Acting White/Black/Hispanic/etc. How is that defined?

[FlippyD]

I can too. But do you understand how ridiculous it is to live in a world where THIS makes headline news during a war? I didnt say they were completely in the right or anything, they are stupid college kids as mentioned. What bothers me is that little things like this are suddenly an outrage that shakes the nation and it just seems silly even for a slow news day(which dont exist anymore).

1.) I wouldn't count this as "wartime." I'd count it as the US government having a field day blasting around smaller countries for shits, giggles and oil.

2.) It's considered "big news" because it'll get ratings. It isn't that serious an issue, but it is an easy story to spin just to get a few more eyes glued to the screen.

3.) Slow news days do exist. Most days, are slow days. They just amp up whatever insignificant event happens and purports it as the scoop of the century.

 

[macchia]

Its only a slow news day if you're willingly deflecting from the horrible crime problem in New Orleans, the dozens of people dieing a day in Bagdad, the Scooter Libby trial, the skydive murder mystery, the presidential bids, and the Narfur problem. I beg to differ. There's always something geniunely relevent to talk about on the news. There are only 'slow entertainment' days, the kinds of frivelous issues that can be conceived and resolved in a couple of news days. Stuff like this that doesnt matter, that frankly propetuations a generation of victims and pussies and pseudo fascists where nobody loses but nobody really wins either and everyone gets a trophy(I dont like the new generation). It might sound like hyperbole from an op-ed whiner(and it kind of is) but I think stuff like this builds up, and we'll see the dire results in the generation after ours.

 

[FlippyD]

Its only a slow news day if you're willingly deflecting from the horrible crime problem in New Orleans, the dozens of people dieing a day in Bagdad, the Scooter Libby trial, the skydive murder mystery, the presidential bids, and the Narfur problem. I beg to differ. There's always something geniunely relevent to talk about on the news. There are only 'slow entertainment' days, the kinds of frivelous issues that can be conceived and resolved in a couple of news days. Stuff like this that doesnt matter, that frankly propetuations a generation of victims and pussies and pseudo fascists where nobody loses but nobody really wins either and everyone gets a trophy(I dont like the new generation). It might sound like hyperbole from an op-ed whiner(and it kind of is) but I think stuff like this builds up, and we'll see the dire results in the generation after ours.

But issues like those happen in regular occurance, and it's not like as soon as the news was invented bad shit started going down across the planet-face. No, we just started to notice how many terrible things can happen simultaneously. Besides, when I sit down to look at the news there's always a few stories that are pretty small-time and are hyped up for more ratings. The TV news is an entertainment business (print news much less so.)

With all of this "stuff" to talk about, yes, by default there are no slow news days. I'm talking about slow news in relation to television news. Besides, the article was featured in the Smoking Gun. If it was in the NYT or Chicago Trib then maybe I'd agree with your point a little more.

 

[Z-Row]

when a brutha tells you to stop bein sucha cracka, he be talkin bout you bein a propa lil biatch.

when i tell my white friend to stop acting black, im really telling him to speak properly, and stop trying to be a "gangsta" when he lives in a cul-de-sac.

when someone tells you to stop acting asian, they really mean you put way too much money into your honda civic, and it looks really stupid. i.e. a ricer, or a rice mobile.

 

[FlippyD]

when a brutha tells you to stop bein sucha cracka, he be talkin bout you bein a propa lil biatch.

when i tell my white friend to stop acting black, im really telling him to speak properly, and stop trying to be a "gangsta" when he lives in a cul-de-sac.

when someone tells you to stop acting asian, they really mean you put way too much money into your honda civic, and it looks really stupid. i.e. a ricer, or a rice mobile.

Right, 'cause bein in America obviously means we all take our cultures and keep them locked away behind our DNA. Melting pot? Fuck that, we'll be over here with the Hors d' Deurves.

I totally hate it when some people who don't look like me ('course, none of you monkeys look like me anyways) act like people do in mu sub-culture. It means they're trying to bridge gaps and promote humanitarianism. Fuck those guys, don't they know they can never be as cool as me?

Being mulatto means I can indulge in almost any culture I want, but no, I'm more hardcore than that! I'm going to make my own culture, and if anyone acts, dresses or talks like me I'm gonna shoot off their kneecaps!!

Grr, I'm mad. D:<

 

[Z-Row]

dont be mad at me, thats just how it is.

 

[catalyst]

I'd never heard of acting white or acting asian... though I've gotten annoyed at people who put obvious effort into trying to "be black" in hopes of being cool. I mean, the ones that are raised without the culture or background, and merely attempt to emulate the tone of speech in some sort of futile effort to stand out and draw positive attention. I mean, I don't care if someone is making an honest attempt to integrate into someone else's culture. And sometimes when you're talking to someone, you can slip and fall into their accent. A lot of us who pick up languages easily do it all the time. I just think it's ridiculous to do it just to try and be cool. But then again, I've always thought that doing anything outside of who you are in order to attain some level of "coolness" is absurd.

 

[Minkoff]

Really? 'cause I've always thought the coolest thing you could do was try really hard to be cool.

Anyway. It's one thing to be fake and another to be interested and influenced by a culture other than your own. In the case of what you're talking about (I assume), the really annoying part is that for the most part what they're trying to get into is fucking stupid and not that they're trying to do it in the first place.

 

[Z-Row]

Really? 'cause I've always thought the coolest thing you could do was try really hard to be cool.

Anyway. It's one thing to be fake and another to be interested and influenced by a culture other than your own. In the case of what you're talking about (I assume), the really annoying part is that for the most part what they're trying to get into is fucking stupid and not that they're trying to do it in the first place.

its not that its stupid, its just a bad stereotype that they're trying to fit into the molding of. acting black usually means acting poor as hell, or "ghetto" listening to rap music where they subject matter is "murdering my enemies" drugs, "bitches, ho's and 40's" and things often associated with urban decay.

now honestly, what would you prefer? people try to act "ghetto" ? or people act like people, and we all get on with our lives?

 

[Minkoff]

now honestly, what would you prefer? people try to act "ghetto" ? or people act like people, and we all get on with our lives?

The second, but what I'm saying is that what makes this negative is the fact that the culture itself is the problem, not culture imitation in general.

 

[Junk-Man]

The funny thing about this thread--and the whole idea in general--is that there really is no such thing as acting black, white, asian or whatever. What you see in your everyday lives are individuals--regardless of their color--trying to replicate the image they saw in the media. The color of the person's skin is simply a formality. If they see a rapper on TV with saggy pants, oversized clothes, gold teeth and poor grasp of the English language surrounded by beautiful women and driving a nice car and living it up, those of us who are not confident enough to be ourselves will mimic what we see in the media and die our hair blond, wear oversized, baggy pants and talk like a cave-man in hopes that we to will be surrounded by beautiful women, nice cars and the whole shebang. Frankly, this can be said of anything we see in the media.

 

[FlippyD]

The funny thing about this thread--and the whole idea in general--is that there really is no such thing as acting black, white, asian or whatever. What you see in your everyday lives are individuals--regardless of their color--trying to replicate the image they saw in the media. The color of the person's skin is simply a formality. If they see a rapper on TV with saggy pants, oversized clothes, gold teeth and poor grasp of the English language surrounded by beautiful women and driving a nice car and living it up, those of us who are not confident enough to be ourselves will mimic what we see in the media and die our hair blond, wear oversized, baggy pants and talk like a cave-man in hopes that we to will be surrounded by beautiful women, nice cars and the whole shebang. Frankly, this can be said of anything we see in the media.

And yet the media replicates life. It starts with the people and is perpetuated by the people. The media's influence is just a formality.

 

[Junk-Man]

No. Media attempts to replicate life. I'm pretty sure that if Fitty cent were White, or Hispanic, or Asian, but still popular and everything, we would have the same thing going on.

 

[FlippyD]

No. Media attempts to replicate life. I'm pretty sure that if Fitty cent were White, or Hispanic, or Asian, but still popular and everything, we would have the same thing going on.

Ehh, I wouldn't think so... By the way, you said...

"Media attempts to replicate life"

I said

"The media replicates life."

Unless your emphasis is on the "attempts" umm, why are you arguing with me? (And even then, you're making a moot point. That's like me saying toothpaste comes in a tube and you telling me it comes in a tube in a cardboard box.)

Look, I'll admit right now I don't understand what you're trying to say. The reason Fifty Cent is popular is because he represents an aspect of American culture, and those that engage in that culture enjoy his entertainment. He, and the product that he creates, is an extension and artistic thesis to that culture. That and, the color of his skin is something that wins over the hearts of African-Americans and African-American culture. Black people can emphasize with him because he's black. True, you have some folks like Eminem who can also emphasize, but that's only because he's truly lived in a way that most African-American people also live through.

Your point is very... Bombastic and direct, but your substance carries as much growl as a pop-gun. Sure, perhaps a half-Jewish half-Eskimo woman in her late 60s might, through some twist of fate, come out with material that cliques with a certain racial culture opposite to her own, but that doesn't mean we can rule out the power skin color has in the media and the way we integrate it (and it integrates itself) into our American culture.

 

[Junk-Man]

What I've been trying to say is, that there is no such thing as acting white, black, asian, or other. In fact to make such an accusation would be racist. Its all about image. Some insecure, less confident people attempt to replicate this image in an attempt to be popular. 'nuff said.

Additionally, let me add that I hate it when people pretend to be intellectual.

 

[catalyst]

Wouldn't someone who speaks perfectly good American English suddenly starting to speak broken English in an attempt to mimic someone Chinese be, effectively, acting Chinese? And to add to that, is the recognition of someone doing this being racist, or is the person who is deliberately speaking in this manner for the sake of emulation racist? Or is it both? Indeed, there is such a thing as acting of a different race/culture.

This actually came to mind a few minutes ago, which is the real reason I came back to this thread: African American Vernacular English, which has also been known as ebonics, seems to have remarkable similarities to what I can only think to describe as "mafia thug" talk. Some things I hear in AAVE could easily be translated to something very similar to how you would see a mafia thug speaking. This probably only applies to the most modern variation, or it could be localized to the more "Hollywood" of areas, but it was something that just caught me off guard. Something I head the other day: "Hey dude, don't be hatin' on 'em. This here is my man." I probably don't capture it well, but that's the best I can type it as.

Then thinking about it tonight I got this small thought of, instead of a black guy on the street, some large Italian thug with a deep voice speaking English, "'Ey, don't be hatin' on 'im. This here is my man." It's a little hard to try and describe just by typing it out, I'm afraid. But it was pretty much the same words, just stresses on different words (or parts of words), slightly more enunciated, and with an Italian accent.

 

[FlippyD]

The main issue I see is most people can't tell if you're acting in a different culture for whatever reason or taking on what would be seen as a culture different from your own despite the way you've been raised.

I'm mulatto, but unlike my brother and cousins (some of whom are also mulatto) I don't have a mixed/light skin tone. On first glance most people can't tell what the hell I am really, however because I have dark skin people immediately assume I'd act as black skinned culture dictates. I wasn't raised that way, I was raised in a Chicago suburb by my "white" mother by herself. I've been ostracized by african americans for "acting white", yet I know if I tried to emulate their culture I'd be "acting black." In this situation there's no intermediary, and that's why I think this whole "acting white/black/red/green/ruby/sapphire/diamond/pearl" naming bullshit is stupid. It's just a further excuse to be ignorant and racist across the board.

 

[catalyst]

I get you on that Ixis. Most of the time there's really no telling, and I do hate the people who get on the cases of those such as yourself. I'm more thinking of the blatantly obvious cases, that I swear they were one way the day before, or even the year before, and all of a sudden they're acting like they were born in the ghetto. Even worse when they sound stupid doing it. There's no feeling or culture behind it. And I can understand speaking or being one way with a group, and then differently with another. That rather falls into the adaptability of human nature. I've seen kids who had been saying "Hi" to everyone their entire lives get into rap the first time or start getting into some other aspect of black culture and all of a sudden say, "Hey, what up homies?" and just sound ridiculous.

On the other hand, I also see from a theatrical standpoint that there is such a thing as acting of a different culture. Nothing good or bad about it, it's just something that exists. And it's just the same as acting out a time period. Time periods have a sort of language or dialect all their own. I did tech for a post-civil war play, and it wouldn't have been the same if the slaves were "acting white," for any time period. Just the same, an audience wouldn't respond well to a black rapper who didn't speak... well, the way they do. I can't tell if it counts as AAVE at that point, or if it's become something else.

Is there such a thing as "acting black?" Yes, I think so. Propagated by the media and stereotyped all to hell, but it does exist. Do I think every white boy who acts in that manner is simply "acting black?" No. Is every black person who speaks well-mannered "acting white?" Hell no. I can accept that other races do get raised in other cultures, but the culture of origin will probably always be accepted as that which best suits that race, for some reason. Leaving those of us half-breeds in the dark.

 

[Lene]

I'm angry at the people who buy into these shallow stereotypes and let that dictate behavior in life. I have a friend who is mixed race and lives with his white mother tell me that we were both the same in how we act white. My mind was honestly blown there. Someone tells me that I'm acting white, I tell them I'm acting the way my black, Nigerian parents raised me. That pretty much stops the discussion.

However, luckily I don't come across that crap at college.

 

[FlippyD]

I have to wonder... What's so important about someone adopting a culture that they're not familiar with anyway? Just what about it makes people aggravated? Obviously something these people have experienced has made them want to act in such a way, and if we, as the observer, see error in their behavior, why not educate them?