In American schools, they will tell you all about African-Americans, what horrible things were done to them, how they fought back heroically against oppression, etc. (Jews get talked about too, but only in the context of Nazi Germany.) This greatly heightens the level of pity they have for them (think about all those "starving children in Africa" ads even though there are plenty of starving children elsewhere, maybe even much closer) and in a way, African-Americans take advantage over this fact to get up and be as loud as possible over when tragedies involving them happen, they also believe they are under the greatest threat from the privileged, after all. They know people will listen to them, so why not get it all out?
I would suspect that this is a natural consequence of schooling in any nation. Canada gets little, if any, of the USA history. We get a year or two of Canadian history and that's it. Americans only get involved when it's involved in Canadian history (that is, the rise of the Canadian militia during the War of 1812, Canada as the destination of some US slaves, etc). It's certainly a given that the slave movement and its relation to the Civil War certainly gives a major reason to discuss it.
I would hesitate to go all in on the "Starving children in Africa" thought though - There are third world nations elsewhere but a great deal of it certainly focuses on the middle Africa area. Really, it's certainly easy to say that it's the continent in the most dire straits economically and efforts probably are most likely to pay off there.
There's also that they have simply been here in large numbers for a long time to add to said awareness, and while it's not okay to hate on someone's race...it's totally okay to hate on immigrants. People don't really care when you're being racist to a minority that doesn't have anyone to back them up either, one of my Chinese friends had to deal with a whole lot of shit back where she used to live in America because there were very few other Chinese there. (eventually her family moved to Canada in some town where the Chinese population is high.)
I can see that. There's a great theory of "The Other" which deal with the notions of minority and majority populace.
Vancouver? Toronto? Those have some pretty huge Chinese populaces.
I'm curious what she thinks of Canada though. It might be an interesting to see the contrast in populace. In particular, I would have to wonder how a minority heavy city (ala San Francisco) would compare to, say, Vancouver. It might highlight fundamental differences between Canadian and American cultures.
the black community has quite the history of being loud about oppression(or even perceived oppression as the case may be. If anyone is curious I can give an example), so they are the ones that get heard. The Latino community is trying to keep quiet because as far as they are concerned most Americans are just looking for a reason to get rid of them. As for why the Asian community doesn't say anything...i don't really know. I haven't ever been to an area with an Asian community before, so I haven't really spoken with anyone to get an idea of what they think.
Which is interesting too in my mind. One must wonder if it's an ideological issue. Jewish individuals at one time had a situation similar to the "black" and "Asian" populace as untrustworthy individuals. A combination of hard work and continual defiance of the expected norm eventually changed stereotype (where we now get the stereotype of "Jewish people control" and the like). I feel much of the East Asian populace walked a similar path from "unskilled, uneducated laborers" to the "hard working tech experts". In specific, there was an old phrase of "Chinaman's chance" to describe a situation with little chance. It arose because of the fact that East Asian workers on transcontinental railroads got the worse jobs possible. Setting unstable explosives, being lowered over horrifying conditions...chance of survival were terrible, so they had a Chinaman's chance of surviving. At least, that's how I heard it. Either way, the stereotype and prejudice against the East Asian populace existed and changed greatly in the years since.
I feel the "Latino" and "black" communities are trying two different approaches. At one end is the "black" culture, crying out for equal grounds. Which, correct or incorrect, is certainly one approach to achieving what their perceive as equality. The other approaches these previously walked paths. A slow defiance of expectations. A demand of respect not by vocal statements but by action. It's almost what I'd call a submissive defiance since there's nothing strange about what they've done. They would simply outwork or outmaneuver the expectation. Chinese, for example, often spent many, many years keeping their noses down and working the worst conditions while continually looking for opportunities to improve. All while sending virtually all the money they earned back home so that they could afford their family a better life (be it immigration to North America or just doing better in China, the sick man of Asia at the time). And I think we're seeing a similar trend by the Mexican and Caribbean immigrants in the United States, where they work tougher jobs but are willing to put in all the effort to make it happen. it's why I think some American politicians are running scared...they have a fear, justified in their mind, that immigrants will come in and steal jobs from what they perceive as the traditional United States. It's a well worn path and I will imagine that this sort of demand for recognition will receive attention as they continue to defy the old stereotypes.
The other path, the path of visceral and vocal descent, is one rarely walked. I would hesitate to put a connection to Woman's suffrage but it's the only modern equivalent I can think of. The Arab Spring situation in Egypt was interesting but I'm not sure if it really makes a good comparable either. I can't say much about the outcome other than it garnering a hell of a lot of media attention.
i think mercurius probably summed it up pretty well though. Where i live it's pretty interesting though in that the people you see out in town will try too hard to be accepting of other races, cultures, ideals, etc. Because they're "internet youths" and have been taught for their whole lives that it's good to feel that way. Actually not a bad place to live imo except for the fact that it's in Texas, and hot as hell.
inb4 "it's a dry heat". STFU IT'S. 100 DEGREES OUTSIDE
It's actually an interesting notion. I've worked in a company with a strong connection to Texas (heavily based in College Station). Every Christmas party with them was always a very friendly and cordial affair. It's much closer to the old Southern friendliness stereotype rather than the Tea Party stereotype that floods conversation today.
Granted, I also live in "Texas North", so I guess I've heard the same stereotypes all my life and know how to spot them.
(I still hate that stereotype by the way)
But the white vs. blacks things is definitely the biggest here. I feel like they make 80% of the population, though I can't prove that. Also have to consider the history and just "how things ended up". Can't erase the past or its consequences: I don't have any statistics or anything and am too lazy to show them, but I'm sure they'd point out that there's more than a dichotomy or what have you in our heads and the like.
You're not wrong. The number I typically hear, if you add those two ethnic groups, is about 75-80%.
Whenever I see something on the news, it usually just boils down to one thing: some person got offended about something for some stupid reason. And it just makes me want to stay inside my house and never speak to another living individual (in person) ever again.
I honestly feel as if America has taken to being offended at every little thing they can possibly get offended at. It's just not the minority or the majority, it's EVERYONE. People of all religions, of all nationalities, of all races, of all sexual orientation, of all sexes... If people would just cool their jets, put aside their own pride and see past their own noses, they might just realize that this world doesn't revolve around them.
I think that's the real root of this racial discrimination business. It's not really about prejudice or discrimination anymore. It's about people wanting to be offended over every little thing, for their own selfish reasons.
One wonders if it's the era of internet. It's easy to spot a significant change in the way we as a continent have handled things in the last 10-15 years. I mean, the internet likes to react. It likes to overreact. Every little thing.
But this also doesn't explain much about why other groups don't raise as loud as fuss. I mean, "Latino" groups are approximately the same population size in the US but you don't hear their protests or revolts as often. Unless that would suggest a social difference where these groups are unique outliers which aren't entirely concerned with racial discrimination.