Are people afraid to say "black guy"? [Archive]

View Full Version : Are people afraid to say "black guy"?

David04

03-01-2005, 08:08 PM

I was listening to the radio this morning, and I don't even know what they were talking about, but that's not important. One of the DJ's on this show is black, and was talking about something taht he liked to do, I don't know. So I hear the white soccer mom type DJ pipe up and say "Now, is this something only a brother can do?"

I don't know what the hell she meant by that, by I about died when she called him a brother. Is that what is respectful? Or politically correct? I always just call black people what they are, black people.

Is that ignorant of me to say "black guy"(or girl)?

Or was what she said even worse, calling a black guy a "brother"?

Asufiji2004

03-01-2005, 08:11 PM

no matter what she said I'm sure black people could find a problem with it.

daryn

03-01-2005, 08:12 PM

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
no matter what she said I'm sure black people could find a problem with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

ding

istewart

03-01-2005, 08:12 PM

Call them black people. If they really have a problem with it, that's a bit excessive. Certainly don't say "brother," lol.

JaBlue

03-01-2005, 08:15 PM

It's more PC to say "african american" but because its so long winded I just say black too.

RogerZBT

03-01-2005, 08:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
no matter what she said I'm sure black people could find a problem with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice idiotic generalization there.

The Black Guy

riffraff

03-01-2005, 08:16 PM

"brother" isn't that bad... I could be way off base but I dont think they'd have a big problem with it.

Asufiji2004

03-01-2005, 08:16 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
no matter what she said I'm sure black people could find a problem with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice idiotic generalization there.

The Black Guy

[/ QUOTE ]

Told you

David04

03-01-2005, 08:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It's more PC to say "african american" but because its so long winded I just say black too.

[/ QUOTE ]
Not all African Americans are black, should I call white people from South Africa "African Americans"?

Evan

03-01-2005, 08:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
no matter what she said I'm sure black people could find a problem with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice idiotic generalization there.

The Black Guy

[/ QUOTE ]

Told you

[/ QUOTE ]

WAPOWN!!!

Eurotrash

03-01-2005, 08:21 PM

GoblinMason (Craig)

03-01-2005, 08:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
no matter what she said I'm sure black people could find a problem with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice idiotic generalization there.

The Black Guy

[/ QUOTE ]

GG sir.

Rushmore

03-01-2005, 08:41 PM

Hearing a "soccer mom" say "brother" would make me cringe the same way I do every time Randy Jackson says "dog."

Mayhap

03-01-2005, 08:43 PM

Unless you are the police and are describing a perp, why does anyone ever have to go for that extra racial delineation in everyday communication? We won't be truly unified until we can stop perpetrating a paradigm of separateness.

/M

jedi

03-01-2005, 08:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It's more PC to say "african american" but because its so long winded I just say black too.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I know someone to be African American, then I say that they're African American. As someone pointed out, not all black people are African (and not all of them are American either), and not all African Americans are black.

My sister had a black friend from Haiti who always hated being called African American.

InchoateHand

03-01-2005, 08:50 PM

No.

Rushmore

03-01-2005, 08:52 PM

[ QUOTE ]
We won't be truly unified until we can stop perpetrating a paradigm of separateness.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you make t-shirts or bumper stickers, by any chance?

"Difference" is not the same as "separateness."

I guess "tall guy," "fat guy," and "weak-tight" should be stricken from the language as well.

Egalitarianism never meant that you may not acknowledge that people are different.

Hey, maybe I ought to get on that t-shirt/bumper sticker thing myself!

David04

03-01-2005, 09:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Unless you are the police and are describing a perp, why does anyone ever have to go for that extra racial delineation in everyday communication? We won't be truly unified until we can stop perpetrating a paradigm of separateness.

/M

[/ QUOTE ]
Black is an adjective. It's only racial delineation if you choose to make it so.

[censored]

03-01-2005, 09:17 PM

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"brother" isn't that bad... I could be way off base but I dont think they'd have a big problem with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

The only people I would ever call brother are my brothers.

[censored]

03-01-2005, 09:20 PM

riffraff

03-01-2005, 09:21 PM

maybe I grew up in a racist neighborhood but the cops always referred to the black guys as brothers.. *shrug*

Sooga

03-01-2005, 09:50 PM

I think if anyone sees the term 'black guy' as offensive, they may be retarded. If that same person freely uses the term 'white guy', then there is no doubt that they are retarded.

MicroBob

03-01-2005, 10:06 PM

If there's a boxing match on TV between a 'white guy' and a 'black guy' the graphic at the bottom of the screen will differentiate between them based on the color of their trunks

"Johnson - Red trunks, Smith - Yellow trunks"

My adult soccer team is brand new and many of the players were getting to know each other. In our first scrimmage our coach told a player sitting next to me to go in for Terrance...who happens to be our only black player.
"which one is Terrance"
"he's playing center-mid....the big guy wearing the blue."
the player still couldn't see which one it was...so I said "he's the black guy."

I'm REALLY liberal politically....but this politcally-correct sillyness of the coach describing him as 'the big guy wearing the blue' was kind of ridiculous (especially since he wasn't the only one wearing blue).

FWIW - I worked in a warehouse where about 90% of the employees were black. If I had to point-out someone across the floor for some reason I would have to problem doing the opposite
me - "go tell Josh it's time for his break"
new guy - "who?"
me - "over there....the white guy"

As far as 'brother' is concerned. I think a bunch of cops getting together and using that term is likely being said in kind of a deragatory way.
But there are other situations where it probably is more cool and accepted. Which, of course, makes it difficult to know what the hell is appropriate.

Nottom

03-02-2005, 01:11 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Call them black people. If they really have a problem with it, that's a bit excessive. Certainly don't say "brother," lol.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nottom

03-02-2005, 01:13 AM

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maybe I grew up in a racist neighborhood but the cops always referred to the black guys as brothers.. *shrug*

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Exactly. Brother is more likely to be used as a replacement for another word we all know the black folks don't like.

nothumb

03-02-2005, 01:17 AM

I say black all the time. I work with a bunch of black (and white, and Puerto Rican, but mostly black) kids who love to get mad at me for no reason. And they never get mad when I talk about people being black. The only time I would think it might be a problem is if it's used in a way where it's meant as the sole adjective to describe a negative interaction, i.e. "So some black guy was staring at my girlfriend in McDonald's today." As if his being black makes it worse.

Side note, my boss is black, and whenever kids are trying to suck up or something (or mess with him) and call him 'Brother,' he tells them, "I only have one brother and he lives in Connecticut."

NT

lighterjobs

03-02-2005, 01:28 AM

[ QUOTE ]
maybe I grew up in a racist neighborhood but the cops always referred to the black guys as brothers.. *shrug*

[/ QUOTE ]

just because their black means the COPS only know them as brothers? racist bastard.

BeerMoney

03-02-2005, 09:20 AM

Ever notice that when people say black, they'll lower their voice too?

partygirluk

03-02-2005, 09:23 AM

[ QUOTE ]
It's more PC to say "african american" but because its so long winded I just say black too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Saying African American is really dumb. They are just Americans. Many of them can trace their bloodlines back to America much further than many white people. I think "African American" is a stupid term. They are black. What is the problem with saying that? It is just a colour!

David04

03-02-2005, 04:12 PM

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Ever notice that when people say black, they'll lower their voice too?

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hahahaha that is my favorite part about stupid people!

Matty

03-02-2005, 05:03 PM

I've always said 'black', and I live in a black neighborhood. No one has ever had a problem with it.