Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 19:03     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
Anonymous wrote:It has nothing to do with color or ethnicity and everything to do with making a small effort to adapt to the culture of the country you have chosen to live in. I mean, the shoe thing-is it really that big of a deal one way or another? You are free in this country to worship Buddha, Kali, Moses or whatever. Isn't that part of the reason you are here? Please don't say no, it's because I can make more money in the US than in my home country because that's all the more reason you should make some small attempt to educate yourself about American customs. I would never go to India and eat out of a bowl with my left hand even if I do it all the time here-why? Because, I would have the courtesy to educate myself in what is proper behavior in my host country and make a good faith attempt to honor my hosts.


Another poster who could use a history course. The US is a country of immigrants, and US culture(s) reflect that. India, OTOH, is not a nation whose culture developed out of recent immigrant history.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:59     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
Anonymous wrote:It has nothing to do with color or ethnicity and everything to do with making a small effort to adapt to the culture of the country you have chosen to live in. I mean, the shoe thing-is it really that big of a deal one way or another? You are free in this country to worship Buddha, Kali, Moses or whatever. Isn't that part of the reason you are here? Please don't say no, it's because I can make more money in the US than in my home country because that's all the more reason you should make some small attempt to educate yourself about American customs. I would never go to India and eat out of a bowl with my left hand even if I do it all the time here-why? Because, I would have the courtesy to educate myself in what is proper behavior in my host country and make a good faith attempt to honor my hosts.


PP, I'm confused. Are you equating eating out of a bowl with your left hand in India with wearing no shoes inside in the US? Your argument is lost on me.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:50     Subject: Re:American does NOT mean only white people!
I think the shoe post degenerated into an "Asian vs American" battle when the Koreen/Japanese poster said something about non-openess to other cultures is why everyone else "hates" Americans so much.

After that the relatively civil discussion about cleanliness standards and class just exploded.

When you draw first blood you really can't complain about all the shoe/shoeless fanatics coming out in full force
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:48     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
It has nothing to do with color or ethnicity and everything to do with making a small effort to adapt to the culture of the country you have chosen to live in. I mean, the shoe thing-is it really that big of a deal one way or another? You are free in this country to worship Buddha, Kali, Moses or whatever. Isn't that part of the reason you are here? Please don't say no, it's because I can make more money in the US than in my home country because that's all the more reason you should make some small attempt to educate yourself about American customs. I would never go to India and eat out of a bowl with my left hand even if I do it all the time here-why? Because, I would have the courtesy to educate myself in what is proper behavior in my host country and make a good faith attempt to honor my hosts.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:47     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wait. You mean Americans can be something other than white???

Who knew. Here I am living and working in the District of Columbia and I truly had no idea.


Most white and black Americans in DC see an Asian person, and they do not think "American," they think "Asian." That is a problem, IMO.


Meaning they think Asian-Americans don't count as American or they think they are from another country?

I'm glad none of my friends think that. How bizarre.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:41     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
Anonymous wrote:When an Asian woman says that she is married to an American, she means a white person.


Uh, they also say it about an African American.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:39     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
Anonymous wrote:Wait. You mean Americans can be something other than white???

Who knew. Here I am living and working in the District of Columbia and I truly had no idea.


Most white and black Americans in DC see an Asian person, and they do not think "American," they think "Asian." That is a problem, IMO.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:24     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
Wait. You mean Americans can be something other than white???

Who knew. Here I am living and working in the District of Columbia and I truly had no idea.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:23     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
17:50 - you're surprised that the shoes on people are also racist? C'mon now.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:19     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
Anonymous wrote:When an Asian woman says that she is married to an American, she means a white person.


Where my Southern DH grew up, "white" mean people of European and Asian descent.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:16     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
When an Asian woman says that she is married to an American, she means a white person.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:11     Subject: Re:American does NOT mean only white people!
Anonymous wrote:WHAT? Are we really defining American culture as shoes on or off? I'm 100% white American and take shoes off at the door - why ruin your carpet, get floors dirty? That being said I don't think of it as a cultural thing just polite manners...


No. There is a main American custom about shoes in the house. As I said, I prefer shoes off. Doesn't change the main American custom of shoes on.

Hamburgers are a part of American culture. I prefer sushi. But if I admit that hamburgers are a bigger part of American culture than sushi am I being racist?

The OP is way over thinking this.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:07     Subject: Re:American does NOT mean only white people!
WHAT? Are we really defining American culture as shoes on or off? I'm 100% white American and take shoes off at the door - why ruin your carpet, get floors dirty? That being said I don't think of it as a cultural thing just polite manners...
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 18:03     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
American culture and custom is a mix of various cultures. The main American custom is shoes on in the home. This custom is practiced by Americans of all races. Likewise, some Americans of all races practice no shoes in the home. Some of these people do it because of a family cultural connection, like being from Asia, and some because the have adopted the custom.

The American custom is still shoes in the home. It's not my preference and I am white, fwiw.
Anonymous
Post 09/28/2011 17:50     Subject: American does NOT mean only white people!
S/O from the shoes thread in which several posters say that Asians need to accommodate the "American" custom of keeping shoes on in the home. However, given that many of the Asians who have a no-shoes policy are, in fact, American and not foreigners, the argument is racist. It implies that what is truly American is Anglo-European. Why do otherwise well educated DCUMers have such a poor understanding of our own history???