I’m posting this here because i don’t want to get involved in the clusterfuck going on in IP. Simple question; can you make racist statements about Americans and America? In my thinking Americans are not a race and not even close to being a race therefore “seppo-bashing” while likely to offend americans is not per se a racist act…i’ll take the first 6 callers on line three…(this may have been discussed already but life’s too short to wade thru the pages of drivel wasted on the subject; just give me simple opinions)
Yes, Americans are a race.
but doesnt race involve some kind of ethnic homogenity? (is that a word?) i’m just thinking out loud here and dont want to check a dictionary
Does not have to, any people united by common history, language, culture, traits can be considered as one race.
…An extended competition in which participants struggle like runners to be the winner…
Clearly, they’re not a race.
‘Race’ can also be applied to a group, based on nationality, geographical location, sociological order, ethnicity etc.
From a biological point of view there are AFAIK only 4 races (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian).
There are those who refute that point and claim there is only one human race.
So speaking from a non-biological point of view then Americans qualify as race, as do e.g. Red Indians even they are of American nationality (thus one can belong to more than one race).
A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race.
A genealogical line; a lineage.
Humans considered as a group.
Traveller is right.
[quote=“Dangermouse”]A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race.
A genealogical line; a lineage.
Humans considered as a group.
Traveller is right.[/quote]
right according to def. no. 2, yes. but my thinking is that racism per se applies to discrimination based on def. 1 more than def. 2…hence a lot of racist banter focuses on shared physical characteristics of a “race”…
You are so utterly full of it. I challenge you to go to the US and conduct a simple survey on whether Americans (who unlike you are native speakers of the English language and are competent to make a judgement on the meaning of race) consider citizens of their country as one race. It seems that you and Traveller want to define this word in whatever way suits your arguments. Show us some literature that refers to the “American Race.”
yes thats what i’m thinking too. “the american race” does not exist in common speech or writing…
(i fear this thread is going to get acrimonious, shame that)
You are so utterly full of it. I challenge you to go to the US and conduct a simple survey on whether Americans (who unlike you are native speakers of the English language and are competent to make a judgement on the meaning of race) consider citizens of their country as one race. It seems that you and Traveller want to define this word in whatever way suits your arguments. Show us some literature that refers to the “American Race.”[/quote]
Sorry Bear, but just looks like the IP crowd took it over.
JT, Race
Oh, just because it does not suit your definition try not to be a prat and complain that the dictionary link is unsound.
As for literature, i am sure that you will accept TM’s word for it link
Here’s another definition:
Main Entry: race
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, generation, from Old Italian razza
1 : a breeding stock of animals
2 a : a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock b : a class or kind of people unified by community of interests, habits, or characteristics
3 a : an actually or potentially interbreeding group within a species; also : a taxonomic category (as a subspecies) representing such a group b : BREED c : a division of mankind possessing traits that are transmissible by descent and sufficient to characterize it as a distinct human type
4 obsolete : inherited temperament or disposition
5 : distinctive flavor, taste, or strength
I wonder if the broad definition above means that Forumosans are a race? 
Why the hostility, Jive Turkey? Just see some dictionary definitions, e.g. the one posted by smerf.
If Americans consider themselves as race or not might be a different issue, in fact I doubt that Germans today would see themselves as ‘German race’ either.
Why the hostility, Jive Turkey? Just see some dictionary definitions, e.g. the one posted by smerf.
If Americans consider themselves as race or not might be a different issue, in fact I doubt that Germans today would see themselves as ‘German race’ either.[/quote]
Rascal, show me some literature that uses the term “the American race.” A dictionary is only a representation of language. Speakers of a language set the “standards” of a language; a dictionary can only losely represent those standards. Go find “the American race.” Hurry along now. While you’re at it, try to find the Canadian race, the Quebecan race, the Mexican race, the French race and the Welsh race. Your usage of the words “racism” and “race” is absolutely absurd.
Mods, I don’t see why this thread needs to be kept separate from the IP thread.
OK, I think the issue here is not of definitions according to the dictionary, but of the applicable definition in a given case. Not all definitions of a given word fit in all contexts.
Here, I would personally side with bear in that “racism” by definition concerns itself more with the genetic aspect of race than the “shared community” aspect. “Racism” is essentially the belief that different races possess different genetic predispositions.
That’s not to say that Americans can’t be considered a race - clearly that is a valid term - but racism by definition would not apply to this definition of race, simply because this definition is concerned with community rather than genetics. “Racism” against Americans would more accurately be described as prejudice or discrimination, not racism.
Irony at its finest.
Irony at its finest.[/quote]
Consider me stupid, but I don’t see any irony here. Maybe you’ve been listening to too much Alanis Morissette. Please explain yourself.
As an American, I don’t consider Americans to be a race…that would be racist…wouldn’t it? 
Bear, thank you for starting this thread. You are correct, the whole IP forum is far too full of hostility for any serious discussion. Here are a few questions to consider.
Is there such thing as racism? Is it a valid concept?
Is it racist to say, “Damn niggas are all a bunch of criminals on drugs and welfare. We should send them back to Africa.”
Is that a racist remark? Why? Is it racist because it is a broad generalization about a whole class of people, based on their race?
How many races are there? Negroid, caucasoid, mongoloid? Is that correct?
Are Australian aborigines the same race as natives of Kenya?
Are natives of Iceland, Saudi Arabia and Peru all the same race?
What race is a native of Peru anyway?
What about natives of Bangladesh – what race are they? They live in Asia, are they mongoloid, the same as those from Japan?
If a Bangladeshi is a different race from a Japanese, then is a Germanic person a different race from a Nordic or Slavic person? Why or why not?
As for me, I’m not sure how to answer some of the above questions, but I believe racist acts and statements do occur against aborigines, Bangladeshis, Iraqis and Peruvians, so I have trouble seeing why racism is not possible against Germanic people.
In response to Vannyel, that’s a ridiculous statement because Americans are an extremely diverse group of immigrants and are not a homogenous group.