Does it make you uncomfortable when someone describes a persons race when telling a story?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

So, you personally don't see that a person is white, black, Hispanic, or whatever? I can't imagine not noticing something so obvious. I miss eye color a bit. But not hair or skin color.

Agree.

I have never ever heard anyone say, "So, I was standing in line and this brown haired lady..."

Random, irrelevant eye color, hair color observations are rare. However random, irrelevant skin color or race observations are quite common but only if the subject is non white.

Exactly.

Really? You have never heard anyone say - she is over by the lady with the blond hair?

That wasn't the PP's point. If you're pointing out something like you mentioned, of course it makes sense to mention race or other physical descriptions. "My son is the Hispanic kid." "Do you see the poster by the tall man with blond hair?" "The teacher is the black woman next to the door." It's when race is absolutely irrelevant to the story that it's weird. "I was in line at the grocery store and the Asian woman in front of me dropped her wallet."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:states their race- depends on the person and the context of their story.

describes their race- this is a tip off to a paranoid person trying not to come off racist... "um the person had darker skin.... um and curly- really curly hair..."

What's wrong with this description? I'm black and this is exactly how I describe myself. I'm dark with really long, super curly hair. I'm pretty certain I'm not racist against myself but I'm sure someone here will come along and tell me otherwise.

[Anonymous]

No. I hate when people are afraid of "race"....

you know she is the lady, with the green shirt, who told us where to park.... she is .... you know... you know who I am talking about....

You mean the black lady. Yea THE BLACK LADY, HISPANIC BOY, AFRICAN WAITER, ... SAY IT! JEEEZ!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. I hate when people are afraid of "race"....

you know she is the lady, with the green shirt, who told us where to park.... she is .... you know... you know who I am talking about....

You mean the black lady. Yea THE BLACK LADY, HISPANIC BOY, AFRICAN WAITER, ... SAY IT! JEEEZ!

Calm down and see post 15:08

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I hate when people are afraid of "race"....

you know she is the lady, with the green shirt, who told us where to park.... she is .... you know... you know who I am talking about....

You mean the black lady. Yea THE BLACK LADY, HISPANIC BOY, AFRICAN WAITER, ... SAY IT! JEEEZ!

Calm down and see post 15:08

No. I don't need to read every single post.

I am a calm, a calm black woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I hate when people are afraid of "race"....

you know she is the lady, with the green shirt, who told us where to park.... she is .... you know... you know who I am talking about....

You mean the black lady. Yea THE BLACK LADY, HISPANIC BOY, AFRICAN WAITER, ... SAY IT! JEEEZ!

Calm down and see post 15:08

No. I don't need to read every single post.

I am a calm, a calm black woman.

No, you don't have to read every single post, but I think the PP's point was that you missed the true intent of the OP's question. It's about storytelling where race isn't a factor in the story, not when it's a useful description in a situation like you described in bold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I hate when people are afraid of "race"....

you know she is the lady, with the green shirt, who told us where to park.... she is .... you know... you know who I am talking about....

You mean the black lady. Yea THE BLACK LADY, HISPANIC BOY, AFRICAN WAITER, ... SAY IT! JEEEZ!

Calm down and see post 15:08

No. I don't need to read every single post.

I am a calm, a calm black woman.

No, you don't have to read every single post, but I think the PP's point was that you missed the true intent of the OP's question. It's about storytelling where race isn't a factor in the story, not when it's a useful description in a situation like you described in bold.

My point is if you are comfortable with race you are not afraid of the words and they naturally are part of the story. But if you trip over the words you need to get more comfortable with the words and the only way to do that is to use them. It's like I tell my kids... USE YOUR WORDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

So, you personally don't see that a person is white, black, Hispanic, or whatever? I can't imagine not noticing something so obvious. I miss eye color a bit. But not hair or skin color.

Agree.

I have never ever heard anyone say, "So, I was standing in line and this brown haired lady..."

Random, irrelevant eye color, hair color observations are rare. However random, irrelevant skin color or race observations are quite common but only if the subject is non white.

Exactly.

Really? You have never heard anyone say - she is over by the lady with the blond hair?

That wasn't the PP's point. If you're pointing out something like you mentioned, of course it makes sense to mention race or other physical descriptions. "My son is the Hispanic kid." "Do you see the poster by the tall man with blond hair?" "The teacher is the black woman next to the door." It's when race is absolutely irrelevant to the story that it's weird. "I was in line at the grocery store and the Asian woman in front of me dropped her wallet."

It is irrelevant in that it matters not if the woman was Asian, European, African, etc... but it matters as an adjective describing the scene you are telling a story about. It paints the picture. People add details all the time that are irrelevant to the main point but provide context and description. It is just part of how most people talk. Short/tall, hair color, pregnant, with 3 little kids, etc... details that often could be left out but aren't. Creates a visual narrative to accompany the story.

If you look at kids story books - they are illustrated. Not just the main points but lots of details to add context and description to the story. People will be given races (or varying skin shades and hair colors) in illustrations - even if irrelevant to the story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I hate when people are afraid of "race"....

you know she is the lady, with the green shirt, who told us where to park.... she is .... you know... you know who I am talking about....

You mean the black lady. Yea THE BLACK LADY, HISPANIC BOY, AFRICAN WAITER, ... SAY IT! JEEEZ!

Calm down and see post 15:08

No. I don't need to read every single post.

I am a calm, a calm black woman.

i said read 15:08 - that is one.single.post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

So, you personally don't see that a person is white, black, Hispanic, or whatever? I can't imagine not noticing something so obvious. I miss eye color a bit. But not hair or skin color.

Agree.

I have never ever heard anyone say, "So, I was standing in line and this brown haired lady..."

Random, irrelevant eye color, hair color observations are rare. However random, irrelevant skin color or race observations are quite common but only if the subject is non white.

Exactly.

Really? You have never heard anyone say - she is over by the lady with the blond hair?

That wasn't the PP's point. If you're pointing out something like you mentioned, of course it makes sense to mention race or other physical descriptions. "My son is the Hispanic kid." "Do you see the poster by the tall man with blond hair?" "The teacher is the black woman next to the door." It's when race is absolutely irrelevant to the story that it's weird. "I was in line at the grocery store and the Asian woman in front of me dropped her wallet."

It is irrelevant in that it matters not if the woman was Asian, European, African, etc... but it matters as an adjective describing the scene you are telling a story about. It paints the picture. People add details all the time that are irrelevant to the main point but provide context and description. It is just part of how most people talk. Short/tall, hair color, pregnant, with 3 little kids, etc... details that often could be left out but aren't. Creates a visual narrative to accompany the story.

If you look at kids story books - they are illustrated. Not just the main points but lots of details to add context and description to the story. People will be given races (or varying skin shades and hair colors) in illustrations - even if irrelevant to the story.

this is a piss poor analogy and really fails to address the larger point that very often when people only describe race WHEN TALKING ABOUT NON-WHITE PEOPLE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

So, you personally don't see that a person is white, black, Hispanic, or whatever? I can't imagine not noticing something so obvious. I miss eye color a bit. But not hair or skin color.

Agree.

I have never ever heard anyone say, "So, I was standing in line and this brown haired lady..."

Random, irrelevant eye color, hair color observations are rare. However random, irrelevant skin color or race observations are quite common but only if the subject is non white.

Exactly.

Really? You have never heard anyone say - she is over by the lady with the blond hair?

That wasn't the PP's point. If you're pointing out something like you mentioned, of course it makes sense to mention race or other physical descriptions. "My son is the Hispanic kid." "Do you see the poster by the tall man with blond hair?" "The teacher is the black woman next to the door." It's when race is absolutely irrelevant to the story that it's weird. "I was in line at the grocery store and the Asian woman in front of me dropped her wallet."

It is irrelevant in that it matters not if the woman was Asian, European, African, etc... but it matters as an adjective describing the scene you are telling a story about. It paints the picture. People add details all the time that are irrelevant to the main point but provide context and description. It is just part of how most people talk. Short/tall, hair color, pregnant, with 3 little kids, etc... details that often could be left out but aren't. Creates a visual narrative to accompany the story.

If you look at kids story books - they are illustrated. Not just the main points but lots of details to add context and description to the story. People will be given races (or varying skin shades and hair colors) in illustrations - even if irrelevant to the story.

this is a piss poor analogy and really fails to address the larger point that very often when people only describe race WHEN TALKING ABOUT NON-WHITE PEOPLE

Thanks for responding to that poster so I didn't have to attempt to.

Some people find mentioning race in a story when it's not a relevant detail problematic while others don't. That's okay. But for people to not acknowledge- even after several posters have eloquently explained- that many times it's mentioned not to add description or context to a story but to point out "I SAW THIS PERSON WHO WAS A DIFFERENT COLOR THAN ME EXISTING TODAY!" is just strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

So, you personally don't see that a person is white, black, Hispanic, or whatever? I can't imagine not noticing something so obvious. I miss eye color a bit. But not hair or skin color.

Agree.

I have never ever heard anyone say, "So, I was standing in line and this brown haired lady..."

Random, irrelevant eye color, hair color observations are rare. However random, irrelevant skin color or race observations are quite common but only if the subject is non white.

Exactly.

Really? You have never heard anyone say - she is over by the lady with the blond hair?

That wasn't the PP's point. If you're pointing out something like you mentioned, of course it makes sense to mention race or other physical descriptions. "My son is the Hispanic kid." "Do you see the poster by the tall man with blond hair?" "The teacher is the black woman next to the door." It's when race is absolutely irrelevant to the story that it's weird. "I was in line at the grocery store and the Asian woman in front of me dropped her wallet."

It is irrelevant in that it matters not if the woman was Asian, European, African, etc... but it matters as an adjective describing the scene you are telling a story about. It paints the picture. People add details all the time that are irrelevant to the main point but provide context and description. It is just part of how most people talk. Short/tall, hair color, pregnant, with 3 little kids, etc... details that often could be left out but aren't. Creates a visual narrative to accompany the story.

If you look at kids story books - they are illustrated. Not just the main points but lots of details to add context and description to the story. People will be given races (or varying skin shades and hair colors) in illustrations - even if irrelevant to the story.

this is a piss poor analogy and really fails to address the larger point that very often when people only describe race WHEN TALKING ABOUT NON-WHITE PEOPLE

Thanks for responding to that poster so I didn't have to attempt to.

Some people find mentioning race in a story when it's not a relevant detail problematic while others don't. That's okay. But for people to not acknowledge- even after several posters have eloquently explained- that many times it's mentioned not to add description or context to a story but to point out "I SAW THIS PERSON WHO WAS A DIFFERENT COLOR THAN ME EXISTING TODAY!" is just strange.

I think we run in different circles then. I only ever hear it mentioned as a detail in a story. I don't know anyone who points out that they say an Asian existing today or look a black lady - or points out race solely for the sake of point out race. Don't think I have ever heard that done.

[Anonymous]

Yes, because it is never needed. We don't describe the dude who lives with Curious George as the white guy with the yellow hat, he's simply the man with the yellow hat. Waldo from Where's Waldo? Just a guy in red and white striped shirt. Never a mention of his race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, because it is never needed. We don't describe the dude who lives with Curious George as the white guy with the yellow hat, he's simply the man with the yellow hat. Waldo from Where's Waldo? Just a guy in red and white striped shirt. Never a mention of his race.

Yea.... Nobody has ever said... "This white dude...."

[Anonymous]

First of all, no, it doesn't make me uncomfortable when someone describes a persons race when telling a story. My best friend and my husband are both different races than I am.

So here's what I think. If it makes you uncomfortable, there's a reason for that, and it's probably that you are a racist.