From other discussions...

[recumbentgoat]

...at blackfolk and interracial, I decided to see what I could find on the history/origin of the light vs. dark skin issues that pervade most poc communities.

Old Time Racial Terms & More "There are many words in America’s history and the history of the Americas that have been used to identify, disguise, categorize, control, or to segregate People of Color. Here

Comments

[nati_thoughts]

there is a post in here a while back on Latin people:dark skin vs light skin (pardon me if I'm wrong with the name). I've always been curious about this. Latinos,Chicanos, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans,etc. I know some people would try and group them all into one category. It would be interesting if someone could share their knowledge on the difference cultures on these people. I started a community cultureexchange a while back for this. Its not as active as I want it to be.

[nati_thoughts]

sorry, I posted this in the wrong community :)

[recumbentgoat]

Yeah, and I remember someone posted a NYTimes article about the different lives two Cubans led in NY--one black one white. I think that was blackfolks.

[rillifane]

I note with amusement the following assertion:"the fair skin preference reflects a legacy of colonialism on the subcontinent, in which white skin was associated with European oppression"

The preference for fair skin predates any European colonialism, Rather it is the fact that the various invaders from the North, Persoans, pathans, etc etc were fairer skinned than the indigenous Dravidan peoples.

So the ubiquitous urge to bitch out Europeans leads the author to forget that the original south Asian is a very dark skinned Dravidian.

[recumbentgoat]

Yeah, I'd wondered if the author was writing from an American p.o.v.

But it is amazing how neatly western culture falls into this...

'nutha article that goes into origins of caste system

[recumbentgoat]

damn. Here it is http://www.newnation.org/Millard/Millard-Bedroom-Genocide.html

[ebonbird]

Dude, that is a piece of trash. Interesting how the author is looking for a white religion that keeps whiteness whites. Too bad for him that a Zoroastrianism isn't a religion that accepts converts, 'cause, Aryans? Plenty white. Whiter than the whitest white dude in America, anyway. ;)

Nitpick

[dafydd]

(Here via medancer.)

In the Old Time Racial Terms link, I find this sentence: It would seem that the terms African American and Afro-American are more modern constructions.

Yes, they are. IIRC, they are constructions of the early- and mid-1970. Or, that's when they started getting widespread use. So, chances are the author lived through the change, just like I did. So, my question is, How the deuce did the author think he was going to get away with such a wishy-washy construction as "It would seem that?" Was s/he so interested in the older changes in language that s/he didn't bother with the newer ones? Even ones the that occured (most likely) in the author's lifetime?

Re: Nitpick

[dafydd]

Note that I'm not commenting on the expressions themselves. I'm annoyed at the author for not taking a stand in describing them.

Re: Nitpick

[recumbentgoat]

I see what you mean--but it could just be that person's style of writing or as a way of distancing oneself from the content.

The author seems more interested in the original racial terms that may have inspired the more PC Af/Am and Afro terms we use now.

[anonymous]

"Globalisation and Whitefacing in Asia An extremely long academic paper."

An "academic" paper that can't even spell globalization right? Hmm.

[recumbentgoat]

Sorta like spelling theater: theatre or color: colour. Must be a british thing...

whatevah. And don't be shy...you don't have to be anonymous to post here ;)

[sogucited]

americans use the "z" but most other english speakers spell it that way. :)

[khalinche]

There's an enormous body of work on race in Latin Amrica, some of which I'll try to dig up. In Brazil especially there's a plethora of different terms for mixed-race people of different shades. If I remember, I will seek out references, but I know Cecilia McCallum has recently written about it.

[recumbentgoat]

Oo. Sounds interesting, will be waiting...:)