What's the relevance of pointing out race/ethnicity?

[guids]

FWIW, I dont see the point in pointing out race. And get real, the details dont add anything to the story in most cases. There is a huge difference between "black guy", and "haitian dude with dreadlocks, and a bob marley tshirt". One adds details, one is stupid and pointless. If it was a logistics thing, ie there was a white dude, and a black dude who both helped and that was the detail that kept who you were talking to straight, this is also different. But the post that the OP linked to, mentioning he was a black dude, I dont care what any of you say, serves no purpose to make teh story more interesting, what it does serve is to re-inforce in some people who are already racist to think "ya, black dude [censored] up...just goes to show you, yada yada".


I know Ill be in the minority here but whatever, its the way I think, and if you dont agree, I dont want to hear about it.

[amead]

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I know Ill be in the minority here

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if you dont agree, I dont want to hear about it.

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Probably don't check back into this thread then, mmmkay?

[guids]

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I know Ill be in the minority here

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if you dont agree, I dont want to hear about it.

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Probably don't check back into this thread then, mmmkay?

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nah, I think I will, and if "black guy" is a detail to you, you are either a terrible storyteller or a racist. gfy now.

[amead]

I just don't see how ethnicity/physical appearance can be considered anything BUT a detail. I mean, in any personal ad or whatever when someone is asked to describe themselves, it usually starts with "young white male" or "big beautiful black female". Are personal ads racist?

Further, if you believe that saying the cashier at Blockbuster was a black guy is racist, what negative connotation are you interpreting this statement with? Sounds like you might be the one reading some stereotypical attributes into an otherwise generic description.

[pokah5]

Ok, I think the way that he said it wasn't necessary. I was thinking about normal speech and what you wrote. Do you think that if instead he said,"This native guy came in drunk...." casually instead of,"blah blah blah. He was native" it would have made a difference?

[NT!]

[ QUOTE ]

FWIW, I dont see the point in pointing out race. And get real, the details dont add anything to the story in most cases. There is a huge difference between "black guy", and "haitian dude with dreadlocks, and a bob marley tshirt". One adds details, one is stupid and pointless. If it was a logistics thing, ie there was a white dude, and a black dude who both helped and that was the detail that kept who you were talking to straight, this is also different. But the post that the OP linked to, mentioning he was a black dude, I dont care what any of you say, serves no purpose to make teh story more interesting, what it does serve is to re-inforce in some people who are already racist to think "ya, black dude [censored] up...just goes to show you, yada yada".


I know Ill be in the minority here but whatever, its the way I think, and if you dont agree, I dont want to hear about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

guids is totally right here. and when guids and i agree on racial issues, you know something is up.

i think when someone uses a purely racial/ethnic descriptor like 'black guy' or 'white dude' or whatever, it is rarely with any explicit racist intent, and they may even be a person who is relatively free of prejudice. but it often does have a subtext, which may be interpreted as much by the reader as the author himself. the best example of this is that, when reading such a post, if no race is specified, we can almost always assume the person is talking about a white guy.

again, not implying that there is any malice in a description like this 95% of the time

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
I just don't see how ethnicity/physical appearance can be considered anything BUT a detail. I mean, in any personal ad or whatever when someone is asked to describe themselves, it usually starts with "young white male" or "big beautiful black female". Are personal ads racist?

Further, if you believe that saying the cashier at Blockbuster was a black guy is racist, what negative connotation are you interpreting this statement with? Sounds like you might be the one reading some stereotypical attributes into an otherwise generic description.

[/ QUOTE ]

[KotOD]

Well, as all of you hand-wring over a description, I'd also like to point out people that go out of their way to avoid using race as a descriptor. My wife has a friend that is like this. We were meeting her at a restaurant owned by some dude she knew. We were arriving first, so she told us to go find the "Bruce, heavier-set guy with brown hair in the back" and introduce ourselves.

So we went and we looked around for five minutes and found no one matching this description. We didn't want to look like douches and ask for the owner and cause a stir, so we sat in the lounge and waited for her to arrive. When she showed up, she was incredulous at our inability to find her friend. She led us straight into the back and introduced us to Bruce, the owner. Bruce was a large black man. With black hair. The only black man in the place.

[pergesu]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, as all of you hand-wring over a description, I'd also like to point out people that go out of their way to avoid using race as a descriptor. My wife has a friend that is like this. We were meeting her at a restaurant owned by some dude she knew. We were arriving first, so she told us to go find the "Bruce, heavier-set guy with brown hair in the back" and introduce ourselves.

So we went and we looked around for five minutes and found no one matching this description. We didn't want to look like douches and ask for the owner and cause a stir, so we sat in the lounge and waited for her to arrive. When she showed up, she was incredulous at our inability to find her friend. She led us straight into the back and introduced us to Bruce, the owner. Bruce was a large black man. With black hair. The only black man in the place.

[/ QUOTE ]
lol. pragmatism over political correctness ftw

[Reup Gang]

The irony in this thread is that the folks talking about how the people pointing this comment out are racist and can't ever talk about racial issues without bringing racism into it are truly the ones who can't ever discuss racial issues, because this isn't even a racial issue.