What is White? Caucasian students inquire.

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | December 8, 2003 | Jose Antonio Vargas

[SFmom]

The other students call her "white girl."

Justine Steele is a senior at Independence High School in San Jose, a sprawling campus of 4,054 students where 8 percent are Caucasian. Forget the numbers. "Look around," she says. There are Indians and Vietnamese, Mexicans and Filipinos.

[cyborg]

Being a member of the human race is good isn't it?

[no-s]

wouldn't it be great to put together a politically incorrect library?

This is a resource everyone needs. But there is a cultural vacuum surrounding the race issue, and it's important to give these kids something which is unifying across racial/tribal divisions. The current instituitionalized PC crap enforces isolation and leads to glorification of all forms of racism.

Instead of starting a "white peoples" club because they feel isolated, these kids ought to be promoting an All-American club, open to anyone who is willing to put racial/tribal identity in second place to American cultural identity. When they search for a source of information on this issue, this is what the missing cultural heritage and foundation they need.

[Old Professer]

Given the graduation rate, you should have suggested that they make the position a rotating one.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

That is perfect. Start a genealogy club... everyone's welcome. Guess who will be the vast majority? Mormons, probably.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

There are some African American students at Skyline High School who call Jeffrey Powell an "uh-oh Oreo" -- he's white on the outside, but black on the inside.

Jeffrey, 19, doesn't care. He was raised with black people in East Oakland, has gone to school with them all his life. Skyline, with 2,092 students, is 43.7 percent black, 22.7 Asian, 16.4 Hispanic, and 9.9 percent white. It's lunch time at Skyline, up in the Oakland hills, where Tom Hanks graduated, where the Titans football team is known as "the most dangerous team in Oakland," where race is, as in most high schools, an unspoken yet visible fact of life.

Most of the other white students, Jeff says, hang out in the middle of the school, in "the senior quad." He tries to explain this but can't.

Erica Pinter, a sophomore, stands among her four friends in the quad. All are white, some of Irish, Scottish and Italian ancestries. Erica says most of her friends go to private schools. "They say this school is really ghetto," said the 15-year-old. "They ask, 'Have you been shot? Have you seen people carry guns?' That's just so stupid. It's racist. I think it's good to go to a school where there are a lot of different types of people from different types of backgrounds. That's the real world."

But the quad, Jeff says, is not "the real world."

"It's weird, huh, how they're all standing and sitting around in one area? They're just there," says Jeff, dripping more sweet-and-sour sauce onto his bean burrito, careful not to spill some on his oversize black coat. "Me, I try to fit in everywhere. I don't just hang out with white people," he said. "I try to fit in with all kinds of people."

He listens to rap and hip hop. He watches BET, Black Entertainment Television. He dresses, he says, "black." Ten more minutes and lunch is over.

"What is white? I mean I don't know what kind of white I am," Jeff says. "I don't bother to know what kind. Just white."

"I was born a poor black child..."

[MissAmericanPie]

Strictly depends on if you're the flavor of the week, doesn't it.

[cyborg]

Yes. Everyone has their 15 minutes. Life sux after you become just another American.

[Amerigomag]

How tortured our attempt to politically Bulkanize our culture.

When it suits the political need Latinos are no longer white. They're classified by their cultural heritage because to be classified racially wouldn't seperate them from their Europen brethren.

Asians are no longer classified racially but rather based on their geographic ancestory. To classify them racially would be offensive because medicine hijacked the term.

And of course Negro is personna non gratis in our society. We rely instead on an inaccurate skin color descriptor, black or the equally inaccurate geographic hypenation, Africa American.

At least we have unimaginable flexibility when we choose to drive a personal wedge between people. We have unlimited choices when we choose to brand someone a racist.

Here's a simple solution that can't go wrong. If you're a US citizen then you're called a citizen. You're not called an American because that describes anyone who residese from Barrow, Alaska down through Canada, the US, Central America and on to Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of South America.

[MissAmericanPie]

I would say that original Ameicans seem less entitled than others.

[cyborg]

Original Americans? I don't know what you mean by that but I will say that I've never let other people's opinions affect me. Whatever a stupid liberal says, doesn't affect my family tree one way or another. Of course, if we all think of ourselves as Americans we'd not have this problem.

[DocJ69]

Well, I am an Missouri-American. With European ancestry, one great great uncle rode with Jeb Stuart, the other with Robert E Lee, then one great great Uncle rode with Quantrels Raiders. My wife's father was born in Canada, served in the US Nave in WWI, her uncle was a German officer in WWII. Boy am I glad I am from the US!

[autoresponder]

#FFFFFF

#000000

.etc

[MissAmericanPie]

Yeah, after all that fighting for future generations, your kids get a 20 point disadvantage in college entrance exams for being white or asian. So the question kind of becomes, since your ancestors fought to insure your rights under the Consitution, what have you done personally to pass that on to the coming generation of your family?

Especially in the face of such overt discrimination against them? Sounds like you're not much into the duty thing.

[MissAmericanPie]

Tell that to the Supreme Court and the liberals and the ACLU, who have made racism against whites and asians goal number one.

Or does that make me a racist to acknowledge their racism? For example, college entrance, racial quotas, that work against whites and asians.

[cyborg]

I do not know the answer except to say that the saddest sight is watching someone meaningless searching for meaning (all liberals). They aren't going to go quietly (racist liberals) because exposing them takes their money away. My answer to college conspiracies is not to ask for racial/ethnic data to begin with.

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !

[blam]

I've often wondered why the ancient library at Alexandria was destroyed. You've given me some fresh ideas why.

[autoresponder]

I could have used Netscape colors

ghostwhite

white

wheat (lightly tanned in Florida)

Never thought to see if other colors are Netscape "PC"

I think we should pass a statute requiring us to all be IDed by our Netscape or hex color codes for skin and iris and hair:

wheat/vikingblue/gold

Only 255 basic colors on the web

HDTV claims to have 1000s

[BJungNan]

Maybe someone should tell her that she is a member of a unique race that thinks in the abstract, creates, invents, is ingenious, and ambitious, possess's a work ethic, a moral foundation, and is not afraid of risk or failure.

As long as you are talking about whites and not white trash. There is a difference.

[potlatch]

Hmmmm, secret messages, disappearing ink, white font!!!