There is No Default When it Comes to the Human Race

My first attempt at a response got lost in space.
I find some old habits are hard for some to break. Not so much lately but the local news media had a habit of making sure the suspect of a crime, if so, was reported as black yet they didn't mention race if it were another ethnic group.

I am not a race watcher as a norm but I do note some lovely characteristics in many ethnic groups. I appreicate the differences in people yet rarely mention attitudes I don't care for.

I did not know that you can write so well, friend.

I do not object to either writing the word ,such as black, or writing "the girl with the perfect cornrows." I do like the 'cornrows" better.

Your writing expresses your feelings in this regard succinctly, Nyota.

Spencer makes an accompanying point. Like him, I see beauty in all people. I enjoy the beauty of aging people, for example. Wrinkles sprouting and gray hair abound--I think them most becoming.

And babies with their thick bellies and expressive fingers always drawing me in...

God did not just make roses lovely...but every flower holds its own. We humans, I agree, need to get past thinking and describing each other as ugly.

Ugliness in the eye of the beholder...but beauty is God made and intentional.

I think that one should always characterize with the greatest specificity possible, Nyota. That being said, I do believe it always depends on the context whether or not the character´s race or ethnicity is pointed to, intentionally of course, by the skilled writer. I think what you are objecting to is unintentional racial profiling, which I call bad writing, and which I hope most editors when they look to publish new work will see as such.

On the blogosphere, however, your effort here to raise awareness of stereotyping gaffes is admirable. I´ve been reading recent neuroscientific literature on ´the prejudicial brain´, and it is astounding how almost all of us succumb to easy and really dumb profiling of others. However, if I´m reading a hardboiled detective novel, I expect to see a shamus go mock reductionist for effect. Do you get my drift, my dear?

BTW, I liked very much your own writing and thinking skills expressed here with craft in this exercise in revealing ´the prejudicial brain´ in all of us.

So much to ponder in this post-beautifully written!

I totally agree with most of the comments above. This was a very well written and clearly descriptive article. I have had these types of conversations with other enlightened folks of the beauty of the unique differences that make up our population. What I find most challenging is the chicken or the egg debate-LOL.

Can a person appreciate the value of unique differences when they have never learned or have been exposed to the value of their own being? So many people seem to define THEMSELVES based on external media images and stimuli-"beauty/ugly/safe/criminal/clean/ghetto/poor/bling/popular/overexposed are good NLP (neuro linguistic programming words) that trigger such copy cat behaviors and attitudes it ifs often FRIGHTENING how a computer program can sell more widgets based on a few keystrokes.

So many are being programmed to simplify and categorize human souls into labels that go BOOM upon demand. Dialogue such as this is equivalent to stopping and examining/smellingf/admiring the countryside for a moment. There is a reason WHY we conserve, preserve and strive to keep biodiversity of non-humans. There should be a reason WHY we do the same for one another.

Spencer, that is one of the reasons I wrote this. I have also written a short story where the characters could be any ethnicity, race or color. I have been told it needs to be lenghthened to a novel, play or screenplay. I am hesitant to do so because only the play would allow for any obvious difference without affecting the story. And that would be my next step, I bellieve. I've also seen where characteristics integral to a plot have been changed from the writer's intention when made into a movie.

Thank you, Pat. You made me realize I could've slipped an obviously older person in there.

I agree with you, John. However--as stated--we'd want the descriptions to fit the intention of the information and not be overstated.
I believe I understand exactly what you mean regarding the shamus' terse and quick assessment of a person.

Thank you for your compliment, Mari. There is a lot of food for thought on the subject.

"NLP". I like that, Joan!

I often hit "writers" on this, which I think demonstrates immature writers or "pop" writers.

We should, as writers, imply the obvious and accentuate the interest. I do agree, to say: "He was a black man" tells the writer nothing. When we think of Colon Powell, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson and William Jonathan Drayton Jr., what does it really mean when we present a character as "a black man"?

Of course, there's "she was a blonde," which is just as meaningless.

Again: imply the obvious and accentuate the interest.

What drives our characters is what's interesting. That's what we should focus on. If we say: "he was a black man" we should follow that up with why that's important to the story, subtly of course.

I think it's important to keep in mind the concept Anton Chekhov presented about the gun on the wall. If there's a gun on the wall in act 1, someone should get shot in act 3. I like to add, if someone gets shot in act 3, we'd better hang a gun on the wall in act 1.

A story should be about itself, not the ranting or muses of the writer. If the writer wants to lecture, he or she should write an essay. Our personal high moral platitudes should be hidden within a well crafted story.

Now, the character exception. We often need crowd our stage with two-dimensional characters who are incidental yet essential to the story. We need only gloss over here, as they pass through. Again: imply the obvious and accentuate the interest.

I appreciate your point and therefore point out to you:

"white mother who sat next to her husband whose skin was medium tan"

Was she albino. Most people are not "white."

from Acts of Desolation:

Little Red is satisfied I am a kindred spirit. I pass the cigarette to Charlie, a somewhat burly gentle looking taciturn guy. We all seem to silently agree to enjoy our unplanned day.

Little Red is indeed little, yet tough-looking, all long frizzy red hair, gap-toothed grin, and a variety of visible scars, with a warmly welcoming stand-offish manner. I feel welcomed, companioned, with no strings or expectations. The morning is warm, heavily humid. There are small groups here and there, but the street is abandoned compared to last night's gala. I'm still not sure where I am, who I am, what if anything I have meant to do, but it doesn't matter. I am here. I am me. I will do what comes naturally, or whatever. Hot, hazy, humid, no fit atmosphere for thinking or doing much at all. Just going along with the dream.

Thistle is stirring. Long brown arms and legs, a tousle of dark hair, a flash of dark eyes over a wide yawn, then an impish grin. There is talk of food and cleaning up. Apparently, the city provides way stations with public showers.

Something Sacred online gestation

Race and people's reaction has always interested me, mainly because as a very, very, very young child (in the 50s), I observed very bad behavior by the adults who told me not to be rude when they were in the presence of other races. I was raised in Southern California, mostly, which was quite a mix, and still prejudice reared it's ugly head quite a few times. But, I must say my most interesting experience with race was standing in front of a store in 1979 in Pomona, California, with my Tongan husband. First off, I have to tell you that when I met him, he told me he was Hawaiian, which I knew wasn't true because he spoke little english and didn't know anything about Hawaii. After we had been married a few months, we were standing in front of a store on a busy street. It was my husband, his bio brother, and me. As we stood in a neighborhood where there were Whites, many people of color passed by in the short space of 1/2 an hour. My Tongan brother-in-law had skin a little darker than my husband and sported a large afro. As men passed by us I noticed an interesting thing. All of the African-American guys that walked by either gave my BIL a peace sign or they slapped palms while saying "What's up man!" None of them acknowledged my hubby or I. Literally all of the latinos, as they passed by greeted my husband with "Que pasa, man," or "Hola!" The few White men in the neighborhood walked by silently, looking at the sidewalk. We stood there for almost an hour (can't remember what we were waiting for, but we were waiting for someone or something, and not one person recognized my hubby or BIL as Polynesians or as brothers. I was fascinated at how easily they were both accepted as part of the neighborhood where I felt like the odd man (woman) out, but neither of them were seen as the race they really were. Although I had not learned my mother's and step-father's prejudices at that point, it still gave me a great deal of food for thought about color, hair, etc. My husbands and his brother's hair had the same amount of kinkiness, but my BIL's hair was much, much longer than hubby's. I really got to see how folks form impressions on sight and act according to those impressions rather than acting on reality.

It's interesting how after all of the awareness work society has done during my 52 years that folks still make assumptions because of someone's hair color or skin color. That's partly why it works so well in stories, I guess. During the time that event above happened, I was sure we were in a period of cultural awareness/awakening and soon, race wouldn't be important any more. But, I guess we aren't there yet. And, I'm wondering...will we ever be? Or do our differences serve us so well in art that, business, etc., that we kind of need to hold on to them?

Terry,
I see the problem as not being different. I see it as us being "carefully taught" to be afraid of the differences

libramoon,
I like the passage in your second comment. It belies your earlier one, however, as no one's hair is really red unless it is dyed.

I agree, Karl. Good to hear from you.

"no one's hair is really red unless it is dyed"

maybe it was dyed, or bloody

Interesting observations.

". . .white mother. . . "

Now I get it libramoon. You have a problem with me using 'white"' as the only description for the mother. I'll see if I can fix that and--while I'm at it--add something about an elderly person.

I recently read a book where the main charctor was never discribed as "black". The author discribed him in such a wahy as you knew he was. You would have liekd how he used discription instead of the common "Black to show what he was and looked like.

The white woman could ahve been the lady with the straight hair and milky skin...

I have always found it interesting and in some cases telling in how some address race in speech and writes. From personal experience I have observed that race is for many people a difficult topic for them to handle even in the simplest situations. Recognizing similar situations as Terry brought up it is obvious some people have a predetermined set of data in which they allow to control their actions.

I faced many such conditions over my many years of doing home repair and construction work. I have a vivid bank of memories from my interactions with the public where race was interjected with no discernible reason except the person's pent up emotions or position. After speaking with a person on the phone making appointments and generally giving an over view of what they wanted done in our initial meeting I frequently faced comments such as, "oh, you're black".

When I was much younger it used to bother me but as I matured I learned that reaction to my presence was less about me the person than the preconceived image the person had for a one who performed certain jobs. It was not unusual to over hear a woman on the phone saying to someone, "yeah, and you should she how well he built that deck. And he's African American."

To me this same attitude carries over in public encounters and conversations often by those who do not realize that what or how they said something might have been offensive. Such a phenomena was observed when I was visiting with my elderly aunt in north eastern Missouri over the Thanksgiving weekend. It was still fresh in minds that the US had recently elected its first African American president.

I was waiting for my cousin outside a store when a fellow came out and commented that waiting on women to shop could be an ordeal. I agreed with him and he immediately followed up with a comment/question. Would Obama have a hard time being a colored fellow. My reaction was muddled in that I was processing the use of colored to label our newly elected president. To me he went from the two of us sharing similar reactions to the stereo typical idea of women shoppers to reducing Obama to a condition of race. I have no idea if his comment was indicative of his thought process about race or if that was how he processed the fact that Obama is not of the majority race.

I have never been one to interject race in my discourse where it had no purpose. It seems to me unnecessary baggage in conversation and writes and contributes nothing to the whole.

Thank you..much to think about, another chance to grow.

A very thoughtful article nicely written!

I personally have NO problem with someone seeing me as a black woman.
I have a problem with someone FEARING me as a black woman vs. Joan
I have a problem with someone HATING me as a black woman vs. Joan
I have a problem with someone BLOCKING me as a black woman vs. Joan

U can enjoy, laugh and share with ME for WHATEVER reasons U choose-LOL-I will gladly take them with open arms. BUT the FHBs (fear/hate/blockages) are my personal pet peeves.

What is initially taught to a child and reinforced seems to be POWERFUL MEDICINE.

You write in a lovely fashion, speaking with great clarity on matters of considerable social and cultural interest. The intellectual honesty you share brings to the surface many intangible elements. Joan, Spencer and John indicate some of the variety inherent in our diverse universe. It seems that you have developed a balanced awareness in both your perception of society and your ability to write with character and fundamental depth. Such descriptive power brings a beauty of beguiling detail to the common and uncommon things in life.

thank you, Glenn! Your comment is written beautifully. I am glad you 'get me'.
I am humbled and encouraged.

So very well written. I envey your ability to weave words and word-pictures and to create such vivid images in my mind.

Like most Jamaicans, I view ethnicity more geographacially than biologically. Therefore regardless of what I see, I always wait 'till I hear an accent before ascribing the person to a particular ethnic group.

I understand that about the West Indies, Dennis.

Don't be envious! I once wrote an article about being jealous and received so many well-meaning critiques regarding how one should avoid any such thoughts, I was sold!

I'm glad I provide pleasure to your mind!

Well done, Nyota. You've brought yet another layer to an already complex issue, but presented it in a simple, easily understood manner.

It has always astonished me that so much ado is made about colour and race, especially in the country and other countries where colonial oppression abounded/abounds.

My mom and I used to people watch in the mall, and after a while certain characteristics of certain races would stand out. If I could choose, I think I'd like to have Asian hair, the teeth of an African American, and the petiteness of an Asian female.

 

If you notice, certain fashion models/actresses have quite a background when it comes to ethicity and race. They might jokingly refer to themselves as a Heinz 57 varieties, but if you think about it, a blend of several different races/ethnicities shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing. It's sort of like purebred dogs. People make a big deal out of them, but if you look, lots of breeds have genetic problems that have been passed down, because they've been bred to the same genetic structure for years and years. We had mutts for years, and yes, you don't know what you're going to get or already have, but that's part of the fun! All our mutts were good, well-behaved dogs. Yes, one did develop epilepsy, but I've heard of carefully purebred dogs developing cancer. My dog is a purebred, but back a hundred years ago, they took a Yorkie and bred it with an Australian Terrier to improve on both breeds, ending up with what we now call the Silky Terrier, which is what my dog is. Breeds do evolve, and I am mad at the so-called "purists" who look down on designer dogs (maltipoos, puggles, labradoodles, etc.). Do you think that a hundred years ago those guys who experimented with the Yorkie and the Aussie were looked down upon? Probably. Or maybe people weren't as snobby about breeding back then as they are now. The important thing is that pets, and people, regardless of their lineage are loved and cared for.

 

I've heard of caucasian men who have a thing for Asian females, or African-American men who have a thing for caucasian women, and so on. I find myself attracted to dark haired, dark eyed caucasian men. Blond men just do not do it for me and I will not date a redhead. Doesn't make me a bad or good person, it just means that my choice of men is limited (due to my own tastes).

 

It might take a long time, but I think we will get away from identifying ourselves by race, because people will be so mixed, it won't really matter anymore.

Thanks for your thoughts, Gloria.

A dog's a dog; purebred or mixed.

Too bad some don't understand that there's only one breed of human.

When I fill out forms when it says race: I put human.

The whole racist thing is so stupid. My parents were racist and I thought it was awful. As I child I witnessed the look on a boys face when my mother said some racist comments as he walked by our parked car. I saw his hurt and his tears. I'll never forget it. Why my mother was like that I don't know as her mother, my grandmoter taught me people were people, she was not a racist.

I worry more about a person treating my children right when they are married than who their ancestors were.

I think many people don't realize what they miss out when they are like this. There are wonderful people with good hearts in all races and religions.

We need to celebrate our sameness as humans and our cultural differences..

When I write, to be honest, I don't even think about what the race the person is.

We don't really know who our ancestors were. People are people. When I had my jaw reconstructed in 1989 I had a keloid where the scar was.The doctor gave me steroid shots in the scar. I also got hypertrophic scars since I was a child. I heard it is something that happens to non white people, how did it happen to me? I assume that I am not as all "white" as I look. Which makes my parents racist attitudes stupid.

My husband learned when his last aunt died a few years back that one of his grandparents was half jewish. He was brought up in a Catholic family, he was Belgium, Irish and Scottish.  I always wondered about his mother being all Belguim as she had a ductch last name like my great grandmother did. She recently admitted her father was from Holland.  So my husband has 5 different things now...that he knows of.

So how does anyone figure this all out? Which is my point - how can we hate each other because of race, when we don't even know where our ancestors came from?

 

What's even more perplexing is that  all of us originated from Africa where the oldest human remains were found.

My father's side of the family researched as far back as a freed slave in the 1800's. This was in 1977 during the 'Roots' craze. My mom's family is scattered all over--mostly missing or dead. I HAVE met my Cherokee family on my grandfather's side. As I show that characteristic--especially in summer--I call myself Af-Am/Cherokee. Artistically I'm Anglo/European.

I'm really grateful for the nudge to check out this article. You're setting a marvelous example, Nyota.

Well said!     I take the view that there is beauty in all of us, even if we cannot immediately perceive it.    Thanks for the thought, Nyota.

I am not a race watcher. But I am a people watcher. I will remember what somone looks like before I remember their name. But hey that is just me.

If you look at my family you can see it is, I am a mix. I have had any people ask me what I am because when I speak they know it is not a Spanish speaking race. My northern accent gives that away. Does it bother me...no, it never has. Has it bothered me when people come up to me and speak in another langauge because they assume I can speak it to? No, I have noticed most of those people are looking for some sort of help. But it does bother me that I have learnt their language to be able to speak to them. I understand more words that I can pronounce.

I meant I haven't learnt

Gotcha! I took a course in conversational Spanish for a job I had in Southwest Detroit. Living there are a lot of Spanish speaking folk in what is called Mexican Town. I will have to bone up though because I haven't had a chance to keep using Spanish. I do understand a lot when I hear it and can usually figure out what the gist is when I read it. I wish I knew more languages!

I have thought of taking a course. But the courses seem to be different than what is spoken among the people. Did You Ever have that problem? I am not sure if it is because in my area there is such a diverse group of languages. My husband niece who grew up around and is dating a Spanish speaking man explained to me what some of the words that are spoken by people from different countries are. But were all considered to be Spanish. People from different countries use different words for the same thing. Kinda reminds me of English that way. My husband niece picked up the language by being around and growing up around Spanish speaking people. She can't read it. But she understands it and can speak it fluently. I think it is neat she can do that.

That's true that Spanish has many different dialects. There's the Castillian, Mexican and Portuguese ways. Spanish is also spoken in Cuba and Africa. When I was in Africa, I saw first-hand the differences between the French we learn here and the French spoken there. It was very interesting. Black American language is like that. Depends on the situation, place and speaker.

 

Yes, I noticed that. Where I grew up there were a mix of people. But all spoke English very well. Even the Spanish. Than I moved to an area that seemed like I was in another country. That is the best way I could describe it. It was a culture shock to say the least. You had people from everywhere. You could not say someone was a certain race becauseth color of their skin because people werefrom so many different places. Now I picked up on the Ameican black language because my best friend where I live now is black. I love her to pieces. But for the Haitian laugage. That throws me for a loop big time. I think it is Creole or some form of it. Now that I have a very hard time understanding it.