What ethnicity are you?

It means you like to surf, drink beer and play hockey?

Fun with stereotypes

 

yep thats me

surf the internet
drink root beer
play hookey

 

"Race" questions, grr.

Studied genetics in college. Human genetics is a mixed bag. Populations have been on the move and intermarrying/mating since forever.

Researchers selected Iceland as the most homogeneous place on earth for a massive gene pool study. They hope to build a genetic picture of every Icelander and then use the info for all sorts of disease and drug research.

They tried to set up family trees. They collected blood from every member of some families, did interviews, then performed parentage genetic tests as a first run. I forget the actual numbers, but the researchers were surprised by the number of claimed fathers who turned out to be, ahem, not the true sires. Those families were quietly eliminated from the studies and the results were NOT sent back to the would-be participants.

One of my nephews is one quarter Japanese, half black, one eighth Irish and one eighth German. His grandmother calls him her "ABC (Asian-Black-Caucasian) baby". Which bubble he will chose to darken on race questionaires is beyond me. I keep wondering which part of him looks most Irish or German -- if it's the right or left butt cheek.

Spoke to a woman whose job is to interview patients on check-in at a hospital. She has some 50-odd numbers she can use for race input. One example was "Mexican-Native American-Black-Caucasian". Pleeze!

A person's race matters only if mere appearance is to be used to make judgements about them. And you know the old saying about trusting what you see.

 

Sometimes it’s more than just stereotypes . . .

I’m half German and half Irish.

WORK, WORK, WORK - be slothful, lazy, relax - WORK, WORK, WORK - relax, relax, relax - WORK, WORK, WORK - yawn, do it tomorrow.

Sometimes I just can’t make up my mind whether I want to work or relax, but whichever it is, it is full tilt!

 

In reguards to hospital patient information, I would have to disagree that the person's ethnicity in not important. Many different ethnic groups have certain diseases or complications. They may be predisposition to heart problems. This might help diagnose certain problems.

 

In a hospital situation, the perception of a person's race might lead to judgements based on preconceptions.

I'm Japanese-American. One doctor wanted to screen me for stomach cancer. My family has been in the US for generations and we tend to drop dead from good 'ole, All-American heart disease. I could have used a stress test, not a 'scope.

Medical studies based on race are even more problematic than those based on sex.

 

Well, lookie that. An op. ed on race in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/opinion/...e27ab5d&ei=5070

 

i hear ya, im in the same situation although japanese and Okinawan are NOT the same everyone still thinks so. but my brother died of a heart attack at 42, my Dad has had 2 attacks, and my grandfather died of a heart attack at 48 and they wanted to screen me for stomach issues too

 

Ok, this "colorblind"/"human" thing is a little out of whack. I don't believe too many people don't internally "profile" to some extent. For example, how many times have you had to call some 800 number to deal with something or other, and find yourself hoping, PRAYING, you won't get stuck with a caller whose name is likely Al-Faroque Pradip Singh? Or getting into a cab in NYC. I know people who won't get into cabs driven by "towelheads" simply because they're likely to not know English too well, and you have to put in the extra effort to communicate. Is that really wrong? In some respects, I really don't think it is. Although a crude comparison, it's like buying the same product/service that tends to give you a hard time every 2 or 3 times you buy it. Should you keep buying it/the service if you know there's a good likelyhood it will result in some sort of angst? No. Should you keep the product off the shelf then? Of course not. THAT'S racism...





h34r:

 

You know, this poll actually made me think of something...

I have YET to see a black Prius owner...

Anyone know one?

 

yes

 

By the way, the issue of increased Stomach Cancer Risk and Japanese ethnicity goes away when an individual relocates to the good old USofA. Seems its an issue of diet rather than ethnicity.

In Japanese-Americans, the risk of stomach cancer is no higher than the general population. Unfortunately, the risk of Colon Ca rises to the level of the general US population as well.

 

You need to sit down and have a serious talk with that hard-working Irish part!

 

Did see a Prius being driven by a black dude in PA but that doesn't mean he was the OWNER. Heck, since he was black and a Prius is relatively expensive, and oh lordy, real popular, he probably STOLE it!

Yeah, I bet that's the real story.

Give me a break.

Acutually, don't know many black folks well enough to notice what kind of car they drive. Hubby's BOSS is black. He just got himself a brand new Land Rover. I think his (also black) wife drives an Infinity.

The Hubby is caucasian (family name is Slovinian - just about as "ca-ca-soid" as you can get) and drives a Honda Accord when not driving our Prius.

Hmm. Maybe I should get hold of a Russian Moskovich and drive that around town.

 

I had not, Squid, until two days ago, when a black woman driving a silver Prius identical to mine pulled in behind me at the Costco gas pumps.

She rolled down her window and said:

"Do you know anything about the gas tanks in these things? I can't seem to get more than 8 gallons in it..."

I of course laid my best PC rap on her.

 

Hmm. Maybe I should get hold of a Russian Moskovich and drive that around town.

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A volga, Spunky. Government leaders were chauffered in Volgas. Don't know if that's changed.

 

Spunky reminded me of a funny story...

Back when I lived in NYC, I worked in an office where I was the ONLY white guy there :lol: That in itself made for some GREAT stories... Anyway, I struck of a friendship with a guy named Kirby (yes, like the vacuum cleaner) who literally lived across a near-by major boulevard. If you've ever lived in NYC, you'd know there are tons of ethnic neighborhoods defined by various streets such that no one crosses simply because of a seemingly "invisible" barrier. So, whenever a white guy like me, walked across the boulevard into his neighborhood, you definitely got noticed. :lol: Anyway, I was helping him change brake pads on his Chevy Lumina, when I asked if I could use his bathroom. Just as I was about to enter his house I stopped short, and the following conversation took place:

"Hey Kirby, am I the first white guy to go into your house?"

He actually had to think about this for a while...

"Actually, no."
"REALLY?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, how long ago and how many times?"
"Once. Some repair guy in '79"

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

A volga, Spunky. Government leaders were chauffered in Volgas. Don't know if that's changed.

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No, no no...

If you want to be hardcore, you get a Russian LADA!


h34r:

 

To tell you the truth, this thread got me thinking how fun those days were. That office I worked in had just about EVERY demographic imaginable, and it made for a spectacularly interesting time. I remember the time this Chinese guy, learing to speak Portuguese, of all things, tried out his Portuguese on me, and said something like, "I think you're very handsome", whereas the Brazilian chick sitting in the back, and her Southern American friends, all cracked up with laughter...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Man, all sorts of memories are coming back... I could post up hundreds of stories...

 

Dave,

What cracks me up are the white dudes who set the up "proper procedures", to try to lump all Asians together as...Asians. My co-workers from India and the Phillipines and I would look at one another and say ummm, right.

Had to explain why I didn't speak "Chinese" to a white-American friend. "I need someone who can speak Chinese Chinese," she said when I asked her if she needed someone who spoke Mandarin or Cantonese or ??? Compared Japanese and Chinese to French and German and she "got" it.

Another friend couldn't see why I was hurt when she got all excited and explained her epiphany with, "Sometimes I forget you're not white." She stopped being my friend that day.

A Texan was certain I understood Japanese. I told him my parents didn't allow it to be spoken at all while I was growing up, that I only knew a few words. He insisted, I must at least DREAM in Japanese, yes? (And no, his last name was not Bush!)

Just today, at my yearly physical, I asked the doc if I had gained too much weight. She said something about Asian women carrying more padding. "normally". Whoa! Either I'm at a healthy weight/fat composition or I'm not.