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Originally posted by DrUg_Tit0 I really haven't heard anyone use the term black for people who have not originated from Africa unless perhaps by mistake, but then again, same mistake would be made for african americans.

dont you think its time we stopped labelling people by the colour of their skin anyway?

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Originally posted by svens_bath slavery; colonialism. thats why its not a 2 way street

Please. Get over it. Do you support reparations?

ive got nothing to get over! reperations or no reperations slavery is one of those most vile things that one human can do to another. im not saying that people labelled as White dont have any right to complain etc, but i do think a greater sensitivity is required towards ethnic minorities in Western countries...at least for the time being. hopefully we can move on, but not yet.

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Originally posted by svens_bath yes, but some people may get offended by the term Black, which is why labels such as african-american have arisen. just because you dont find being called White a problem, doesnt mean that similalrly, people being called Black will feel the same. and asive said, im sure most dont, but some might, and i dont think you can criticise them for that.

Don't you see the poinlessness of being offended by one generally non offensive term and then inventing another non offensive term which has exactly the same meaning as the previous one?

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dont you think its time we stopped labelling people by the colour of their skin anyway?

Look, there's a difference between equality and equivalence. We all have and should have equal basic rights, but that does not mean that we are genetically equivalent. A person's skin color is something that's usually pretty obvious and therefore it often proves itself useful in describing the appearance of a person. Same as eye and hair color, only even more noticable. It seems to me that this avoidance of the obvious can only be explained as an overreaction to the remnants of latent racism in the society.

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1+1=10

it maybe pointless to you, but some people may find it less offensive, as it is recognising a disticntion based more on a geographical origination as opposed to one based on colour, which was used to justify an oppression against them. this is me making an argument for that case, regardless of however much i find it pointless, i still think that if thats the case for some people, then i think they have the right not to be labelled as Black and instead as what they prefer, for the reason i have just given or for any other.

in relation to the second quote, by all means use descriptions like african-american etc when needed eg eyewitness account. but i think that in general people are just too quick to categorise people according to the colour of their skin; often people use it to base an entire identity on, rather than seeing it for what it is: skin colour.

In all honesty, this is getting to be a pretty ridiculous thread. Yes, some blacks, if I may use the term all-encompassingly, are from locales other than Africa, be it British, Carribean, Dominican, etc. Beyond that, however, there are plenty of reasons to assume that a black person ancestrally from Africa since, as far as I know, on a long-term ancestral timeline, only "black" people can truly claim ancestral links to Africa, e.g. Africa is the birthplace of the "black" race.

If the term is not meant in a derogitory manner, it should not be taken offense to. "******" is the obvious prime example of a term that has derogitory connotation. I just say "black" and I've never had anyone who had a problem with it. If they care to clarify that they are not only dark skinned, but perhaps they a French black person. If someone called me white, I don't think I'd take offense, but if he really wanted to know, I could tell him that I'm actually of a mix between many ancestral origins. But I think we'd probably just agree to leave it at "white". In fact, if my friend introduced me to another person and said, "Soandso, this is Shakka, my euronativeamericrussian friend, I'd probably be a little taken aback.

the only reason i brought it up, was that people have a right to take offence to a particular label, however irrational it may seem to others. your n*gger example, for example, used to be ok with everyone until it was challenged. im not saying its the same as 'Black', but maybe we cant see the conotations it may hold for some people, and so they have a right to be offended. i find it hard to disregard such a right, which is what my man Tito said.

since then weve being going around in circles! but you know what its probably quite fitting that a ridicolus thread ends the way it started!

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Originally posted by zig background of forced slavery mainly from Africa.

oh, and I hate when they pull out the "slavery" or the "minority" card.

tough times have passed, they have prevailed, and therefore have the same rights as any other American citizen.

it's all politics...

>JM<

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ive got nothing to get over! reperations or no reperations slavery is one of those most vile things that one human can do to another. im not saying that people labelled as White dont have any right to complain etc, but i do think a greater sensitivity is required towards ethnic minorities in Western countries...at least for the time being. hopefully we can move on, but not yet.

Why not?

why not what?

I think he's asking why you don't think we can move on yet.