The idea of being white is the idea that you're skin color determines your status in society — Marchesk
↪Marchesk Nah. The idea of being white is the idea of roughly being from Europe ancestrally. — The Great Whatever
It's not the idea of ethnic origins, of which there are many in Europe, it's the idea of race that is the issue. — Marchesk
The "evilness" of white people is a description of how social relations have been expressed in our societies more or less since colonialism and after. — TheWillowOfDarkness
This is why some people say "white people can't be subject to racism" in the West. Not because people of the white ethnic group cannot be discriminated against, but because the don't live is a society which defines their ethnic identity as a second class citizen. — TheWillowOfDarkness
The idea of being white, brown, black, red, or yellow stem from a belief of racial superiority and inferiority, — Marchesk
You are right that (white)Western liberal culture views people without identity. The "free" everyman who's distinctions don't matter is the defining idea of the classical liberalism our culture has grown out of. — TheWillowOfDarkness
No, it stems from the fact that people come from different places and look different ways based on where they come from. There would still be white, black, etc. people whether or not this were used to attribute superiority or inferiority. — The Great Whatever
But there wouldn't be white, black , etc racial categories. Those were invented during the colonial era. There is no scientific evidence for a "white" race, anymore than there is for a "red" or "yellow" one. In fact, it's absurd on the face of it. Were Eskimos, Cherokee and tribes from the Amazon all part of one "redskin" race? Are Hindus "yellow"? Are Native Siberians? — Marchesk
Anyway, science has disavowed the notion of race. There is one species of homo sapien consisting of many ethnic groups, none of which are white, black or brown, or any other color, although the amount of skin pigmentation, eye color, kinds of hair follicles, nose size, average height, etc all vary amongst them. — Marchesk
Okay, so how is that different from race? If you don't want to use the word 'race' for political reasons, whatever. — The Great Whatever
So you're denying that people who descended from European ancestors are part of a group? What do you mean by 'racial group,' and how does that differ from 'ethnic group?' — The Great Whatever
1) There are different groups of people who originated in different parts of the world.
2) These groups of people, due to breeding with those close to them, have differing physical features that are easily recognizable.
3) These groups are all different form each other, but they are more different from those who originated yet farther away from them.
4) One's belonging to one of these groups has serious implications for the sort of identity politics one can engage in, in the Western World. — The Great Whatever
3). Does the science back this up? Are you sure that any given Scandinavia is more similar genetically to any Frenchman than a Korean? — Marchesk
Yes, by and large, European people have a common genetic ancestry in virtue of originating from the same continent. This does not mean that they are all the same, or that all Africans are the same, or anything like that. — The Great Whatever
Race and ethnicity are both categories or discourse — TheWillowOfDarkness
Does it mean that ethnicity is literally somehow made out of words or constituted by discourse? — The Great Whatever
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