ya its just a description of a person like I fought a big ass guy today i don't think it has anything to do with the fighting ability
As a black guy with mostly white friends, I cringe a little everytime I hear one of them say this. It's not limited to fight stories at all. "I was downtown and this black homeless guy...." "I was at the store and this grungy indian lady..." "These crazy hispanic people were......" Etc... It really irks me because it almost always seems to be used when describing less than "good" people. It's almost like it's said to help push the stereotypes that already exists about minorities.
Oh wow, I agree. I'm in the same spot you're in. It's not limited to fight stories at all, it's every story, well every negative story. It's never my black doctor is very polite, or my black attorney cares deeply about my case lol. We can only dream.
each race has its own fighting style. id crack jokes about each style but im sure white people would take the joke wrong.
Maybe you are only perceiving the race comment as negative... when really the person is just saying it without thinking... as they do not have a bias towards race/ethnicity at all. Maybe? edit: that sounds kind of confusing... and I cant really think of a better way to put it. If you've seen southpark you know what I mean haha
Haha, I've gotten into it with 2 white guys, 1 black guy, and 1 Mexican guy in my life, and if I examine them and apply them to the entire race as a generalization it'd look like this: Whites like to grapple Blacks only shoot for the face, never the body and Latinos don't know what defense is lol.
What if the person does have a racial bias though, and this is the way it slips out? In my opinion, someone free of racial bias (or at least working towards this, however impossible it may be) wouldn't frame a story this way.
Exactly. I just don't see why someone free of racial bias would start a story with "This arab guy..." instead of "This guy..." unless the persons race directly impacts the story.
IMO you can't call someone a racist because they say that someone is black in a sentence. That just doesnt make much sense to me... Maybe I'm too un-politically correct for these kind of discussions. I made a thread about white discrimination a while back... that didnt turn out to well.
Well when I use "this arab guy" or "this chinese lady" in a sentence, it's more to paint a picture in the listeners head describing the situation... its just detail.
I'm not saying it makes them racist, because that's a heavy accusation. I just want to know why it's so important. And you're right, there is PLENTY of discrimination against whites, but we live in a majority rules society, if you're in the majority you're consider on top and thus, no one feels particularly sorry for you if you get discriminated against.
The reason it's troubling is that you NEVER hear a white person start a story about another white person this way. Only when they're describing a minority. What is the point of inserting someones race in a story when it has absolutely no significance, when you otherwise wouldn't? It's difficult not to take it that way, even if that isn't the persons intent.
I was not trying to say all black or hispanics people grow up hard, I was just trying to say that most people might generalize that.
A minority? See thats what I'm talking about... Never would I refer to a black person as a minority. I think your over analyzing the situation a little to much. You think that we are intentionally singling out "minorities" in our sentences because we use the word "black" or "asian" etc. When really it's just simple detail. I mean... think of it this way. When black people talk about other black people they dont say "this black dude". But if a black person is talking about a white person they usually say "this white guy" and so on. I guess when they describe someone of a different race other than their own, they add the race of the person as detail? Shit idk. I'll be honest I'm kinda tired man, so I'm out for the night. Thats just my take on it. peace!
That's fine, that's everyone, even myself. I feel much safer in my home town as opposed to the city, not because of race, but because I know what happens here. I don't see that as racist, just aware.
Hmm, you're right. Now that I think about it, I think the deciding factor is the majority race in the room. When I'm with my family we do interject the race of someone who isn't one of us into the overall story, but when I'm with my friends, I don't.
whatever i think everyone is racist in their own way. did that make sense? i haven't met one person who says that they've never even said something racist.