I have no problem with people who are 1st generation immigrants being XXX-British, but I guess that I'm just not comfortable conflating ethnicity with origin once people are born here.
Except, I guess, that people brought up in Indian households in the UK will actually feel half Indian and half British.
Although I also emotionally shy away from strong definitions of 'British' on the grounds that I don't actually like cricket very much myself...
Despite (as in Kimberly's comment) some people wanting to be known as African-American, I have to say I think if they thought about it for a second, they'd realise just how derogatory that is.
As in, you're not American. No, you're that sub-class of American - African-American. I've never liked the sound of that. White American, Black American - at least that way, it's only about a difference in colour.
Personally, I think the 'PC' brigade does far more harm than good, and continues to highlight 'causes' as somehow being 'causes', instead of simply saying - "They're a person, like you or me."
I'm sure I ranted about this in my journal a while back....
I find it awkward and unnecessarily complicated, but since it isn't *my* descriptor, I don't feel I'm in any position to judge.
I get offended when people refer to a short person as a "midget" or "munchkin" or any other such belittling (ha ha) term.
I also get offended by many terms used to describe people who are fat by society's standards.
I think we all have our things we're sensitive about. Race -- particularly for blacks who were victims of slavery for so many generations because of the color of their skin -- is one that often cuts deeper than others. Referring to a black man by a term that denotes his skin color raises very complicated issues of the history of slavery and the inequal relationship to whites. I'm not at all surprised that the issue is heated.
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Except, I guess, that people brought up in Indian households in the UK will actually feel half Indian and half British.
Although I also emotionally shy away from strong definitions of 'British' on the grounds that I don't actually like cricket very much myself...
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I think most of the Scottish population would fail the "Tebbit Test" too...
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White people are born in Africa to, you know, as are many other races....
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In which case, how to refer to people of that type?
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Despite (as in Kimberly's comment) some people wanting to be known as African-American, I have to say I think if they thought about it for a second, they'd realise just how derogatory that is.
As in, you're not American. No, you're that sub-class of American - African-American. I've never liked the sound of that. White American, Black American - at least that way, it's only about a difference in colour.
Personally, I think the 'PC' brigade does far more harm than good, and continues to highlight 'causes' as somehow being 'causes', instead of simply saying - "They're a person, like you or me."
I'm sure I ranted about this in my journal a while back....
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I get offended when people refer to a short person as a "midget" or "munchkin" or any other such belittling (ha ha) term.
I also get offended by many terms used to describe people who are fat by society's standards.
I think we all have our things we're sensitive about. Race -- particularly for blacks who were victims of slavery for so many generations because of the color of their skin -- is one that often cuts deeper than others. Referring to a black man by a term that denotes his skin color raises very complicated issues of the history of slavery and the inequal relationship to whites. I'm not at all surprised that the issue is heated.
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