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[Golden_Pigeon]

No problem, just wanted to get a better idea. Honestly, you'd probably get embraced in the Black community in America if you lived here.

I think yes, the few encounter i had with afro-american from the USA were very good and they often took me as "one of their own" immediately. They tend to recognize my african features way far quickly than people from my country or even africans. Although in Senegal, some people thought i was from Morocco, but i think mostly because of my attire.

 

[TheBear]

I have Italian/French heritage and have an Italian last name.
When people find out I am (Australian) Aboriginal, some openly laugh at me as if I'm joking.

 

[jesu]

??

You said

Travelers are not 'white', goths aren't, neither are poor working class from the estates. Neither are the Polish immigrants.

Whiteness is the 'normal' middle class British person.

I am white and poor working class from an estate, as was everyone I grew up with and almost everyone I know today.
Most travelers are white, same with most Poles.

I am asking what you are talking about in regards to what I quoted you on.

 

[lightskintwin]

I think yes, the few encounter i had with afro-american from the USA were very good and they often took me as "one of their own" immediately. They tend to recognize my african features way far quickly than people from my country or even africans. Although in Senegal, some people thought i was from Morocco, but i think mostly because of my attire.

It's funny, because one of my best friends married an Ethiopian woman and it was packed with over 300 people from her side, and they thought I looked North African.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

It's funny, because one of my best friends married an Ethiopian woman and it was packed with over 300 people from her side, and they thought I looked North African.

I remember that in the autobiographical book of Maya Angelou, she recount that even Malcolm X was asked in Africa why he was speaking of the black people if he wasn't black. I don't remember his exact answer, nor i am able to find it right now, but iremember it was awesome.

 

[Ratrat]

So a persons perception of you can alter your race? That makes no sense.

 

[openrob]

You said



I am white and poor working class from an estate, as was everyone I grew up with and almost everyone I know today.
Most travelers are white, same with most Poles.

I am asking what you are talking about in regards to what I quoted you on.

When people talk about 'Whiteness' they are not talking about race/the colour of skin.
They are talking about the social construct of what is considered 'normal'.

When people say they have a problem with Whiteness, they are not talking about white people, but about a culture in our country which means anyone outside of 'acceptable' gets treated differently.

Look at these pictures - who are the police likely to stop?
Which group would be considered a gang?

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

When people talk about 'Whiteness' they are not talking about race/the colour of skin.
They are talking about the social construct of what is considered 'normal'.

I understand where you're getting at but it's not true. In France, you can definitely be white and poor.

I never heard somebody speaking about a middle-class black man as white and a low-class white as black. So i don't know where you get you're definition. I think you get the articulation "class-race" wrong. Being a rich black man in the US or Europe will not erase most of the discrimination inherently linked to your skin color.

 

[jesu]

When people talk about 'Whiteness' they are not talking about race/the colour of skin.
They are talking about the social construct of what is considered 'normal'.

When people say they have a problem with Whiteness, they are not talking about white people, but about a culture in our country which means anyone outside of 'acceptable' gets treated differently.

Look at these pictures - who are the police likely to stop?
Which group would be considered a gang?

Which people?

What am I then?
I am light skinned poor and working class.

The police would stop the white teenagers.
That doesn't stop me from being white.
Or the teenagers.

 

[Sunster]

I understand where you're getting at but it's not true. In France, you can definitely be white and poor.

I never heard somebody speaking about a middle-class black man as white and a low-class white as white. So i don't know where you get you're definition. I think you get the articulation "class-race" wrong. Being a rich black man in the US or Europe will not erase most of the discrimination inherently linked to your skin color.

Maybe a rich black man does not have access to whiteness? maybe whiteness isn't about being white but it's a culture only white people can access?

idk. that's just a guess. hopefully someone will come and explain it to us both.

 

[Alo0oy]

Half the people in the Middle East are "white", but there's a big difference between "white" and Anglo-Caucasian, I can tell the difference between an Arab white and a Caucasian probably 95% of the time. Half of my family are "white", but I would never confuse them for a caucasian.

Ethnicity is more than skin color. There's facial and bone structure, hair, skin complexion...etc.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Half the people in the Middle East are "white", but there's a big difference between "white" and Anglo-Caucasian, I can tell the difference between an Arab white and a Caucasian probably 95% of the time. Half of my family are "white", but I would never confuse them for a caucasian.

Ethnicity is more than skin color. There's facial and bone structure, hair, skin complexion...etc.

Of course, i think it's assumed in this thread that we speak about the european phenotypes, and not the color of the skin. You can be white and have a darker skin than an asian or an arab.

 

[openrob]

Which people?

What am I then?
I am light skinned poor and working class.

The police would stop the white teenagers.
That doesn't stop me from being white.
Or the teenagers.

I was trying to share a bit of my experience because I thought it would help others who might have struggled with the concept.

I explained myself pretty clearly in my first post.