Quote from: mixed wit african on October 12, 2016, 10:48:05 PM
Quote from: hewritez on October 12, 2016, 10:31:30 PM
If you were to identify yourself using a generic category like race, religion, ethnicity, etc.
What would come to mind most quickly?
In other words, what do you feel the strongest affiliation to?
Most people lean towards race/ethnicity.
Some, religion.
I know alot of gay guys who are all about the queer lifestyle and everything is gay this, gay that.
I don't really know where I belong.
I don't feel very "Indian"
I also don't feel very "gay".
I'm not overly concerned with gay issues.
I think I'm more concerned with race issues if anything.
Sometimes I feel more "black" than anything. i know that's weird considering I'm not black.
but my parents are from east Africa and speak Swahili and feel more of a connection to Kenya and Tanzania than India. I don't know.
I would like to identify as an American but, given the social/political climate of our country, I really don't feel like I can.
Does anyone else get confused?
Just read the entire thing.
This is America, and although labels can be very....non-spiritual, it's important to know that your label in this country generally is based off of what people see with their eyes. Not so much what you feel in your soul.
I think it's totally fine to have your own personal definitions of who you are. If you feel "Black" that's totally cool but just realize if you walked into a room full of Blacks and claimed you were AA, you'd get the side eye. That's just the reality.
There's this non-Black woman at my job who said she loves eating "ghetto chinese food" and loves listening to rap. She claimed she was listening to Master P on her way in to work. Me and the other Black gorls were kii'ing at her cuz she clearly is not Black but is trying so hard to be.
And it came off as offensive , even. When she used the word "ghetto". I know she meant no harm but it just shows how clueless she is when it comes to our culture. It's "Chinese food from the hood". Everyone knows the best chinese food is in the hood. we don't call it "ghetto chinese food". sdsddssssdsdsdsdsds dumb bitch.
But I totally get what you're saying, absolutely get it. I know that your connection to Blackness is WAY deeper than "ghetto chinese food". You have connections to Africa, etc. which is amazing. I'd just say have your own personal mess but be aware of social labeling.
No I get what you're saying.
It's like these white girls I knew in school who dated black guys and listened to hip-hop music and felt that they were "black" inside.
But you can never be "black" if you're not black, because being black in America, and sometimes abroad, is a specific political experience that no one else can have.
I can relate to black people on so many things, even on the subject of discrimination, but even I have my limitations. At the end of the day I'm not black, and my parents weren't black in spite of their African heritage. And i would never claim to be in public
But I do, at times, especially when I'm in a room comprised of only blacks and whites (which was my experience growing up in Illinois), feel more connected to black people than anyone else.
Often times more than Indians