way as white acts. Which means that white isn't a colour, it's a creature. Which means that I'll never have dare to wash my clothes again. Because... they could "become white", and I don't want any creatures that close to my body.

Somehow I am glad English isn't my native language. These adjectives and adverbs really scare me...

jaguarbass

I am white and work with 60% black people. I cant tell any difference between whites and blacks. So I wouldnt know what acting white means.

NotaNess

We had "Cracker" Day at my middle school when I was growing up....Ft. Lauderdale area. On cracker day, if you were white and got caught by any groups of blacks when the bell rang, you got ganged up on and beat up. Guess how many white kids hung around with their teachers after school on that day?? Mind you this was a mostly white school.

I guess the shoulder chip is passed on through genes.

minimus

Is it wrong to say someone smells Indian? Curry is a noticeable spice.

Brother Apostate

This sums up my feelings pretty well:

IP_SEC

I find whites are extremely difficult to make fun of racially.

What's the worst expressions? Cracker? Whitey? Paleskin?

Can't jump or dance? Sure, why not?

Anyone actually get called an expression that they found offensive?

This is an interesting and true phenom. Why do you think that is.

I realize what Im about to say is a gereralization and in no way do I represent is as a fact for every person who also happens to be of a minority.

Pointing back to the Imus thing as an example. I think, generally speaking, minorities do not dissassociate remarks made about or to a person of their minority from themselves. Blacks seem to have a tenancy to associate themselves as individuals with the rest of black culture. And what is black culture anyway? It is a self-imposed illusion. Whites dont generally think of there being a 'white culture'.

I think this attitude comes from the solidarity that minorities have had to maintain in the past to get anywhere within an unfair system. Now I think that solidarity is more of a brick wall to progress for individuals as well as race relations.

bluesapphire

Well, on a serious note:

I am Hispanic and work with a white person. We have major differences in our upbringing. First of all, I am an immigrant from another country. My children are "first generation" Americans.

She was brought up in a nice "white" suburb. Her parents were both college educated. They had a great combined income. She was the only little blonde daughter of two very attractive people. She had three older brothers. She got a car when she turned 16. She got to go to all the school dances. Her parents paid for her to go to college, helped her buy her first house, will leave her a great inheritance ... You get the picture.

I on the other hand was the eldest of six children. Only dad worked. He made a decent living to support us BUT without ANY extras! And I mean NONE! I paid for my own private schooling. I paid for my own community college. I bought my own car with what I managed to save up from working which prevented me from going to school dances and other activities because a) My parents couldn't afford it and b) I was saving to buy my own car. When my dad dies, we will probably inherit his debt. Not because of bad money management (well maybe a little) but mostly because you tend to get into debt when you raise that many kids.

Well, for whatever reason, she gives off an air that she is better than I am. Just certain little comments she makes. Like, for example, she tends to call any Hispanic who doesn't dress in a way she would choose, "gangsters". Get my drift? Those terms are insulting to me because many Hispanic kids dress a certain way because it is cheap to go to a 5 for $10 t-shirt place. And khaki pants are cheap too. And so ar Levis. Not that I personally like or choose to dress in that way, but calling them "gangsters" because of how they dress is racist.

Well, after 6 years of working with her, I starting calling her at home, "the white girl." Maybe it was jealousy, maybe it is racist. I don't know. I know most of the friends I have who are white don't act this way. So I don't mean to generalize. But for some reason if I were to say someone "acts white", this is exactly what I would mean by it.

juni

I've heard of white people being called "white bread".

My boss is black and she is the nicest person and we had soooo much fun together. I don't care what color a person's skin is....... if they treat me w/respect, matters not. Actually I've worked w/a lot of black people and we give hugs and laugh and have a great time.

Black people do have great dancing ability. I'm jealous!

Walter that is so funny about Rocco and you!!!! LMAO

Juni

Edited to say> collegegirl? you and I live in the same city. Very liberal and we don't have the "racist" views as you do in other parts. I noticed that right away when I moved here. And you see a lot of "mixed" marriages w/beautiful children. It's totally different here from where I moved from. I love having so much variety, but I'm sure having the University here also helps keep a good mix of nationalities and races. And then we also have transsexuals which gives added dimension. lol

collegegirl21

I know personally since I'm a little bit of everything that its difficult. My family is, as some people would call them "ghetto." As I was growing up, my parents didn't do drugs or weren't into that, they used their money so I could live on the nice side of town and when I would visit my family because I didn't talk like a "black" person, I was termed the white girl of the family. When I went to school and lived in the dorms and I first met people they couldn't believe my skin color because I talk like a "white person." I used to take offense to it, but now I understand that some people still believe there's a difference between people, but I dont see white or black... I just see a person.

CG21 (aka the "white girl" of the family, lol)

DanTheMan

I was watching "I love the 80's" on Vh1 the other day, and they were making fun of the movie "Chariots of Fire". And you know, about 2 or 3 minutes into the segment, I felt it coming, like a bad case of diarrhea. I just knew that they were gonna have some black comedian make a joke about white people's athleticism or the supposed lack thereof. I was not disappointed - the very last bit of comedic commentary was given by a black guy who asked "who wants to see white people do athletic stuff anyway?" Boy what a stroke of genius on the part of the writer who came up with that inventive little quip! Jesus, it couldn't have been more predictable.

Here's an idea for a comedy special on HBO or Comedy Central: Hire a black comedian to just stand up on stage and say "White people" every few seconds or so for an hour, and smile big and chuckle each time. People would be in tears laughing.

I get a litte annoyed with it all, obviously.

IS IT WRONG TO SAY SOMEONE ACTS WHITE?

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