Do you find being called "black" offensive?

Neapolitan · 02-14-2015, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

You know what I've never understood.. Why can't we call Russians Asian? They're from freakin Asia.

Actual the Ural mountains divides Europe from Asia. Though I've seen some describe it as one continent, Euro-Asia. Russia is on both sides of the mountain range.

DwnWthVwls · 02-14-2015, 11:52 PM

I made that post jokingly but since you guys wanna get all serious about it:

Can't call people from India Asian either.. no mountains dividing them. Are there any other continents where it doesn't work? I don't think calling Canadians North American is offensive, it just makes you sound silly.

Neapolitan · 02-15-2015, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

I made that post jokingly but since you guys wanna get all serious about it:

Can't call people from India Asian either.. no mountains dividing them. Are there any other continents where it doesn't work? I don't think calling Canadians North American is offensive, it just makes you sound silly.

The Himalayas separate the sub-continent of India with Asia.

~~John Wilkes Booth~~ · 02-15-2015, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

I made that post jokingly but since you guys wanna get all serious about it:

Can't call people from India Asian either.. no mountains dividing them. Are there any other continents where it doesn't work? I don't think calling Canadians North American is offensive, it just makes you sound silly.

i consider canadians europeans tbh

The Batlord · 02-15-2015, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goofle

As I always say, using somebody's name is always the best way to go. Or pointing. Pointing always works.

So have I been wrong all these years when I would say, "Hey, black guy! Could you please pass the salt?"

Lisnaholic · 02-15-2015, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

White is a color, Black isn't.

Therefore, white people = colored, and black people = colorless.

^ Interesting idea, but don´t expect people to adopt it any time soon; a simpler approach might be as Captain Beefheart said:-
"All people are colored, otherwise we´d see right through them."

On a related issue, I´d like to check up about the skin colour of Latin Americans. The description that I learned as a schoolboy was "olive-skinned." Is that term still in use, I wonder ? Here in Mexico, people describe themselves as "moreno" - that translates as "brown" in my dictionary but doesn´t sound appropriate to me. Van Morrison could sing about a Brown-Eyed Girl with no problem, but Brown-Skinned Girl sounds slightly offensive, and misleading if applied to a Latin American.

( Disclaimer: I´m not an enthusiast of labelling people by skin color, but my Mexican students sometimes want to know the English term that they should use to describe themselves.)

Oriphiel · 02-15-2015, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

"Hey, black guy! Could you please pass the salt?"

The Batlord · 02-15-2015, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

^ Interesting idea, but don´t expect people to adopt it any time soon; a simpler approach might be as Captain Beefheart said:-
"All people are colored, otherwise we´d see right through them."

On a related issue, I´d like to check up about the skin colour of Latin Americans. The description that I learned as a schoolboy was "olive-skinned." Is that term still in use, I wonder ? Here in Mexico, people describe themselves as "moreno" - that translates as "brown" in my dictionary but doesn´t sound appropriate to me. Van Morrison could sing about a Brown-Eyed Girl with no problem, but Brown-Skinned Girl sounds slightly offensive, and misleading if applied to a Latin American.

( Disclaimer: I´m not an enthusiast of labelling people by skin color, but my Mexican students sometimes want to know the English term that they should use to describe themselves.)

My problem with calling Hispanics brown is that, for the most part, they're not really brown. They're some form of tan. Black people are brown.

Black Francis · 02-15-2015, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

^ Interesting idea, but don´t expect people to adopt it any time soon; a simpler approach might be as Captain Beefheart said:-
"All people are colored, otherwise we´d see right through them."

On a related issue, I´d like to check up about the skin colour of Latin Americans. The description that I learned as a schoolboy was "olive-skinned." Is that term still in use, I wonder ? Here in Mexico, people describe themselves as "moreno" - that translates as "brown" in my dictionary but doesn´t sound appropriate to me. Van Morrison could sing about a Brown-Eyed Girl with no problem, but Brown-Skinned Girl sounds slightly offensive, and misleading if applied to a Latin American.

Moreno is actually the most non offensive term you can use to address them.

it doesn't translate well to english though.

I think there is a cultural difference on how we use these terms, usually hispanics don't make a big deal about the colour of their skin, it's not a touchy subject.

The Batlord · 02-15-2015, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Francis

Moreno is actually the most non offensive term you can use to address them.

it doesn't translate well to english though.

I think there is a cultural difference on how we use these terms, usually hispanics don't make a big deal about the colour of their skin, it's not a touchy subject.

Wait, so if I'm in Mexico, can I be all like, "What's up, moreno?"

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