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The landmine in labeling someone ‘black’
The Washington Post ^ | December 25, 2014 | Esther J. Cepeda

Posted on 12/25/2014 8:26:32 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Baltimore — More than 500 protesters marched from Empowerment Temple Church on Primrose Avenue north on Reisterstown Road to Reisterstown Road Plaza for "Black Lives Matter Sunday." On Reisterstown Road, near the entrance to the shopping center, the protesters formed a circle and many laid down to stage a die-in to show solidarity with Michael Brown.

CHICAGO — Everyone understands that words matter. Observers of my writing know that I hopscotch my way through racial and ethnic labels quite a bit, using the conventions of my source materials whenever possible so as to not tinge my point with an easily misperceived term.

But labels can be landmines. They can be perfectly acceptable to some in a particular group and at the same time deeply insult others. As it turns out, which racial label is used in communicating neutral information can also have a wide-ranging impact on those who are taking in descriptive information about a group or a person.

In a recent study — “A rose by any other name?: The consequences of subtyping ‘African-Americans’ from ‘Blacks’” — researchers Erika Hall, Katherine Phillips and Sarah Townsend found that these two racial labels have a disparate impact on how minority social groups are perceived by whites.

The researchers conducted four distinct studies in the realms of employment, media and criminal justice to determine the perceptions of the two labels in different contexts.

The data they collected point to whites believing that the label “Black” evokes a mental representation of a person with lower socioeconomic status, education, positivity, competence and warmth than the label “African-American.” And whites “will react more negatively” toward “Blacks” than toward “African-Americans.”(continued)

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: blacks; ferguson; racism; whites
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To: BeadCounter

You can take the person out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the person...


21 posted on 12/25/2014 9:05:43 PM PST by Kozak ("It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal" Henry Kissinger)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Just another race baitor popping off to keep the “struggle” alive.


22 posted on 12/25/2014 9:07:03 PM PST by Clint N. Suhks ( Laughter is the best medicine, unless you have diarrhea.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What does The N Double A C P have to say about this?


23 posted on 12/25/2014 9:08:23 PM PST by shove_it (The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen -- Dennis Prager)
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To: Yosemitest

Barack identifies with the so called AFRICAN AMERICAN like I identify with Martians.

But he sure knows how to play them.


24 posted on 12/25/2014 9:12:01 PM PST by mylife
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
One thing they are not is African, no matter how much the crazies among them blather about Afrocentricity, grafted snakes, melanin deficient glacier monkeys, etc.

...no more than I am a European.
25 posted on 12/25/2014 9:12:53 PM PST by Nepeta
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
One thing they are not is African, no matter how much the crazies among them blather about Afrocentricity, grafted snakes, melanin deficient glacier monkeys, etc.

...no more than I am a European.
26 posted on 12/25/2014 9:14:00 PM PST by Nepeta
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To: Flintlock

>> Whatever happened to the good ‘ol “negro” term? <<

If he’s IT, he’s “negronic”.
If she’s hot, she’s “negrotic”.
If he’s a prince of a guy, he’s “negriffic”
If he’s vulgar he’s negraphic.
If she’s kind and generous, she’s “negracious”.
If he’s scary, he’s “negrominous”
If she’s rich, she’s “negropulent”.
If he likes other black people, he’s a “negrophiliac”.
If she has to iron her pants in the driveway...she’s a “negropotomus”.


27 posted on 12/25/2014 9:17:00 PM PST by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves Month")
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To: Yosemitest

For the record Homey, it was Africans and African Arabs that sold off your so called brothers to the White devil.

Ol Joe Smythe could have never done no harm to your family had your cousin not sold Ojibwa for a price.


28 posted on 12/25/2014 9:17:45 PM PST by mylife
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To: ROCKLOBSTER

LOLOLOL


29 posted on 12/25/2014 9:29:56 PM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
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To: Texas Eagle

Bwahahaha! Well done!


30 posted on 12/25/2014 9:32:34 PM PST by Ray76 (Who gave the stand down order in Ferguson? Who gave the stand down order in Benghazi?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"whites “will react more negatively” toward “Blacks” than toward “African-Americans"

With all due respect:
BU** S#!T.

Absolutely none of my black (or south of the border American) friends or acquaintances use either 'African American" or "People of color" (or "Hispanic")...there's lots of black and lots of white, but nary a single "English American" (or "Brown") in the mix.

If media, politicians, and academia got out of the way maybe we mere mortals could make some progress.

31 posted on 12/25/2014 9:32:41 PM PST by norton
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To: norton

If the term n***a is so racially pejorative, why do blacks keep using it as a term of endearment between themselves?

If its wrong, it ought to be wrong for every one to use it. But when black racists carve out a special exemption for themselves, they don’t really mean it.

And if they themselves think there’s nothing bad about it, there’s no reason for whites to refrain from addressing them as they’re accustomed to.

My point being if we’re going to be honest about race in this country, its high past time to skip the politically correct BS censorship, including on FR.

I will be not be censored on account of black racists’ own hypocrisy about language.


32 posted on 12/25/2014 10:01:40 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

All right.

Imuh gonna preach about being a disenfranchised Black man.

No really, I am.

At 7 years old my real father gave me up forever and my Dad adooted me.

The result?

Well, it should be pointed out, I was born a poor Black child.

That’s right. When I was born my last name was Black, as my father was and his father was and so forth.

But, when I adopted I was robbed of my Black identity forever.

On birth certificate is a new last name and on line 11 it says my birth certificate is “amended” and “sealed”.

WTF for? Why should it be sealed?

It’s not like I haven’t known my real father my entire life, my uncle, my aunt, my cousins, grandma and grandpa.

They were Black. I no longer am and can never reclaim my heritage.

I will forever be known by the last name given me when I was seven.

So these whack jobs can STFU about racism.

I was born Black and because of the law, can never reclaim my rightful heritage!!!!

(Disclosure: Striking Blue Eyes, Milky White skin and priveleged, somehow)


33 posted on 12/25/2014 10:12:18 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It just started.


34 posted on 12/25/2014 10:16:52 PM PST by 353FMG
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To: Vendome

Don’t forget all those mixed race kids.

For which racists on both sides of the divide ignore because it can’t be adduced as evidence of racial purity.

Humanity is messy. I’m of mixed race myself. So I could care less what racists think.

The race-baiting in America needs to stop.


35 posted on 12/25/2014 10:18:09 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: TigersEye

Bulldozer


36 posted on 12/25/2014 10:25:46 PM PST by Rome2000 (SMASH THE CPUSA)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Will it ever end?


37 posted on 12/25/2014 10:48:05 PM PST by OddLane
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To: Jeff Chandler
#BLACKLIGHTSMATTER


38 posted on 12/25/2014 10:51:38 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Thought it's a national spectacle, the reason this movement isn't getting any traction with enough relevant people who care is that there's no leering white rednecks pouring sugar over well-dressed black kids at a 'whites-only' luncheon counter.

These die-ins, voicing revolutionary communist agitprop like 'making Imperialist whites uncomfortable', and launching fireworks at police officers on the scene of an officer-involved shooting against an armed criminal are doing damage to their cause. The vocal ones who seem to get face time in front of a the teevee/webstream cameras now seem to support any criminal martyr dying for 'the cause' no matter what.

The agitationists (I just made that word up) don't speak for everyone -- and neither can I -- but I'm starting to hear from folks I deal with who are liberal-assed that even they're getting sick of these people and their antics.

39 posted on 12/25/2014 11:36:59 PM PST by The KG9 Kid
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; FlingWingFlyer; TigersEye

Hundreds of blacks laying around, doing nothing productive ... how is this different from any other day in the inner city??


40 posted on 12/25/2014 11:57:11 PM PST by canuck_conservative
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