Posts tagged: race
- White flight, Hungarian style
- Segregation in Hungary doesn’t happen as a result of racist laws. It’s de facto segregation. For different reasons in different locations, all of the Roma children, or at least large majorities of them together with financially disadvantaged non-Roma, wind up in the same classrooms or schools. So says Lilla Farkas, a lawyer with the NGO [...] [8 Jul 2010]
- On internalized racism, II
- Internalized racism is defined as acceptance by members of the stigmatized races of negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic worth. It is characterized by their not believing in others who look like them, and not believing in themselves. It involves accepting limitations to one’s own full humanity, including one’s spectrum of dreams, one’s [...] [30 Jun 2010]
- On privilege
- Or the black bartender who said to me: “A black American and a white American … you all are the same to me.” It was another awkward compliment, but from his viewpoint, he equates the lifestyles of black Americans with white people, both in America and in South Africa. I suppose in a way that’s [...] [21 Jun 2010]
- Race, Mexican-Americans, Hispanics, Texas and the first Latino president
- Historically, Mexican-Americans have generally been considered “white” in Texas; they served in white units of the segregated military, including the National Guard, and were allowed, during the Jim Crow years, to marry white (but not black) partners. In the early ’40s, the Texas Legislature even passed a “Caucasian Race Resolution,” which affirmed their status as [...] [7 May 2010]
- Race, Marriage and the beige-ing of America
- Every time immigration debates pop up, I think about how we’ve treated previous waves of immigrants. Each successive wave of newcomers was first viewed with suspicion and hostility. That suspicion and hostility eventually gives way to some degree of assimilation into whiteness. ‘The Beige and the Black’: Segregation in Marriage Twelve years ago, the New [...] [1 May 2010]
- On America and Immigrants
- The reality is that America has a long history of welcoming immigrants who will never be able to check that white box on the census, and unfortunately that means America also has a long history of discrimination against those people regardless of their status in the country. So says Christian Lander, white Canadian American and [...] [30 Apr 2010]
- On Looting in Haiti and New Orleans
- There is an institutionalized racism in the way these poor black disaster victims are treated. The victims of Katrina were treated with so much presumption, as if you could assume they were going to loot, because they were black. Just like we know that the people in Haiti are bad because they’re black. And: When [...] [22 Jan 2010]
- On whiteness
- “Are Lebanese white people?” we asked the 71-year-old gentleman who considered himself white. “Yes,” he said, “although they’re real dark.” How about Italian Catholics; are they white? Sure. And Jews? Yes. What about the Chinese? “Yes,” he said, “they go to the white schools.” And Mexicans? “They’re becoming more white,” he said. “More of them [...] [29 Dec 2009]
- On Facebook, MySpace and being ghetto
- On the one hand, the ghetto is a part of a city historically defined by race and class. On the other hand, being ghetto refers to a set of tastes that emerged as poor people of color developed fashion and cultural artifacts that proudly expressed their identity. Just as physical spaces and tastes are organized [...] [29 Dec 2009]
- Africa(n movie roles) for Africans
- Now, let’s start by saying that Jennifer Hudson is a capable actress. She blew Beyoncé out the water in Dreamgirls and by all accounts she did her thing in The Secret Life of Bees. But like all outfits aren’t for all weather conditions, all parts aren’t for all people. It was an outright shock to [...] [21 Dec 2009]