Question about races and how we refer to them

Quote from JaedaKim

So I'm just wondering, because I've seen people talk about it before, to me calling black people blacks feels weird, but calling Asian people asians doesn't, nor Hispanics. But calling white people whites feels a little weird too.

Why is that?? Does anyone else experience this?

me too!!!!!! The hispanic one though for me feels weird but the asian thing doesn't. I have no idea why. Maybe it is because of fear of being called a racist for the others.

There are probably a lot of varying factors. In the case of Hispanics, I think its because Hispanics are not a racial group. Nearly half of Hispanics identify as just simply, white. In the case of Asians, I am not so sure, I would probably attribute it to a difference in the connotations of the words. White slave owners called black people "blacks", and black people have suffered through a much harsher period of being oppressed by white people under that term.

I am of course not denying the oppression and systemic struggles Asian Americans face, but compared to slavery, Asian Americans are not being belittled through simply the term "asians", the racism against Asians is usually very specific. We hate Arabs, we hate "orientals", "chi*nks" etc etc. Black people were just grouped under the "blacks" flag, and I think that makes it considerably more negative.

Quote from JaedaKim

This also makes sense to me

Although black and asian people call white people whites all them time

Why doesn't it feel weird to them? Is it because white people haven't been slaves to black people the way black people were to whites?

Checks out, white people have historically been the oppressor, and racism against other minorities of white people (slavic, "gypsies" or travellers) is also very specific, and not just under the "whites" flag.

In my country

Calling someone Schwarz ( = Black) is seen as bad

Calling someone Farbig (=Colored) is ok

It's also ok to say the person is African but you get bad looks when everyone except you knows that the person you mean is an Afro-Amerikaner ( = African-American) and not an person from Africa

We also have a Term for African people who are since a few generations in Germany wich is Afro-Deutsche (= African-German) but that term is almost not used so many people don't know this word exist, but thats just because the "black" amount of people here is around 500K in 83 million and only around 200K are in Germany since birth so... And yes this is also a reason why you can find so many videos on people with a dark skin being mad at the beauty industry in Europe, because the amount of dark people isn't high enough for companys to say they sell dark shades. I mean Loreal for example advertises they have 20+ shades and in store you only find the 8 lightest shades or even less shades than that. Even a bunch people with a bit more tanned skin can get in problems finding the right makeup sometimes since depending on where in Germany you are you don't find makeup or only like 3 shades so yeah ...

Quote from JaedaKim

So I'm just wondering, because I've seen people talk about it before, to me calling black people blacks feels weird, but calling Asian people asians doesn't, nor Hispanics. But calling white people whites feels a little weird too.

Why is that?? Does anyone else experience this?

Such feeling is all cultural. You grow a notion against some words according to what you have seen and heard about it.

The black people in Andaman Sea is called "negrito" which means small black, describing their apparent physical traits. Do you think "negrito" is weird? The name negrito was given by the white (missionaries) but, the negrito was not enslaved nor oppressed by the white but the yellow fellow Asian. So, the name "negrito" does not have much of pejorative tone to it but some names given by the local yellow are.

Because the word Asian refers to geography versus black and white refer to skin tone. That's why you feel weird about it.

I understand how calling white people “whites” and black people “blacks” can sound wrong for some people because we are grouped by our skin color while everyone else is grouped by something like similarities in their language or cultures. Speaking as an Habesha person, I don’t have any problem with being identified as black and I am proud to be black but my parents and the older generation who were born in Ethiopia find that term weird and offensive because they believe it reduces the value of our unique culture and identity to just being “black skinned” when they don't even consider themselves “black skinned” in the first place since we have a tan or light brown complexion. That's why some people prefer to be called just African instead of black. I bet some other people feel the same way because I heard Arabs and Italians don't identify as white.

Quote from Yan20

There are probably a lot of varying factors. In the case of Hispanics, I think its because Hispanics are not a racial group. Nearly half of Hispanics identify as just simply, white. In the case of Asians, I am not so sure, I would probably attribute it to a difference in the connotations of the words. White slave owners called black people "blacks", and black people have suffered through a much harsher period of being oppressed by white people under that term.

I am of course not denying the oppression and systemic struggles Asian Americans face, but compared to slavery, Asian Americans are not being belittled through simply the term "asians", the racism against Asians is usually very specific. We hate Arabs, we hate "orientals", "chi*nks" etc etc. Black people were just grouped under the "blacks" flag, and I think that makes it considerably more negative.

really?? chinks is offensive but i have no problem being called oriental if it's describing the orient (eastern) asia part

As an Asian person

Ion mind being called Asian

But if somebody calls me a chink or chingchangchong or lingling sumthin like that

ima pop em

I not sure of proper usage of Hispanic and Latino. Both seem acceptable to Hispanics and Latinos.

Being White it is weird referring to myself as White. Same with using Caucasian cause it originated around the Eastern Mediterranean region.

In the US it seems using Black is better than African American. As Blacks are part of the original settlers of the US. I know the History, just trying to explain using Black in the US.

Quote from selfmate

really?? chinks is offensive but i have no problem being called oriental if it's describing the orient (eastern) asia part

I don't know about anywhere else, but referring to people as oriental is definitely at the very least considered outdated in the US & Canada.

In the US Oriental usage relegated to describing Art, Furniture and Rugs.