by Emily Mcbride

Created on: January 23, 2009

The Tangled Roots of Race Perceptions

African-Americans, Hispanic Americans and all the other large, visible minorities can of course simply be American, and they are. They are on their passports, they are when they have to fill in their nationality on official documents. They are when going for a job interview, until they walk into the room and suddenly, visibly, become African-American or Hispanic American again.

While the distinctions between being called simply "American," which frequently means white although you may be only second generation, and "African-American," which likely means black although you're family may have been in America for hundreds of years are racial, they are not always inherently racist. It speaks partly to a severe difference in culture and background. Growing up African-American is not, for most people, the same thing as growing up white American, and the differences are reflected in the terminology. African-Americans and Hispanics come from two cultural groups that are large enough to have a built-in support system, and while they might resent the white Americans who almost inevitably have a bigger slice of the economic pie and many more opportunities in life, they do not identify with them or see themselves in the same light any more than the white Americans do. I recently was looking at a website selling several series of books by the same company, all through separate links. One link turned out to be books "by best-selling African-American authors." Now, do these exist as a separate link because the white readership does not want to read books about African-Americans, or because the African-American readership wants to read exclusively these? Likely it is a combination of the two.

The different racial and cultural labels are often maintained in use because they are useful descriptors. We have all been in the ridiculous situation at one time or another, of trying unsuccessfully to describe someone without a racial adjective, when they would be instantly recognizable with it. "Julie, you know Julie. She has long, black hair and brown eyes The Chinese girl." In an egalitarian and non-judgmental society we are supposed not to see these racial distinctions although we do see that Julie has brown eyes, and there is a good reason for this, as racial descriptors have been used derogatively throughout history. This does not mean that they are automatically derogatory.

In the end, while the labels reinforce these differences, it is not so important to change the labels as to change the attitude. Americans from all racial and cultural groups should mix, it is the only way to defeat the pervasive stereotype of Americans as blonde and white, distinct from "other," or "immigrant" forms of Americans. If Americans mix, they will form close friendships, fall in love, have children, and the colourful and cultural mix that will ensue will defy attempts at categorization and naming.

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