*g* Yes, I agree 'mixed?' definitely comes after 'she's so beautiful!' I'm not actually in SGA fandom, but what I have seen convinces me that I prefer Teyla as a character to Elizabeth (Weir?) by a factor of 100. They should give command of Atlantis to Teyla and then maybe there would be some moral decision making around the place for a change.
Sorry; that was a bit of a digression. But yes, not being in SGA fandom means I've only caught the tail end of these discussions. I totally agree that the idea that there *is* only black, white, and Asian is just, well, ridiculous, and must imply lazy thinking and poor observational skills in the people who hold it.
The Hispanic issue I think comes about simply because Britain has a very different history with Spain than the USA does - so we have no Hispanic/Latino community and no history of prejudice against them. We haven't therefore had to become aware of the fine degrees of difference between criollo and latino and mestizo etc - this is all completely academic stuff to us.
I do agree that some would be considered coloured and some would be considered white, but I'm not sure whether it would depend on language. I suspect that in Britain most Spanish speaking people would be assumed to be Spanish (or of Spanish descent), and therefore white, unless they looked unmistakeably black/native American.
Because this isn't ever something we've had to think about, I think it really is possible for us to look at someone like, I don't know.. Jennifer Lopez? and not doubt for a moment that she's white.
It is a reaction built on ignorance of the specific conditions of racism in the USA, (and I agree that ignorance is not a good thing, and we ought to learn better) but I don't think it's necessarily a simple case of grouping people who are neither black nor Asian as white. It's more a slightly different perception of how to define white, where a certain amount of tan just indicates a Mediterranean white rather than a pasty British/Irish one.
no subject
Sorry; that was a bit of a digression. But yes, not being in SGA fandom means I've only caught the tail end of these discussions. I totally agree that the idea that there *is* only black, white, and Asian is just, well, ridiculous, and must imply lazy thinking and poor observational skills in the people who hold it.
The Hispanic issue I think comes about simply because Britain has a very different history with Spain than the USA does - so we have no Hispanic/Latino community and no history of prejudice against them. We haven't therefore had to become aware of the fine degrees of difference between criollo and latino and mestizo etc - this is all completely academic stuff to us.
I do agree that some would be considered coloured and some would be considered white, but I'm not sure whether it would depend on language. I suspect that in Britain most Spanish speaking people would be assumed to be Spanish (or of Spanish descent), and therefore white, unless they looked unmistakeably black/native American.
Because this isn't ever something we've had to think about, I think it really is possible for us to look at someone like, I don't know.. Jennifer Lopez? and not doubt for a moment that she's white.
It is a reaction built on ignorance of the specific conditions of racism in the USA, (and I agree that ignorance is not a good thing, and we ought to learn better) but I don't think it's necessarily a simple case of grouping people who are neither black nor Asian as white. It's more a slightly different perception of how to define white, where a certain amount of tan just indicates a Mediterranean white rather than a pasty British/Irish one.