OT: Britney Spears Ongoing Career Revitalization Plan

[henrypie]

Yes Nipith, this reminds me of a discussion I had with a British friend that went kind of like...

Andrew: "My friend John is coming over."
Sarah: Oh, is he the one I met?
Andrew: No... this John is Asian.
Sarah: Oh.  You mean like Asian-British or actually from, like, China or Japan?
Andrew: Huh? No, he was born in London, but his parents come from New Dehli or somewhere.
Sarah: So you mean he's Indian.  Or Anglo-Indian.
Andrew: Um, well, he's Asian.
Sarah: Oh.  To me, "Asian" means East-Asian.  Or maybe Southeast Asian.  What do you call people from, say, Vietnam?
Andrew: Oh, they're Chinese.

Oy vey!

[delalluvia]

i love how to many Americans, African-American and African are one and the same. Never mind the fact that the two cultures exist on two different continents and have evolved independently for the last 2-3 centuries. They're all black, so they must be the same?

I think that's the fault of the change in self-identifiers - from negro/colored to black to Afro-American to African American.  From Mexican-American to Chicano to Hispanic/Latino...

Who is making these changes is what I want to know.

One man changed his name to a run-of-mill African name, even though he really had no clue on what part of Africa his ancestors were from.  When asked why he did so, he replied, "Well, I sure as shit knew I wasn't Irish (his 'official name')." 

I took a Cultures of Africa class and watched a contemporary African film, filmed in Africa about African people.  It was just a typical type of drama-edy movie about working class people, one of the funny parts was in a scene where a group of friends are talking about their futures.  One young man talks about coming to America, his plan to get here, his dreams etc. and when he commented "Even the blacks there have money -"

His friend interrupts him "African Americans."

The guy is puzzled, "What?"

"They call themselves African Americans."

The guy stares at his friend like he's crazy, "Since when?"

[starboardlight]

Yes Nipith, this reminds me of a discussion I had with a British friend that went kind of like...

Andrew: "My friend John is coming over."
Sarah: Oh, is he the one I met?
Andrew: No... this John is Asian.
Sarah: Oh.  You mean like Asian-British or actually from, like, China or Japan?
Andrew: Huh? No, he was born in London, but his parents come from New Dehli or somewhere.
Sarah: So you mean he's Indian.  Or Anglo-Indian.
Andrew: Um, well, he's Asian.
Sarah: Oh.  To me, "Asian" means East-Asian.  Or maybe Southeast Asian.  What do you call people from, say, Vietnam?
Andrew: Oh, they're Chinese.

Oy vey!

he he. names are funny. they can be simply labels, or they can shape the way we understand the world.

[Sheyne]

i love how to many Americans, African-American and African are one and the same. Never mind the fact that the two cultures exist on two different continents and have evolved independently for the last 2-3 centuries. They're all black, so they must be the same?

Yes, Nipith, didn't you know??  

Oh, the coup de grace on racial ignorance, for me, surfaced during a tutorial, ironically enough on multiculturalism in schools (when I was studying for my teaching degree). Each of us in the group was given a case study and then had to comment on what we'd do if faced with a cultural clash in our classrooms. And this girl, Nadine, was given a case study on a child from Singapore. Her thoughts:

Nadine: God, if only Michelle were here today..
Mark: Why?
Nadine: She could help me.
Mark: How?
Nadine: Cause she looks like she'd know what to do here.
Sheyne: How?
Nadine: Well, she's Asian.
Mark: She's Australian.
Nadine: No, but she's got Asian eyes.
Sheyne: What's that got to do with Singapore?

I actually ended up calling her a bimbo, which got me into more trouble than a 3rd year Bachelor of Education student who apparently cannot tell China or Japan from Singapore. But Australia is unfortunately famed for its racism.

Racial ignorance is one thing that annoys the hell out of me. I train with "asian-looking" guys, who've lived here all their lives, as have their parents, yet people are always giving them the "go back to where you came from" garbage. Their comeback is "I've never left Australian shores in my whole life, let alone come from anywhere else, so exactly where the **** do you want me to go, dickhead?"

[opinionista]

Yes, Nipith, didn't you know??  

Oh, the coup de grace on racial ignorance, for me, surfaced during a tutorial, ironically enough on multiculturalism in schools (when I was studying for my teaching degree). Each of us in the group was given a case study and then had to comment on what we'd do if faced with a cultural clash in our classrooms. And this girl, Nadine, was given a case study on a child from Singapore. Her thoughts:

Nadine: God, if only Michelle were here today..
Mark: Why?
Nadine: She could help me.
Mark: How?
Nadine: Cause she looks like she'd know what to do here.
Sheyne: How?
Nadine: Well, she's Asian.
Mark: She's Australian.
Nadine: No, but she's got Asian eyes.
Sheyne: What's that got to do with Singapore?

I actually ended up calling her a bimbo, which got me into more trouble than a 3rd year Bachelor of Education student who apparently cannot tell China or Japan from Singapore. But Australia is unfortunately famed for its racism.

Racial ignorance is one thing that annoys the hell out of me. I train with "asian-looking" guys, who've lived here all their lives, as have their parents, yet people are always giving them the "go back to where you came from" garbage. Their comeback is "I've never left Australian shores in my whole life, let alone come from anywhere else, so exactly where the **** do you want me to go, dickhead?"

Oh I know what you mean Sheyne. It's so unfortunate. I've dealt with situations similar to the one you described above. Once I was in Pennsylvania at a store and wanted to pay with my credit card. The sales person asked me for an ID, so I gave her my driver's licence from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has been a commonwealth of the US for over 100 years. We speak spanish there, but it's a US territory and we are US citizens. She refused to accept it claiming that it was from a foreign country. I explained to her about PR, but she didn't believe me, and demanded that I show her my passport. I told her that I didn't have it with me, and she refused to let me pay with the credit card, saying that she wasn't allowed to sell anything to a illegal immigrant! I demanded to see the supervisor who knew about Puerto Rico and my ID was accepted.

I couldn't believe what was happening to me and in Pennsylvania! because on the east coast everyone knows about Puerto Rico and the Puerto Ricans. There are 3 millions in NY alone. I was very surprised that she didn't know.

[delalluvia]

I couldn't believe what was happening to me and in Pennsylvania! because on the east coast everyone knows about Puerto Rico and the Puerto Ricans. There are 3 millions in NY alone. I was very surprised that she didn't know.

I think that is just an example of someone who didn't take full advantage of her school's curriculum when she had the opportunity.

For you Americans out there, I was in the drive-up of a fast food place not too long ago and as I was paying, the clerk guy turned to me and asked, "Do you know where Las Vegas is?"

And thinking there was probably more than one Las Vegas and maybe he was asking what route to take, I started, "Las Vegas, Nevada, right? -"

And he narrowed his eyes at me and said, "Las Vegas, Nevada?  Is that in California?"

 

[MaineWriter]

I know we commented on this thread that Britney needed to do some major overhauling to re-establish her career. Apparently, this is step no. 1.  This will be the August cover of the magazine.

[MaineWriter]

I can't believe this picture of Britney didn't generate some comment!

[Sheyne]

Ahhhhh.... our favourite little Mensa-candidate is at it again...

 

[delalluvia]

I can't believe this picture of Britney didn't generate some comment!

Cause it's a 'been there done that' sort of thing from back in the Demi Moore pregnant days.