response 26 of 57:

Aug 13 01:05 UTC 2003

I think that John is right and I was wrong about the sequence of the terms.
Some people did try to claim that "black" was offensive for a while, but
it never really stuck and "black" is still in common usage.

In America, all of these terms have very little to do with skin color.  They
refer specifically to the descendents of Africans who were enslaved in
America.  A recent immigrant from Nigeria is only sort of "black", no matter
how dark his skin.  If he looks "black" then he is often going to be treated
that way, and many blacks have sort of sentimental attachment to the "old
country" and feel they have some commonality with Africans, but an African-
American is no more an African than an Italian-American is an Italian.  Which
is probably why the terminology game finally ended up with "African-American".
Awkward though it is, it is at least a precise word for the set of people
we were describing with all those other words all along.

So, no, the NAACP is not interested in any random people whose skins are not
transparent.  "Colored" has a very specific meaning in that context, and that
isn't it.  I suppose they could change their name, but NAAAA is a silly name,
and the NAACP name has far too much history behind it to be scorned now.

Actually, I have no idea what "people of color" means.

response 28 of 57:

Aug 13 11:54 UTC 2003

my "white" friend from s. africa applied for educational grants for
"african-americans".

response 30 of 57:

Aug 13 13:59 UTC 2003

I say they should just call themselves american and have done with it.

response 32 of 57:

Aug 13 15:31 UTC 2003

i think this is due to the fact that there is still pretty severe segregation
in the US, mostly economic. i don't notice someone's color first anymore after
having lived for 6 years in a dominantly 'black' neighborhood where _I_ was
the minority, and everyone looked at me firstly being white.

response 36 of 57:

Aug 14 10:25 UTC 2003

There aren't many Negroes in Cobourg, but, you know what, I saw one just
to-day, some Negroe with a white kid:  What the fuck else are the Negroes
going to do, but get white friends?

response 38 of 57:

Aug 17 03:21 UTC 2003

re resp:28: I speculated about someone doing that a half dozen years 
ago; a descendant of white South Africans applying for African 
American scholarships.  How did it work out for your friend?

re resp:33: I've talked to two black co-workers about moving to 
Clinton or Tecumseh.  I warned them both that Clinton is almost 100% 
white, and Tecumseh is nearly so.  In 6 years of having kids go to 
Clinton schools, I knew only one black student in Clinton.

response 40 of 57:

Aug 17 12:52 UTC 2003

I vaguely remember hearing something about the KKK around Brighton, 
several years ago.  I've never heard anything like that about Clinton 
or Tecumseh.

But, dangit, I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if I did hear 
something along those lines someday.  People choose to live where 
they're comfortable, and if people move to an all-white town, it's 
often because that's how they want to live.  It's hardly impossible to 
believe that, in an all-white town, there are those who will go to 
extremes to keep their town all-white.

I don't know of any bigotry near where I live, but I haven't looked 
for it.  My brother lives in Pulaski, Tennessee, the town where the 
KKK was formed, and in the area where many of it's originators lived.  
I've never seen any bigotry there, either.  Not myself I haven't.

response 42 of 57:

Aug 17 23:45 UTC 2003

The KKK to which I referred was founded a year or two after the end of 
the Civil War in Pulaski, TN.

response 44 of 57:

Aug 18 14:35 UTC 2003

i can't remeber jep, and i'm not in contact with him anymore to ask
unfortunately. i *think* he did get some grant money, after some hassel about
whether his skin color would prevent this.

response 46 of 57:

Aug 19 21:57 UTC 2003

"Stoner" Mountain - Freudian slip?  ;-)

response 48 of 57:

Aug 20 15:44 UTC 2003

I saw a motel near Coram, Montana called 'Stoner's Inn'.