Submitted by AsslessBaboon t3_zo6lbl in UpliftingNews
Reply to comment by johnn48 in History-making Asian American soccer player describes his journey to self-acceptance | Kellyn Acosta, the first Asian American to appear in the World Cup for the USMNT, described how others have dismissed his Japanese heritage, and the harmful stereotypes around Asians and sports. by AsslessBaboon
Why do yall segregate yourselves? like, why are you Mexican-American if you weren’t raised in Mexico, but in a white neighborhood in America? why are 10th gen black people called African-Americans, when literally 99% of them have no connection to African roots? Make it make sense
In my case it’s a reaction to prejudice and racism as I grew up. If you identified as Mexican you were asked if you were “legal” an “illegal alien” etc. If you avoided identifying your heritage it was assumed because you were ashamed or embarrassed of being a “Mexican”. If you were brought up in an environment separated from your culture it was assumed that you didn’t want to be known as “Mexican American”. If you identified as Chicano, some understood the connection others not so much. So that raises the question why is your handle “iamnotexactlywhite” make it make sense.
That's not what segregation means..
Because "African" is my ethnicity & American is my nationality. Doesn't matter if one has been there once or 100 times. It's where my people come from. It isn't your lane to tell anyone where they do & don't have a connection to, especially when you're not connected in anyway to be any kind of authority. There's a reason many countries offer free citizenship to the members of it's dispora around the world.
Looking at Americas history and how white people then, basically told Italians,Irish,etc "cut your culture out & just white-americans"...Fast Foward today, Some of yall are bothered by the simple fact others have any little connection to their homeland. So fuckin what if someone is African,Mexican,Japanese-American. Why are some of you so bothered by it? Thought America was "A melting pot of people & cultures"?
> Because "African" is my ethnicity & American is my nationality
This is just an evolution of the deep seated racism within US culture, which recognizes it as bad but hasn't been too long to be able to move from it, so :"ethnicity" has taken somewhat a function to transition.
I'll give an example of something that happened with an US online friend who asked me what was my ethnicity, I told him "I'm Chilean" - "No, but what's your ethnicity?". What he wanted to know is what I look like, which is not a key component of ethnic background as is cultural background. being Chilean is my ethnic background. I also have Italian citizenship due direct descendancy but in my country calling myself "italian or half-italian" would be considered ridiculous because I have never even set foot in there once, it's not where I grew up and don't share any cultural background with Italians.
Your ethnicity can't be "African" because to start with "African" isn't and can't be an ethnicity. Ethnicity is a shared group of characteristics that have to do with cultural heritage and shared worldview, not just what you look like. An entire continent doesn't and can't have common ground to create that connection. I would be a wide and misguided generalization. Just like Latin Americans are also not an ethnic group because it composes millions that have literally no common cultural ground, not even the language as local usage varies wildly between countries.
The misuse of "ethnicity" on the US comes down to keep doing racial profiling and categorization, which is honestly a natural progress on the path of adaptation to move on from backwards customs but that doesn't make it correct or desirable.
> Some of yall are bothered by the simple fact others have any little connection to their homeland
I don't think people are "bothered" rather than confused because you having family that came from Africa and just that is not part of your ethnic background, just like me having Italian grandparents also isn't. This doesn't deny that your family came from Africa or if you feel like you have a connection but you can't really sit with someone from Nigeria and honestly tell you are part of the same general cultural group, which is what ethnicity is.
Yea.. No. I'm African-American. I've been fortunate enough to meet people from all over Africa & plenty of them still call me brother & refer to Africa as my home. For almost anyone who wasn't born in their homeland, long as your curios & respect where you came from. MOST people aren't going to tell you not claim it.
That's such a dumb ass stament, even claiming "Black" in America doesn't mean it's a monolithic culture. People in Chicago, The South, DC, New York are all culturally different. Doesn't make anyone any less or more Black. The same goes for vast cultures in Africa or anywhere else. Be it about reconnecting or maintaining a connection, it's about acknowledging & respecting what your practice.
I'm not letting anyone who has nothing to do with Africa is any capacity explained to me why THEY THINK I shouldn't claim it. Again, y'all make your identity issues & confusion others problem. I don't have Black/African people complaining to me. Yet people on the outside constantly think they have a valid voice. You don't.
It’s just a label dude. It’s race + nationality. You wouldn’t call yourself just American within the US because there’s so many races within America, and in the end both play a role in your life.
there’s a lot of races within UK as well, and nobody is calling black people African-Brits or some shit like that. Hungarians aren’t called Hungarian-Germans in Berlin either.
A lot of it is people just treating you differently. You can grow up in a white neighborhood, but if you’re the only kid at school who gets tofu and kimchi in your lunch, it doesn’t really matter what you self identify as. You will be identified by your peers a certain way.
I saw it as people identify that way because they get treated differently. They grew up in the same place but they are still viewed differently because of their race and not always seen as just “American,” unless I’m mistaken and you’re referring to people who try to refer themselves as just their nationality
Yup, agreed.
Exactly. As a Greek Australian I have a similar experience. Both aspects are part of my identity and they can still be really distinct at times.
I'm not exactly "just Greek" and not exactly "just Aussie". I am what I am.
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