I'm not White, I'm European American!
I've been browsing craigslist for many years. I was there before Rants'n'Raves was even launched. Back when the w4m posts used to be all actual women. I've bought many things from CL ads, I found a place to live in Detroit from a CL ad, and I've gone on plenty of dates through craigslist as well.
So seeing as how familiar I am with craigslist, I'm apt to notice the subtle changes in the ads, especially in the w4m or sales section (yeah, I'm a troll, deal with it). Things like pictures of white chicks claiming to live in "Detroit, MI" were suspicious and rightfully marked as spam. Or how some w4m ads would always list the measurements of a chick. Or how in the cars for sale section, you have model year 2004 Nissans selling for $4,000 but listing an actual e-mail address in the body. Just lots of little things, y'know?
In moving to Virginia, I've turned once again to CL to try and get some dates. That means trolling the w4m section and seeing what is availible. One cannot help but notice down here that there are TONS more educated and articulate black women than Detroit. In addition, many of them are actually looking for white males. This was surprising to me as metro Detroit is pretty damn segregated. Hell, I've even seen a new abbreviation pop up in these ads: AA. No, it doesn't mean they're a drunk, it means they're African American.
Here begins my rant.
You are not African American. The whole reason that term was created - in my opinion - was so that we (white folks) could be more politically correct when talking about issues of color without actually having to mention color. Sure, you're black because one of your ancestors came from Africa, cool. But discrimination wasn't based on where you came from, it was based on your skin being a different color. I mean, you don't see the few white Southern Africaners getting discriminated against, do you?
And what about all the white people running around? Why aren't we called European Americans? If you care to go by American-born generations, I'm actually closer to being considered a European than a lot of black people are to being considered African.
Okay, there is a bit of a disconnect when talking about other races. For instance, Korean or Mexican. Why aren't they called yellow or brown rather than their respective race? Beats the hell out of me. Maybe because it has to do something with their culture, ie, they still retain some of it. One or two generations down the line, they are still speaking the native tongue at home, although not as well. Maybe they still eat cuisine that is common in their culture at home, who knows.
The point is, why are going out of our way to single out a different race when there isn't one? "African Americans" are just "Americans" same as us "European Americans". Sure, there's different classes of both white folks and black folks but deep down inside, we're all Americans. There is no need to pigeon-hole us further.
So seeing as how familiar I am with craigslist, I'm apt to notice the subtle changes in the ads, especially in the w4m or sales section (yeah, I'm a troll, deal with it). Things like pictures of white chicks claiming to live in "Detroit, MI" were suspicious and rightfully marked as spam. Or how some w4m ads would always list the measurements of a chick. Or how in the cars for sale section, you have model year 2004 Nissans selling for $4,000 but listing an actual e-mail address in the body. Just lots of little things, y'know?
In moving to Virginia, I've turned once again to CL to try and get some dates. That means trolling the w4m section and seeing what is availible. One cannot help but notice down here that there are TONS more educated and articulate black women than Detroit. In addition, many of them are actually looking for white males. This was surprising to me as metro Detroit is pretty damn segregated. Hell, I've even seen a new abbreviation pop up in these ads: AA. No, it doesn't mean they're a drunk, it means they're African American.
Here begins my rant.
You are not African American. The whole reason that term was created - in my opinion - was so that we (white folks) could be more politically correct when talking about issues of color without actually having to mention color. Sure, you're black because one of your ancestors came from Africa, cool. But discrimination wasn't based on where you came from, it was based on your skin being a different color. I mean, you don't see the few white Southern Africaners getting discriminated against, do you?
And what about all the white people running around? Why aren't we called European Americans? If you care to go by American-born generations, I'm actually closer to being considered a European than a lot of black people are to being considered African.
Okay, there is a bit of a disconnect when talking about other races. For instance, Korean or Mexican. Why aren't they called yellow or brown rather than their respective race? Beats the hell out of me. Maybe because it has to do something with their culture, ie, they still retain some of it. One or two generations down the line, they are still speaking the native tongue at home, although not as well. Maybe they still eat cuisine that is common in their culture at home, who knows.
The point is, why are going out of our way to single out a different race when there isn't one? "African Americans" are just "Americans" same as us "European Americans". Sure, there's different classes of both white folks and black folks but deep down inside, we're all Americans. There is no need to pigeon-hole us further.