Does race, ethnicity, etc. matter

[minniepumpernickel]

gg- I think that people may just want to be around specific groups occasionally. Like womens and mens groups. Or like all female gyms, etc!

Since this is an issue that is close to me, what I find more offensive is blatant cruelty. When people are deliberately cruel or hurtful. I think it has a lot to do with being a control freak. I can have power over someone if I put them down. Very sad!

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

I find that the media is often overly sensitive with regards to race. They'll tell us that the suspect has black hair and brown eyes but won't go as far as mentioning race so as not to offend anyone. Sometimes it is necessary to identify the race of an individual. Sometimes it isn't.

 

[nuke]

Everything isn't just cut and dry/black and white. There are times when it enhances the story or helps in the telling of a story to put someones ethnicity in it.

For example on the trick-or-treating thread someone posted that they chinese restaurant gave out fortune cookies. Should they have said the restaurant down the street gave out cookies? It wouldn't have had the same effect and takes away from the story just to be completly politically correct.

I agree with minnie- it is much prefered to have a race put into a story than cruel or hurtful things.

 

[TheLionKing]

In medical communications, sometimes race is specifically referred to because certain disease processes have different severities or incidences in certain races.

So, I guess it depends upon the story. Sometimes referring to a race may provide information that, put in the right context, makes the story or statement more understandable.

Once again I take my famous fence sitting position.

 

[snoopy]

Also on the trick or treating thread someone talked about the Asian people who seemed confused about the meaning of Trick or Treat. When she was called on it, she explained that she used their ethnicity in her description because she wanted to point out that they were new to the country. Not that I thought she needed to clarify that, she obviously was not using the term Asian in a derogatory manner.

 

[Bob O]

It isnt needed, but make the pc people of the world happy and gives them a warm feeling inside. And as regards to crime stories i find the media often doesnt give the nationality of the suspect if he is non-white but will almost always give the race if the suspect is white.

 

[wvjules]

For example on the trick-or-treating thread someone posted that they chinese restaurant gave out fortune cookies.

That makes sense to me, but another person on that same thread said that their Asian neighbors gave out bran flakes in baggies. I don't think the fact that they were Asian added anything to the story. Anyone giving bran flakes out in a baggy for halloween is a bit odd, regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion.

 

[Patrick IL.]

Originally posted by snoopy
Also on the trick or treating thread someone talked about the Asian people who seemed confused about the meaning of Trick or Treat. When she was called on it, she explained that she used their ethnicity in her description because she wanted to point out that they were new to the country. Not that I thought she needed to clarify that, she obviously was not using the term Asian in a derogatory manner.

This seems to be a reasonable explaination

 

[wvjules]

I would also like to add that the fact that they were possibly new to the country didn't come out until a couple of posts later. In that context it made sense, but to simply state, "My Asian neighbors gave out bran flakes in baggies" adding Asian didn't really add anything to the story for me.

 

[nuke]

Oh so that's where this thread is coming from.

 

[wvjules]

Originally posted by nuke
Oh so that's where this thread is coming from.

Yes it is. It's something that's always drove me nuts and that thread reminded me of it, so I decided to make it a new topic instead of continuing with it on the TOT thread.

 

[snoopy]

Well, she said they were new to the block, and the fact that they gave out bran flakes was a pretty good indicator they were new to the country.

Of course, on that thread, it appears that many people should have that excuse. I've been laughing all morning about some of the things the kids got in their bags. We have candy giving neighbors, thankfully.

 

[wvjules]

The fact that they were new to the block and gave out bran flakes didn't make me automatically think they were new to the country. Especially with all the other odd things people were given last night.

 

[Steve H.]

I do agree that it's all a matter of the given situation.

The situations I was thinking about (and I think this was the sort of thing Jules might have been talking about) are times when someone (e.g. my MIL ) starts telling a story and will say things like, "This very nice black man helped me out carry something to my car..."

And DW and I look at each other and wonder what the color of the person had to do with the story (especially since we've never heard her say "this white kid")

To me, that's insulting.

 

[Aloha Baby]

What difference does it really make? It wasn't said in a way that was defamatory, it was actually used in a descriptive way.

It doesn't bother me if its used unless it's used in a derogatory way thats full of hate and spite.

 

[caitycaity]

it bothers me if it is not important to the story or anecdote, otherwise, i just see it as a description.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Originally posted by nuke
Oh so that's where this thread is coming from.

Originally posted by wvjules
Yes it is. It's something that's always drove me nuts and that thread reminded me of it, so I decided to make it a new topic instead of continuing with it on the TOT thread.

And it had nothing to do with who posted that story?

 

[believe]

I have to say that in the bran flake story on the ToT thread using the descriptive of Asian did help me to understand the story better. I think it depends on the audience.

 

[Jenzebelle]

Steve, I know what you mean.

I know lots of people that have to add race or sexuality into any anecdote. It's almost as if they think they mention something like "The gay hispanic man helped me reach the cookies on the top shelf of the grocery store" makes them seem more open minded that they actually allowed a non heterosexual white person help them

 

[wvjules]

Originally posted by Miss Jasmine
And it had nothing to do with who posted that story?

It had nothing to do with who posted the story. It's a pet peeve of mine. That thead just reminded me of it, so I started my own topic. That's it. End of story. No hidden agenda, meaning, whatever you think it is.

And amazingly I'm not the only one that it irritates either. Oh wait, I PM'd all the others that it bothers and told them to say that.