For instance, you differentiate your slavic background from white; even when you're passing as white, you're not really white. But a lot of lily-white people have that same kind of experience.
That's honestly part of the reason I do use that sort of language. Because when I explain things in terms of specific ethnicities (no one is going to argue that being culturally German is the same as being culturally Italian is the same as being culturally British), then I can, maybe, be using language that makes a dialogue possible. Because I can use language that a lot more people can relate to, because it's so damn hard when we rely on skin color. And then we're presented with the problem I have, where people don't fit into those nice little labels and boxes of "privileged" and "other".
Actually, there was a good article by Gary Kamiya in Salon about a year ago: Biracial, But Not Like Me (http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/02/05/obama_race/). It's written about Barak Obama and how Kamiya relates to him also as a person who's half-white. And just the nature of finding your own identity when you're straddling two worlds. Actually, Kamiya's done a few editorials about race. I've got links in my Delicious (http://delicious.com/ultranos/ibarw).
no subject
That's honestly part of the reason I do use that sort of language. Because when I explain things in terms of specific ethnicities (no one is going to argue that being culturally German is the same as being culturally Italian is the same as being culturally British), then I can, maybe, be using language that makes a dialogue possible. Because I can use language that a lot more people can relate to, because it's so damn hard when we rely on skin color. And then we're presented with the problem I have, where people don't fit into those nice little labels and boxes of "privileged" and "other".
Actually, there was a good article by Gary Kamiya in Salon about a year ago: Biracial, But Not Like Me (http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/02/05/obama_race/). It's written about Barak Obama and how Kamiya relates to him also as a person who's half-white. And just the nature of finding your own identity when you're straddling two worlds. Actually, Kamiya's done a few editorials about race. I've got links in my Delicious (http://delicious.com/ultranos/ibarw).