But for the rest of us the US census bureau had to create entire new categories (Hispanic white) and rework definitions (adding the entire MENA region to white) because people can and do effectively self-identify in terms of race
Most of the time white people say “I’m not white, I’m ________,” they are justifiably clowned on. If a white guy from middle Illinois checks “Hispanic white” on the census and then goes to a Hispanic community saying he’s Hispanic, what’s the reception going to be like?
Usually it’s “I’m not just American, I’m ________” and then they get justifiably clowned on, but that’s because Americans think genes make culture
If a white guy from middle Illinois checks “Hispanic white” on the census and then goes to a Hispanic community saying he’s Hispanic, what’s the reception going to be like?
And when he tells them he’s not related to any Hispanic people, he doesn’t speak Spanish, he’s never been south of Missouri – that he’s just some white guy from Illinois – will the reply be “well you checked the box, so sure”? Or will it be some mix of laughter and maybe something along the lines of “shut up, cracker”?
It’s wild to me we’re going back and forth over something as easily observable as “people will assign you a race and not everyone can change that perception.”
“people will assign you a race and not everyone can change that perception.”
What back and forth? I never said “EVERYONE” can change that perception, I’ve literally stated three times in this thread dark skinned black people cannot do that, also that hypothetical Illinois patty of yours could have maintained the perception if he hadn’t hypnotically opened his mouth and told all those hypothetical Hispanics (none of whom are hypothetically white) that he wasn’t Hispanic, again showing that in real life this stuff is more about perception than folks looking like this or looking like that
Some white people say “yeah kind of sucks to be insulted for being white.” You ask them why they identify with whiteness. They say they don’t, and they realize race is bullshit, but most of society treats them as white and calls them white anyway.
I don’t see any way to dispute that last part. How most people treat you certainly doesn’t change because you can check a different box on a form.
Well I’d dispute it by telling them to get over it, because society doesn’t treat people “as white”, like it’s some sort of burden placed on people who identify with whiteness, on the otherhand society does treat people “as non-white” when they don’t pass, that’s a different story
Most of the time white people say “I’m not white, I’m ________,” they are justifiably clowned on. If a white guy from middle Illinois checks “Hispanic white” on the census and then goes to a Hispanic community saying he’s Hispanic, what’s the reception going to be like?
Usually it’s “I’m not just American, I’m ________” and then they get justifiably clowned on, but that’s because Americans think genes make culture
“According to the 2010 US Census, 52.8% of Mexican Americans (approximately 16,794,111 people) self-identified as being White.” They’d probably assume he was someone’s relative?
And when he tells them he’s not related to any Hispanic people, he doesn’t speak Spanish, he’s never been south of Missouri – that he’s just some white guy from Illinois – will the reply be “well you checked the box, so sure”? Or will it be some mix of laughter and maybe something along the lines of “shut up, cracker”?
It’s wild to me we’re going back and forth over something as easily observable as “people will assign you a race and not everyone can change that perception.”
Some white people say “yeah kind of sucks to be insulted for being white.” You ask them why they identify with whiteness. They say they don’t, and they realize race is bullshit, but most of society treats them as white and calls them white anyway.
I don’t see any way to dispute that last part. How most people treat you certainly doesn’t change because you can check a different box on a form.
Well I’d dispute it by telling them to get over it, because society doesn’t treat people “as white”, like it’s some sort of burden placed on people who identify with whiteness, on the otherhand society does treat people “as non-white” when they don’t pass, that’s a different story