Internalized Racism

[eleanor]

[color=darkslateblue] To make a short definition, internalized racism is when one race starts viewing themselves through the eyes of the 'superior' or more 'dominant' race. It gives people a feelings of unworthiness and inferiority because of their race when compared to what they think is the superior race.

I'm just posting this to get thoughts on it. I got it as a topic for my oratory speech in debate, and I've only come up with several examples (the SAT, literary examples, and personal experience), and any thoughts or views on it would be very welcome. :) I'm mostly looking for a right universal theme that would work well, so I think the thoughts of other people would help me do that.

Any comments?[/color]

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]I'm about 75% African American, and so it bugs me [i]deeply[/i] when I see people succumb to the racial stereotypes. Loud, ignorant, disrespectful, drives either an SUV they can't afford or a trashy car, and plays loud, belligerent rap music with the bass cranked. Really, I'm pretty much the opposite of it, and I'm tired of people asking me why I "talk white" or "act white." Jeez, people, it's like we're building ourselves into a box, where black people [i]can't[/i] be smart or successful! Heaven forbid use correct grammar.

And the 'n-word' kills me a little inside every time I hear it. People don't understand that their ancestors fought hard to get rid of that word, and here we go again, bringing it back it. Actually, it's so bad that this n-word is now a casual term with which black people greet, dismiss, and generally address one another with. It's sickening.

And you know, it would technically be easier for me to just have been born white. I like alot of rock, really don't enjoy too much rap, get 'white grades', talk 'white', and have friends that either are white or 'act' like it. But I feel guilty saying that, even thinking that. It would mean forsaking a rich heritage, and a struggle with which I'm proud of my parents and grandparents for enduring.

As for [b]Lunch Tables![/b] I'm not sure if it holds true at your school, but at my school, tables are separated into intricate groups and arrangements. Disrupt the delicate balance, and you now have associated yourself with a clique. The African American people sit together, and the white people sit together. And the Asian people sit together. Yeah, and you take some ribbing if you sit with the majority, and your skin doesn't match. People will sort of look at you like "...wtf?" unless you're their friend. Now, within each race, there's more specific arrangements like pretty-gal types, nerds, outcasts hanging on the group's fringes, or the lives of the party. Heh. Very interesting, very sad.[/SIZE]

[Manic Webb]

[QUOTE=Retribution][SIZE=1]I'm about 75% African American, and so it bugs me [i]deeply[/i] when I see people succumb to the racial stereotypes. Loud, ignorant, disrespectful, drives either an SUV they can't afford or a trashy car, and plays loud, belligerent rap music with the bass cranked. Really, I'm pretty much the opposite of it, and I'm tired of people asking me why I "talk white" or "act white." Jeez, people, it's like we're building ourselves into a box, where black people [i]can't[/i] be smart or successful! Heaven forbid use correct grammar.

And the 'n-word' kills me a little inside every time I hear it. People don't understand that their ancestors fought hard to get rid of that word, and here we go again, bringing it back it. Actually, it's so bad that this n-word is now a casual term with which black people greet, dismiss, and generally address one another with. It's sickening.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
What Retribution said, but with one exception: I play loud music with the bass cranked up. It's not rap, though. It's usually R&B. Sometimes rock. I love turning my radio up when a disco song comes on the Oldies station, just to see the looks on people's faces. "Is that a 20-something year old black guy blasting the BeeGees?" Why, yes it is. :)

I'd also like to add that spinners are the bane of all civilization. Anybody who puts them on their car deserves to be ritualistically slapped in public. Especially if your car is over 30 years old.

On one hand, I simple refuse to associate myself with people who blindly follow African-American stereotypes as if they were the written law. On the other hand, you have to differenciate blind stereotype-followers with people who coincidentally follow stereotypes. I like fried chicken and grape soda, but that's a pure coincidence. Fried chicken tastes good, as does grape soda. I also enjoy potatoes and strawberry soda.

[Lafleur]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Does a cultural difference count as a race?

If it does, I have this to say:

I like to play out the Canadian sterotype, really. Being sterotyped as the most polite people on earth with a slight love for beer and violent sports isn't the worst thing to be sterotyped as. But as a cultural race, I think that sadly we [I]do[/I] typical view ourselves as more moral than, say, Americans - and this may be entirly based on certain actions by a certain government *caugh* - but it's not really true. As a generalization, Canadians are all 'We're not with them... For the last time we aren't with them!' because we generally view ourselves to be superior, morally. Wether it's true or not... well...

The only real problem with this, though, is that the only people really effected - Americans - don't give two flying rats' ***** about what Canadians think and therefore we're just screaming 'WE'RE BETTER THAN YOU' into a wall of lead. But as long as it makes us feel better...

But when Americans come to Canada, across the preverbial wall of lead, they're is a feeling of tension between many Canadians and Americans - a sort of sick, culturally bred hatred, mild or extreme.

So, ya, Canadians feel superior to Americans, but only feel dominant when Americans come to Canada, and Americans only typically feel inferior or opressed while in Canada. I've been to America for extended periods of time, and I generally get a similar vibe.

The above is, of course, based entirely on the Canadian-American stereotypes.[/COLOR]

[Pumpkin]

[QUOTE=Ilium][COLOR=DarkRed]Does a cultural difference count as a race?

If it does, I have this to say:

I like to play out the Canadian sterotype, really. Being sterotyped as the most polite people on earth with a slight love for beer and violent sports isn't the worst thing to be sterotyped as. But as a cultural race, I think that sadly we [I]do[/I] typical view ourselves as more moral than, say, Americans - and this may be entirly based on certain actions by a certain government *caugh* - but it's not really true. As a generalization, Canadians are all 'We're not with them... For the last time we aren't with them!' because we generally view ourselves to be superior, morally. Wether it's true or not... well...

The only real problem with this, though, is that the only people really effected - Americans - don't give two flying rats' ***** about what Canadians think and therefore we're just screaming 'WE'RE BETTER THAN YOU' into a wall of lead. But as long as it makes us feel better...

But when Americans come to Canada, across the preverbial wall of lead, they're is a feeling of tension between many Canadians and Americans - a sort of sick, culturally bred hatred, mild or extreme.

So, ya, Canadians feel superior to Americans, but only feel dominant when Americans come to Canada, and Americans only typically feel inferior or opressed while in Canada. I've been to America for extended periods of time, and I generally get a similar vibe.

The above is, of course, based entirely on the Canadian-American stereotypes.[/COLOR][/QUOTE][SIZE=1][FONT=Tahoma]I don't know about this, really. I don't know how you can tell someone thats from Canada unless they have a really strong accent. And honestly, I wouldn't care. I don't think I'm better then anyone else. I'm half-hungarian but that doesn't mean people first notice that about me.

Anyways, I tend not to cling to racial stereotypes especially when I was in highschool. When you go to college, it's completely different. I've been told I don't act like I'm white and act more black then my black friends. (Who yes some of them act "white" and there's nothing wrong with that) I make friends with all kinds of people. I do know I get stereotyped by people in other states however.

People view Californians (New Yorkers too) I think differently. In New York they are thought of as rude and too busy to care about anyone and Californians are we are all rich, snooty, and are beach bunnies that like to party all the time (*cough*Laguna Beach*cough*). This was especially hard for me when I go to Oregon to visit my aunt or Texas to visit my uncle. Especially since I had blonde hair, SOME people assumed that I was not intelligent and since I was from California, that I was rich. Mmm okay. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[Lafleur]

[quote name='Pumpkin][SIZE=1][FONT=Tahoma]I don't know about this, really. I don't know how you can tell someone thats from Canada unless they have a really strong accent. And honestly, I wouldn't care. I don't think I'm better then anyone else. I'm half-hungarian but that doesn't mean people first notice that about me.[/SIZE'][/FONT][/quote]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
The point wasn't wether you could tell somone from the other - it was about what Lunox mentioned, that sometimes a racial (or in this case cultural) groups can feel themselves superior, but in this case the people it feels superior too only feel inferior if they're actualy emersed in the culture.[/COLOR]

[Godelsensei]

[quote name='Manic Webb']I'd also like to add that spinners are the bane of all civilization. Anybody who puts them on their car deserves to be ritualistically slapped in public. Especially if your car is over 30 years old.[/quote]

[b]YES.[/b] [i]Exactly.[/i] o_o

Also, I never really got that whole stereotype of black people liking fried chicken and grape soda. Who the hell doesn't like fried chicken and grape soda? It's like stereotyping white people as having hair.

[size=1](Communists, that's who!) [/Joe and Monkey][/size]

I don't think the phenomenon (internalised racism, not spinners >>; ) is really prevalent in the West today. People might stereotype themselves like there's no tomorrow, but it doesn't mean they view themselves as inferior. (Remember! Racial stereotyping & racism = different things.)

On the subject of race, I watched part of "Canadian Bacon" today, and laughed when I heard that one guy say, "They're whiter than we are!" I suppose this applies to a lot of Canada, but it just seemed so utterly ridiculous while I was sitting in a crowded classroom, being conspicuously white. Heh.

[eleanor]

[QUOTE=Godelsensei]

I don't think the phenomenon (internalised racism, not spinners >>; ) is really prevalent in the West today. People might stereotype themselves like there's no tomorrow, but it doesn't mean they view themselves as inferior. (Remember! Racial stereotyping & racism = different things.)

[/QUOTE]

[color=darkslateblue] Firstly, thanks to everyone who replied. :]

I'm mostly just trying to focus (my paper) on a universal theme, rather than whether it is prevalent in the West today or not. Of course, there is definately what Ilium said about when someone is immersed in another culture, etc. I'm sort of shooting in the dark for an idea that I kind of write a lot about. >_>[/color]

[Delta]

[COLOR=DarkGoldenRod][SIZE=1][u]Given:[/u]
A nation, once under hundred of years of colonization by numerous world powers.

The people will start seeing themselves the same way the colonizers did. Tell them that the colonizers are superior and chances are, they will agree. To gain superiority, one must strive to be more like the colonizers. Bleach your skin if they are white and take growth pills if they are tall.

Even if you're allergic to bleaching products, or growth pills cause your hormones to go haywire; to be like them... ah, how wonderful.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Guest oishi_47]

I think a good word to describe internalized racism is subjugation. It's a state of thinking you're less than someone else because of the color of your skin. Many people stereotype others based on ethnicity or culture. Such as the one mentioned earlier by Godelsensei about black people and fried chicken, or like how many people think that all Canadians like hockey. If life were as simple as these people thought it was, then I'd grow up to do nothing but work at a convenience store and drive slowly with my blinkers on the entire time. Of course, these stereotypes are associated with Koreans in particular, which I am, but most people can?t tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Some have even told me that we all look exactly alike. Personally this disturbs me. I was adopted so I'm not biologically related to my family. My brother was adopted from Korea too, and we look nothing alike. He's three years older than I am, but I am about five inches taller than he is. As far as lunch tables go, I generally sit with a friend of mine who is half Black and half German (mostly) as well as some of my other close friends (who are white). There is one kid at my school who is white but uses black slang that even offends me. Regardless, I don't think there are too many racists at my school albeit one kid did say he wanted to burn me on a cross while we were learning about the KKK, and needless to say he isn't the brightest kid there.