White people---an offensive term?

Question

It's been said many times that the term 'black person' or 'black people' is offensive to some.

Why isn't the same true for the label of 'white people'?

White people is not a race.

White people are derivied from many European sects, nationalities and tribes dating back thousands of years. Anglos, Celts, Saxons, and various other Germanic, and Slavic ethnic groups are all today lumped into the group, "white people"

I myself am proud to be descended from Celts, and Slovaks & Poles.

A secondary question, if you will. Have 'white people' lost our culture? Do we even acknowledge anything beyond the generic, sterilized label of 'white people' anymore?

Believe it or not, Anglos, Saxons, Celts, Slavics, folks descended from Baltic regions, not to mention Nords, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting---all have very rich, very dynamic cultures which I believe are lost when we give ourselves a bland label like "white people" Your thoughts?

Answer 1

I consider myself as an " anglo". Here in Texas Iam often referred to as a " gringo" or a " honky". Doesn't bother me. I can live with it.... hell, this is Texas. But, in truth, I well remember my German mother and Swiss father, ( along with Tantes ( aunts) wanting to keep it pure. They congregated in German churches, and among their friends and family spoke " the old language". My mom made wonderful cabbage rolls and my dad could actually yodel. Now, as an adult, I am truly sorry I let that heritage slip away from me. Now, when someone sees me... I am an Anglo... that could be a Swede, an Italian, a Norwegian, an Englishman ... and , of course, those are all honorable ancestries... but there is absolutely nothing to denote that I am German / Swiss. Because I am dark skinned like the northern Germans and speak Spanish, I am often mistaken for a Hispanic.... and that's okay too ... as long as I have my papers to prove otherwise !!! The USA is my country!!

Answer 2

White people have a culture/ What?? There are so many types of white people- German, Sweden, American, British, etc.

I even find it hard to believe that black people have a "culture" and that is why we celebrate Black History Month. My parents are actually from Africa (so I really am an African-American) and they act differently than most(not all) the black people I know.

I don't find black people offensive. If others do, that's there problem. Not mine.
I realize I'm not "black". I'm more of a light/golden brown. But I realize that and I'm not offended. I think "black" is a race. Like white people.

Answer 3

You're right, it isn't a race. I have no problem with white and black groupings/names. White beats Caucasian. Besides these terms are really for identification and classification on forms, and you want the forms to be short, not have 1,0000 boxes to go through and check.

Quite a few if not all of my friends who are black don't really like the term African American because it is so vague and also because if you come from Haiti or are a black person born and raised in England it's confusing and inaccurate!

Answer 4

just a note- recently, a southern state went through all the lawbooks and changed the term 'black' to african-american wherever it popped up. initially i was bolstered by this resolution, but then i got to thinking, why would any law in any state specify race?

As far as being called 'white', although I am white, Ive never really had it used to describe me. come to think of it, I've even heard african-americans say something along the lines of 'have you met the new guy?... black guy, about this tall...' i've never heard anyone specify white in a description at all, it seems as though most people automatically assume white when it's not specified, so it's not used that much. I'm proud of my dutch/irish ancestry, inasmuch as they fought the filthy brits so valiantly, but other than that, I'm much more proud to just be American, so I don't dwell on it.

Answer 5

It's not offensive to me, and I think that black people are crazy in thinking that "black" is a offensive term. All it is is saying that they're black. Nothing more, Nothing less. There are lots of different types of white people and we just happen to be one of the millions. Everyone has their different shade of skin, whether from their birth or because of time spent in the sun, but most of us are white. I don't see that as offensive at all. I don't think it's really bland, just because there's other ways to call somebody's color of skin. Asian, for example, may be called a white person, when in fact, their skin is yellowish. Hope this cleared some up for you.

Answer 6

hahaha peach american, thats great.

nobody is really pure white or black or latino because we are all pretty much mostly mixed in america. and people who considered white all look very different to me because they have very different hair colors/eye colors/ skin tones. basically all the people lumped together as white people do not look anything like eachother cause we all have diff. ethnic features, we are all from europe and europe is a huge continent and the people of different countries in europe all have different traits.

but it shouldnt really matter what race you are because were all american and live in the same place together.

Answer 7

Personally, I think it's a shame that we are SO hung up on what to and what not to call one another.
"Race" is a made-up label...someone thought it would be a good idea to make distinctions by the way we look.
How about we all forget about this crap and consider ourselves HUMAN??

Answer 8

There is no "white" culture, just like there is no "black" culture.

There are Celt, Slavic, and Pole cultures. There is an American culture, and there are regional American cultures, and regional, socio-economic American cultures, and regional, faith, and socio-economic American cultures, and regional, faith, socio-economic and ethnic American cultures.

So there is no white (or black) culture to lose.

Answer 9

I think it beggars belief that with all our advancement in science adn technology, literature, art, langauges, etc we could not find other classification of race and origin besides BLACK and WHITE!.Personally i hate being called black, don't know about you guys?

Answer 10

I'm white & I don't take offense to that & the black friends that I have don't take offense at being called black.