Pioneer1

Sara Many lesbians aren't offended by the word dyke, either. However, if one wants to be politically correct - as you appeared to be with your comment chiding my use of the word - according to GLADD, the "official" gay organization, homosexual is as offensive as dyke. As such, I return the "chide" - stop calling Gay people "homosexuals." I wouldn't exactly call it "chiding"..... Just making you aware just incase you use the term without knowing it's considered deragatory. I wasn't offended by it and as far as I'm concerned you can keep on using it. I could care less whether "many" lesbians are offended by the term or not. I've heard gay men call eachother "fag", but I won't do it because I know it's deragatory. As far as I'm concerned people can call themselves what they want, but just because they have the right to do it....doesn't make the behavior proper. I say the word "nicca" all day long, but I better not hear a White man say it....lol. 　 Cynique First "race" has been declared nonexistent, but the word racism is still a major part of the vocabulary of those who assert this. Now, "homosexuality" has been designated an offensive word by those who can't yell "homophobe" quick enough if somebody dares to question their lifestyle. Same-sexers want it both ways, apparently. ROTFLOL. Suck it in, Sara LOL.....Cynique, why you keep messing with that girl? I'm beginning to think you're doing it out of boredom. My views on homosexuality have changed quite a bit over the years. I used to think it was a major sin that Black people "caught" from Whites. Then I thought people who were homosexual were just "confused". That's because I was looking at things from a religious/biblical point of view. When I started looking at things from a scientific (experience/observation) based point of view as well as doing historical research on the roles of men and women in various societies I started accepting it as a natural form of human sexuality. I still don't KNOW if it's "right" or "wrong" morally, but until God actually makes it clear to me that it's wrong, I no longer condemn it.

Sara Homosexual is a scientific term. I haven't met any homosexuals who were offended by it....lol. It would be like me taking offense to being called a "male". "Don't call me a MALE.....I'm a GUY....I'm a FELLOW!!!!" In truth, I haven't met many lesbians who were offended by the term "dyke" either....but I had better sense than to use that word around them, LOL. The terms lesbian (for women) and gay (for men) are just colloquial terms; common usage for the more scientific "homosexual". BTW.....the term "lesbian" originally came from the Greek island of "Lesbos" which was said to be ruled by women in antiquity.

Thanx for the links. I didn't read anything about lead poisoning in them, perhaps I overlooked it. Although I like what the brothers are doing and I believe Louis Farrakhan last year asked for 10,000 Black men to stand up and secure their communities things aren't quite as simple as stomping into the ghetto and busting heads. A lot of our brothers mean well and they are so frustrated with the madness going on in the hood and the seeming ineffectiveness of the police that they impulsively rush to take action. But first of all a lot of these brothers have undisagnosed psychiatric issues as a RESULT of lead poisoning, poor diet, and other causes that are beyond their ability to control. Simply trying to reason with them or threatening them with disciplinary violence is often counter productive as their problem may be one require medical treatment. Second, a lot of community organizations go after drug dealers and dope houses. I understand why, but unless we're coming with ALTERNATIVES to selling dope....like providing them with well paying jobs that allow them to live decently in society, we're just taking away the one thing that's keeping them from robbing old ladies in the street. And then you have the whole sexual issue concerning what is and isn't appropriate to say to a women on the street. So I know there is an emergency situation going on in a lot of communities and I'm glad you were able to have some success down in NOLA and make an impact in the community but we must make sure the brothers are properly trained so that they don't make situations worse.

Sara Which just goes to show - all Lesbians aren't dykes. ???? Not sure if you meant "butch"....meaning a masculine acting lesbian. Dyke is a slang/derogatory word for lesbians in general regardless of their gender role.

I would look at it from the opposite end..... If I were a well educated Black woman or man with considerable wealth, I'd be pretty offended that the media tends to ignore people like me, but every night they're doing a story on felons who commit heinous crimes upon early release. Tonight's story features Tyrone with only 2 teeth and Jamal with dookie-braids, both were born and raised in East St. Louis and neither can speak English. On top of that, regardless as to how many Blacks are being vicimized most of the victims they show on television tend to be WHITE anyway. We know that most criminals and victims are of the same race but you wouldn't know that watching the U.S. media. Usually if the victim is Black....the most they'll show is their mother crying and being held back. But if the victim is White....they'll dig up 40 year old prom pictures and other endearing photos and mention the 2 years the victim may have spent in the Peace Corp just to draw sympathy from the viewing audience.

That's interesting........... Although I don't recall her coming right out and saying it, for some reason I thought Alice Walker was homosexual. The sister has a wonderful spirit BTW. I went to hear her speak a few years ago and was amazed at how calming her presence was over the entire audience. Not quite what I expected after years of reading some of her work, lol. I expected to see some loud sister with an Afro to come stomping on stage bashing men in a gravelly voice. Instead this cute little woman with dimples and dreads comes out with a very feminine demeanor speaking in a soft voice.

Troy @Pioneer1 exactly. This is one reason I stopped reading the New York Times. They have this bad habit of "reporting" on social problems as if they are only Black problems. You would never think white people have problems with poverty, murder, obesity, crime, teen pregnancy, drugs, education, or marriage, because they usually show Black people in these situations. Further you would have a reason to believe Black people are capable of anything important, because they virtually never report on anything positive that Black people do. Journalists tend to be experts at manipulating the public and putting images in their minds through fear and coded language. When you hear the word "thug"....an image pops into your mind. When you hear the word "terrorist"...another image pops into your mind. Just like the 80s when you heard "welfare queen".....an image popped into your mind. For over a decade, many in right-wing media sources have been using the word "thug" to identify Black suspects to the viewer/reader without overtly calling them such, but as thug is starting to lose it's appeal... -And Thug Appeal shouldn't be confused with Thug's Passion (Cristal + Alaze)- ....now the new code word the media is using is "felon" to identify the suspect as a Black male. For all practical purposes they don't even review books written by Black people. For all of these reasons, we have to support independent Black Press, so find a newspaper, and pay for a subscription. Well this answers your argument a while back about why so many things in America have to be seen through a racial lense. If institutions operated by the current majority in this nation gave everyone their due credit, there would be no need for people to have "Black Awards Shows" and "Black film festivals" However I'll be the first to admit that the biggest threat to the Black press isn't racism, but the lack of desire for..and in some cases lack of ability to comprehend...serious journalism in much of their targeted Black audience. Unfortunatly too many of our people would rather be ENTERTAINED than informed, so sensationalism and tabloid type journalism seems to be more attractive then the hard core informative type.

The purpose of the news...like much of the media...is not only to make money but to perpetuate progaganda, especially of a social or political nature. Every news organization whether it's television, radio, paper, or on-line has an "editor". The editing department...much like the Prosecutor's office for a district....gets to decide what makes the news and what doesn't and how it's presented. Chicago....like Atlanta...has some of the most educated and wealthy Black people in this nation and is one of the few cities that can boast majority Black wealthy neighborhoods like South Lake Shore and a few others.....but you'd never know this watching the national media's portrayal of Black Chicago. Like reporting suicides, when they constantly show homicides on television over and over again they contribute to the murder rate going up by de-valuing Black life and desensitizing the public to the death of Black people.

I find it interesting that in a nation that prides itself in declaring everyone innocent until PROVEN guilty in court of law....the names and pictures of crime suspects are routinely displayed all over the screens and papers of the local and national media. This is especially the case if the suspect is an AfroAmerican or dark Latino. Black man is SUSPECTED of killing 3 people and you have a picture of him in braids and a white t-shirt looking crazy all over Fox(whatever local affiliate) White man is CONFIRMED to have killed his wife, 5 kids, and the family dog before turning the gun on himself and burning down the damn house and you have to check 4 or 5 media sources just to find out what race the man was. We should really investigate the role the media is playing in the seemingly escalating rates of violence in so many cities today and how they seem to over report and sensationalize these acts of violence. Like most cities, the murder rate in Chicago was dropping steadily right up until the media started hyping up almost every violent weekend and bringing it before a national audience a couple years ago and now it's sky rocketing again. And silly movies like "Chiraq" ain't helping. It's a fact known to most journalists that suicides are rarely reported in the media out of concern that reporting on it too much may ENCOURAGE suicidal people to attempt suicide themselves. Well hell.....why can't they take the same approach to reporting homicides?

During the '08 election, I was actually for Hillary over Obama because I figured she'd be a stronger fighter against the right wing agenda. I knew if Obama got into office he'd be doing just what he's been doing, negotiating and letting Republicans play him for a punk. He's too "smart" and not tough enough. Almost everything he's done up until this point has been for the benefit of the Republicans. The healthcare bill was a give away to the insurance companies. He upgraded the so-called "War on Terror" that the Republicans started. Republican Governors literally getting away with murder. And it seems as if there has been more police brutality under his watch than under George W.'s. But there is still time for him to make thing right. However at this point, I don't trust ANY of those running for office because none of them are talking about implimenting things that would REALLY help this nation like Universal Healthcare, free and improved education, more blue-collar jobs, and building new cities from the ground up like WE'RE trying to do at newflint.org. The current leaders have no vision, that's apparent.

And it don't stop................ NEWARK, N.J. — Elevated levels of lead caused officials in New Jersey's largest school district on Wednesday to shut off water fountains at 30 school buildings until more tests are conducted, officials said.... http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/lead-fears-in-water-at-30-newark-schools/ar-AAgAcMp?ocid=ansmsnnews11

Well....... The fact is, too many of our people are dumber and uglier than they really SHOULD be. We should be trying to IMPROVE ourselves instead of trying to divert attention away from the problem by making it an "American problem" or pointing at White people and what they're going through. It's not simply being fat that I'm taking issue with because I've found more heavy women attractive than I've found skinny women. It's the OBESITY along with terrible skin and other health problems (both physical and mental) so many of our people are suffering from that need to be addressed....not embraced. This is an attractive FAT woman: This is an OBESE woman: There is a clear difference between the bodies of these 2 women. It's not just the amount of weight, but the texture of skin and the proportions are also different. We know that most Black women's bodies tend to be made slightly different than most White women's bodies, but some are using this fact as an excuse to let our girls blow up like balloons. Then turn around and jump on Black men for not loving them the "way they are". It's the same for Black men BTW..... Noooo, I'm not gonna sit up here and just pick on my sisters. Too many of our brothers are seen staggering around the streets of America fat, sloppy, toothless, with dry ashy faces and elbows. Go to the suburbs and the White man is our running with his shirt off and a band around his harm. Go the 'hood and whatever the Black man is doing...chances are he's SITTING DOWN doing it. I'm so glad I had an opportunity to go to Europe years ago and see beautiful Black men and women who were WELL DRESSED. Most of them were African or Carribean and stuck to thier native diet even though they may have lived in England or France, and these people were so attractive and hooked up they looked like they stepped out of a fashion magazine. Nobody's perfect, but we need to start taking much more responsibility for our health, our looks, our minds, and especially our souls.

MOST older cities are being poisoned, not just Flint. The spot light was on Flint because the corrosive water started melting the rust off the pipes and turning it strange colors and THAT'S when tests were done and the high levels of lead were founded. But after they switched back to Detroit's system, the water is clear but the lead levels are STILL as high as ever....which means they were being poisoned years before the initial switch. As I've been pointing out in another thread, they are finding extremely high levels of lead in multiple cities all across this nation....some are higher than Flints! This is a nation wide problem.

I'm glad that there are so many shows and movies being produced to continuously remind the world of one of the biggest crimes in human history..... But I also have to wonder, when will LATIN AMERICAN television and film producers start spinning out movies about slavery in South America, Central America, and the Carribean islands? The majority of slaves WERE NOT brought to the United States but to Latin America, why are the French, Portuguese, and Spanish being left off the hook?

Guest Wilson.... Guess What.... You can refuse to believe cigarettes are responsible for lung cancer, but science still says otherwise. Your denial has no bearing on reality. Whites, Asian, and HIspanics ARE NOT drinking the same water as "we" do becauase all of "us" aren't drinking the same water ourselves. The water supplies differ from region to region and even when people are drinking water from the same supply the plumbing in the poorer neighborhoods produce more lead and other contaminants in the drinking water. .....and guess/t Wilson...guess who predominates in the poorer neighborhoods? Finally, who said Whites and Hispanics AREN'T experiencing the same difficulties? I've lived in White and Hispanic neighborhoods all over this nation and poor Whites and Hispanics are suffering from gun violence, suicide, drug addiction, high rates of domestic violence, high rates of mental illness, gangs, and everything else.

Troy and Chasitie It's not so much ME that's fixed on outward appearance, but it's this society in general. And our children need to learn how to COMPETE with other people in this game of life so that they will be successful. I actually expected to see some sort of picture of the young lady when I clicked on the link but didn't see one. But my post wasn't really focused on this young lady specificaly, it was more of a rant on the general condition of so many of our young people. Like I've said before, I'm not the best looking man myself. I'm aware that looks aren't the most important part of a person's make up...but they do play are large role in how others perceive you and to tell our young people and especially our young women otherwise is just setting them up for failure. I'm well aware that the definitions of obesity is often unreliable because bone structure and density tend to differ among the races, but hell....when you have an 11 year old girl walking down the street weighing 280 pounds with so much fat and cellulite on her thighs she looks like a sack of sweet potatoes walking on two feet, that ain't some "false standard of beauty" telling you something is wrong....that's common sense. The biggest problem young Black women face isn't some skinny White woman on televison doing yoga and trying to imitate her. The biggest problem is the self-destructive lifestyle and dietary habits that disfigure so many of our youth even before adulthhood and make them slow not only physically but mentally. And then telling them to be PROUD of it and accept it and love yourself! Understand what I'm saying...... It's not about beating up on people for things they can't help like a deformity or accident. I was ranting about this movement that allows Black youth to eat all types of garbage, not exercise and get their lazy behinds off the couch or off instagram....and tell them they are fine just the way they are. The entire world may see an AfroAmerican President on television, but when they come here they also see some of the fattest laziest SLOPPIEST negroes they ever layed eyes on. I have a cousin who's so fat and lazy he can't keep his eyes open when he's talking to you. I've never been lazy but I used to be fat (40% body fat) in my younger days but decided to eat right and exercise in order to lose weight and impress a woman I was working with who turned out to be a straight up NUT and I had to leave her alone. But I loved how that change made me feel and I maintained the habit to this day. It's the responsibility of the parents and teachers to prepare the child to be SUCCESSFUL in society, not lie to them or be "nice" to them. They need to learn how to discipline themselves and eat properly and get the proper exercise so that they can improve their academics, their physical appearance, the way they talk, dress, ect...and effectively compete with others around the world. Cynique Yes, I was being honest. My love for young people and desire to see them successful in the competiton of life is much stronger than my desire to be "nice" to them so they can silently fail....lol. I talk to them all the time and I know how hurt many of these young sisters are at the seeming appearance that Black boys don't show them the love and adoration that they see White men showing White women in the movies and often in real life. It hurts them to their core and the last thing they need is somebody lying to them about how they can be fat, ungroomed, and loud....and if someone doesn't like it then it's "their" problem. I tell my young sisters the truth, and many don't like it but so many have come back to me a year or 2 later and couldn't stop thanking me and offering to buy me things because I was honest and gave them the best advice all the other men they knew wouldn't. 　 The Nation of Islam produced some very beautiful Black men and women back in the 60s and 70s who didn't look their age because Elijah Muhammad used to make his followers obey a strict diet that was good for Black people avoiding pork, alcohol, cigarettes, and many animal flesh and bi-products. Scholars and historians for centuries if not millenia have commented on the strength, form, and beauty of African men and women. We are indeed among the best looking when we EAT PROPERLY based on our genetics (low animal fat, low starch, mostly fruit) and live an appropriate lifestyle. But it starts with truth, and an honest look at ourselves and what the problem is.

At one point during the recent Democratic Presidential Debate, Hilary Clinton said that lead levels in Cleveland Ohio actually tested higher than in Flint (still 5 times higher than what is considered normal) ! So what does that mean? It means that urban areas all over the nation are suffering from the effects of lead poisoning. Something tells me what we're hearing so far is just the TIP of the iceberg.

I have a few points to make on this topic that I'm sure many may not like but they must be said for the sake of our youth..... First, the fact is, some people ARE physically unattractive. It's an unfortunate fact, but a fact none the less. I'm not the MOST attractive person on the planet, so I'm not saying this to talk down on anyone else, but I believe in being honest with our youth. To tell them that they are the most beautiful person in the world when you KNOW they are not. is just setting them up for a life of disappointment and confusion. That's not love. Nor is it being kind. It's delayed cruelty. It's like telling a person who you know is on the slow side that they are smart and encouraging them to go to school to be a lawyer or scientist. If you love them, tell them the truth in a kind way to save them from further hurt and humiliation. Not that a less physically attractive person can't be successful in life, but they may not have the advantage in certain professions or personal relationships that a very attractive person may have automatically. Second, we know that not only is beauty in the eyes of the beholder, but the standards also change from time to time and from society to society. In this society White women have been hoisted up as the ideal standards of beauty and this concept has ruined the self esteem of most Black girls in the United States and all over the Western world. Especially dark skinned Black girls. Many have suffered psychological torture from society at large and much of it from other Black people for being dark skinned or having big noses or big lips and other African features that this society calls "ugly" or unattractive. Black girls, especially darker skinned girls with more "African" features should be portrayed in a more positive light. We saw this in the 60s and 70s and it had a tremendous effect on raising the self esteem of a lot of our people both male and female. Third, the poor diet of so many of our children DOES infact make many of them out of shape and grotesque with a terrible figure and terrible skin. I remember as a kid most Black boys were skinny with well defined muscles and six-packs. Most Black girls were on the heavy side, but still shapely with nice wide hips and a narrow waiste. Now when you go to a lot of inner city schools it's hard to tell the boys from the girls. Both of them are very obese at a young age with round puffy faces and no "shape" to their bodies to distiguish the boys from the girls. Some of the boys have breasts. Many have stretchmarks in their early teens, asthma, diabetes, and other health issues that go along with being overweight. I drive through White neighborhoods and it seems like ALL of them from young to old are out jogging with their shirts off showing off their six-packs! I'm thinking to myself.....ok, when did all of this running and jogging start??? Along with obseity, many of our youth have dry ashy skin, dry brittle hair with no luster, and other physical issues that are not seen among Blacks in other parts of the world. Something is actually happening to our children and I'm not sure if it's the result of the diet alone or perhaps medications that many are taking, but there is a NOTICABLE change in the physical and mental characteristics of Black youth today as compared to a couple generations ago. And with all this lead and other toxins they're finding in the water, there's no telling how that's contributing to the problems too. This shouldn't just be ignored or normalized. There is an effort on the part of some to encourage your young people to "embrace" these problems and be proud of themselves. But you shouldn't embrace a dysfunctional and unhealthy body, you have to recognize it as a PROBLEM and do something about it. Now with all that said, it's important that young Black boys and girls be properly EDUCATED as to what constitutes healthy Black physical characteristics (kinky hair, wide hips, wide nose, ect...) so they can distiguish this from unhealthy characteristics like dry brittle hair, obesity, dry flakey skin, ect....and DO SOMETHING to correct these faults like proper diet, exercise, using the correct make-up for their skin. Like Malcolm X said, I know some of you don't like my saying this. You want to hear people say EVERYBODY IS BEAUTIFUL. But we all know this is just not the case. I LOVE my young brothers and sisters too much to give them ear candy and tell them what they WANT to hear knowing that it will only set them up for a life of disappointment and failure.

I've mentioned before that because most AfroAmericans have White and Native American ancestry, even when we produce children with Whites the offspring still aren't exactly half because we aren't fully Black ourselves. Which is one of the reason a racially mixed WEB Dubois whom America called "Black" still came out looking more White than Black. Him and Vladimir Lenin look like they could be brothers...lol

Troy A good example would be: Abolition Slavery was primarily an economic institution in the South that not only exploited Blacks but there were White and Native Americans slaves as well. However not enough Whtie men were enslaved for the White population at large to take notice and see it for the evil it was. Since Blacks were the predominant victims of it, Abolutionists made the wise decision to not only make it a "human" or moral issue but a RACIAL issue with morality at the center of it. Now you're right, many White men are harassed and beat up by the cops too. But unlike the 60s where White males and females tended to protest everything, today in this post-Reagan era most White men have been taught not to complain about their problems. They have been taught that it's not manly, it's what women or "nigggers" do....playing the victim. They are taught to deal with their problems individually or to blame themselves. So because of this as well as the fact that the predominant victims of police abuse tend to be Black and Brown, even when a White man IS a victim he often times doesn't see himself as one. Far more White men are killed by police than White women, but when was the last time you saw a crowd with more White men than White women marching against police brutality? But I THINK I may understand the point you're trying to get across to me about labling everything with racial overtones, because it's one I grapple with from time to time. If I'm reading you correctly, your point is why is there such a need for Black people to lable things "Black" this or "Black" that when Whites aren't doing it. Why does it have to be BET, Whites don't have to call it WET they can call it NBC or ABC and do just as good? Why does it have to be a Black forum or Black magazine, we can't we just call it a magazine and let Black people and whoever come? Why does housing, crime, and other issues have to be about race...why can't they just be issue ALL citizens should be concerned about? Before I go any further with my explanation, am I correct in my understanding?

Studies link childhood lead exposure, violent crime June 6, 2015 9:31 am After growing up poor in a predominantly African-American neighborhood of Cincinnati, the young adults had reached their early 20s. One by one, they passed through an MRI machine that displayed their brains in sharp, cross-sectioned images. For those who had been exposed to lead as toddlers, even in small amounts, the scans revealed changes that were subtle, permanent and devastating. The toxic metal had robbed them of gray matter in the parts of the brain that enable people to pay attention, regulate emotions and control impulses. Lead also had scrambled the production of white matter that transmits signals between different parts of the brain, largely by mimicking calcium, an element that plays a critical role in brain development. Scars left by lead have had significant consequences for the study participants and their communities. As children, they struggled in school more than those who had not been exposed. As teens, they committed crimes more frequently, University of Cincinnati researchers reported Last month, a Tribune investigation found that lead hazards are festering in the same parts of Chicago that have given the city a national reputation for violence and academic failure. In impoverished, crime-ridden neighborhoods like Austin, Englewood and Lawndale, more than 80 percent of the children tested in 1995 had dangerous lead levels. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-lead-poisoning-science-met-20150605-story.html * Take a look at the DATE of this article, it was before the current lead crisis being exposed in Flint and other cities.

Troy You're looking at the negatives of racial classification, and there are many. However there are some important positive aspects of it. I've heard from many AfroLatinos from Latin American nations like Peru, Columbia, Nicaragua, and elsewhere where racism is rampant that one of the biggest problems they have is articulating their problems. See, in many Latin American nations "race" doesn't exist either. ALL people are considered "Latinos" despite how they look. Although they may recognize various shades, they don't recognize racial terms like Black or White. So when AfroLatinos become angry over the lack of "Black" representation in positions of authority, on the police force, in the media, ect....because race doesn't "exist", they don't know how to structure a complaint to bring it to attention. It's not until they get to the United States where the identities are more clear, that they find the language to articulate their frustration. So you see, it can work both ways....for bad and good.

Sara Joy Behar has "kinky" hair because despite her last named from being married to a Jewish man, she's actually of ITALIAN background. And most Italians in the United States are descended from Southern Italians who themselves have a lot of African and Arab ancestry. This is why so many have darker skin, kinky hair, big noses, and other features that may be considered "non-White". But still, her Caucasian features predominate. Joy is a WHITE WOMAN....nappy hair and all, lol. Which is why 85% of African-Americans are bi- and some of us, tri-racial. I would urge you to think about it this way -- mulattoes are always talking about they shouldn't have to "choose" one racial designation over another, that they shouldn't be asked to "deny" their mothers (usually). And yet, and yet, by appropriating the term bi-racial for themselves, they deny 85% of all African-Americans of THEIR "mixed" heritage! You make a great point. Especially acknowledging that most AfroAmericans have Native American ancestry. But I've addressed it several times already. This is where OPINION comes in, and my OPINION is if your Black ancestry predominates then you can be considered Black despite your background. It's the same for if your White ancestry predominates, you can call yourself White. We have to draw the line somewhere. I mean, if we are willing to go as far as to call ALL Black people with any White/Native Ancestry as non-Black, then we may as well go just as far the other way and grab ALL Italians, French, Greeks, Spaniards, Macedonians, and many other Europeans and stamp the label "non White" on their foreheads like Ash Wednesday as well for the Black and Arab ancestry most of them have.

Troy Nationality is a well defined technical term, no argument there. I think what you describe as Ethnicity is more accurately described as Culture. Throwing in the racial (physical appearance) aspect muddies the water. People can look very different and be part of the same culture. This is true. I actually started to say this, but decided to wait until later on in the conversation so as not to confuse people by adding too many possibilities inside the concept and risk confusing people. Ethnicity I think is probably the most confusion category because it involves and can exclude a large number of variables. But like you said, it's largely about culture. You have Jews who are White, and Jews who are Black. But you also have Jews who are atheist....so why are they still considered Jewish? AfroAmericans may look all kinds of ways, and may not even be Black. Hispanic is also a culture made up of different races, and many Hispanics can barely speak Spanish. As far as Race is concerned, I know what you are saying and would have agreed with you in the past. However, a few years ago I began stopping myself from thinking of humans in terms of racial categories. The term were devised to put us at the bottom, and only serve to perpetuate stereotypes. Upon further contemplation I can not think of a single good reason to continue using the concept of race, so I don't unless I'm communicating with someone who only understands the world in those terms. Well, brother T-Roy...YOU may not look at things from a racial lense....but trust me the POLICE still do. Law enforcement agencies are very aware of the concept of race in America and they are quick to label a suspect as "Black male" or "Hispanic male" or "Middle Eastern". They have no problem using these terms when they call other officers, and those officers responding seem to show little confusion in their understanding, LOL. My point is, race is a reality in America whether we want to acknowledge it or not. The "AA" in this site's acronym stands for African American, is that not a term with racial connotations? Our best bet as AfroAmericans is to start defining ourselves instead of sitting back and allowing others to do so.....because they WILL do so if we neglect our duty to define ourselves. If we stopped looking at things in terms of race, how would we be able to justify any claims of "racism"? Cynique I remember reading books where the Native Americans were considere Mongoloids like the Chinese and Koreans. I can see reasoning in this when I look at the so-called Eskimos of Alaska, but when I look at the darker skinned Mayan and Aztecs who look NOTHING like Koreans or Japanese...it makes sense that they should be in their own category. I actually think that a lot of Mongoloids actually came overhere thousands of years ago by way of the Bering Strait and intermixed with the Natives as they old theory goes, which is why a lot of Inuit people have an "Asian" appearance and it probably led to that erroneous classification. But those genes didn't trickle down to the rest of the Native American population of the Americas.

Race Race is based strictly on physical characteristics and genes. African , Caucasian, Native American, ect.....(there are other races) Ethnicity Ethnic grouping involves SOME race, but for the most part it involves shared history, religion, diet, language, social customs, ect..... AfroAmerican, Jewish, Arab, ect.... Nationality Nationality is basically what nation you were born in or in some cases depending on the laws, what country your parents were born in. Canadian (born in Canada), French (born in France), Nigerian (born in Nigeria)..... I'd personally put "tribes" in this category. Hausa, Fulani, Aztec, Choctaw, Cherokee, Zulu, Flemish, Scottish, ect.....because these tribes were all "nations" with their own lands at one point. It's important that AfroAmericans know the difference between these categories so that we aren't manipulated or tricked into believing that we have made more progress than we actually have.