Why do people assume an "American" is a white, blonde haired, blue-eyed person?

Question

if Black people, Asian people, Arabs, Latinos are born in the USA then they are all Americans too....so why do people assume "America" is caucasian?

Answer 1

I don't.

Answer 2

I'm not familiar with this stereotype but I haven't spent much time outside of the US. Perhaps part of it is that fact that so many minorities in America insist on segmenting their background. Someone brought it up and it's a good point, there are now Asian Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, etc. etc. Well the majority of my ancestors came from Europe but I have never been to Europe so why call myself "European American"? My cultural background is much closer to the Mexican heritage but I was born and raised in America so why be a "Mexican American"?

"White" people couldn't even get away with catergorizing themselves if we wanted to. Anytime a group of white people try to unite for whatever reason they are required to open their ranks to anyone or be called the KKK. Well, I couldn't join my high school's Black Student Union or Asian Club, if our labels are so strongly associated with our bloodlines (thus the line "The only real American is a Native American") why can't "my people" study their background.

Because of this problem, white people are simply American. Everyone else is xxxxxx-American.

Answer 3

America is caucasian because that's what the people of America make it. If America was so fair, we wouldn't have terms such as majorities and minorities, whites and coloreds, and many other racial slurs. Minorities are just the background to America's foreground, which would be a caucasian person with blonde hair and blue eyes. And I agree with Bella as well. They can't build casinos here, but this IS THEIR land. How could columbus "discover" a land that was always there?

Answer 4

That is the image of American that the media puts out all the time. It is usually a white women with blond hair, blue eye, and is very attractive. Maybe that is what most people want to see.

Answer 5

Who does this? I have never heard this assumption having been all over our own USA and also all over the world. America is seen at different times as many things depending upon who you talk to, but I have never heard anyone assume that America is white. That's just silly. Everyone on earth knows that we are dramatically multi-cultural and multi-ethnic.

Daniel
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Answer 6

America, the new Anglo...

People like to think in the simplest possible images. America isn't simple. It's not any one color or religion or sexuality. It's called the melting pot for a reason. But that's much too complicated a concept for most people.

Answer 7

No one assumes that anymore. A lot of people use the hyphenated (African-American, etc) to differentiate themselves. This is actually acting to separate themselves from the rest of us. If you were born here, then you are an American. It is pretty much that simple.

Answer 8

I'm with "plus fute qu", I'm an American and I'n NOT blonde, blue-eyed, I'm brunette w/brown eyes and I love it. I've never understood all the hype was about blondes. Brunettes can be evererything blondes are, and more.

Answer 9

I've heard that description before but it was Hitler describing what a true German should look like. I have never heard that in the USA except from the American Nazi's.

Answer 10

I'm an American and my hair is brunette and I have brown eyes. Who says Americans are blonde and blue eyes???? STEP UP!

Answer 11

That's a foreign stereotype. I talked to a Saudi Arabian the other day, and he said that he met a "fine" American the other day. I said, "Blond, right?" He said, "yeah". So if you want to know why that stereotype exists, don't ask Americans, ask people from elsewhere.