|
Aneirin -> RE: Race and skin color. (10/4/2011 3:32:33 AM)
|
Well, to be fair, one who is of an ancestry that bears a skin colour which is darker than the supposed majority voice, has a valid point and that by being darker, but skin colour is a very contentious issue and very likely to elicit calls of racism from many quarters, almost as if it was a knee jerk reaction to any talk on skin colour. I wonder if the reaction would be same if it were the lighter skin colours that were the subject of the conversation, as the term 'white' does not fit those that are termed by it, because apart from the albino who is truly white, and even then the albino isn't white. So the use of colour pigmentation is a useless description, because many who deal with colour pigmentation will tell you, there are many shades of black and many shades of white, so simply using black and white to describe all is useless.
But why is skin colour such a sticky subject, well from a personal and perhaps historical perspective, my country conquered most of the world in it's past and in order for it to do that it had to make enemies to fight to gain a foothold in a country of choice and the way it did was to demonise the people to the public, there still exists statues in various places where those from Africa are portrayed as almost sub human. What we have especially in the older generation is a lingering fear of what is termed black and that residue from the past. On the whole, the younger generation in this country have no problem with skin colour except perhaps for the derogatory use as an insult, because we all know insults are designed to hurt.
Now observations of our cousins, the Americans much of their unease is also historical, so the past in this issue is as in every other issue a problem, what our ancestors did, we aren't to blame for it, but it would help matters immensely if we recognised that fact and their analysed our attitude, because if you do, many will find prejudices totally unfounded. From my experience those who hate, do so because they are people who generally have a lot to say about many things and even that usually boils down to just plain old insecurity and with that, unfounded fear. But why insecure, well that I believe is simply the pecking order of nature someone has to be superior to another and by that someone has to be inferior to another, we apparently subconsciously compare ourselves to others to judge our feelings on self adequacy, in a society ruled by classes those presented to the majority as sub human receive the inferior title in order to elevate those they require service of, just simple people manipulation and a method that has been working well throughout history, mostly militarily.
As to a fitting description, if I am asked to describe a person, I have noticed one of the first things asked usually by the plod, is what skin colour, and to that I answer dark or light tone, depending which tone I perceived, (one works with sensitometry in photography, one learns colours are in fact tones, especially with the visual black and white perception, how does colour translate and the link to the amount of light an object is exposed to).
Obviously such an answer annoys so further questions are asked and this is where I have learned to be very careful, ( I have got a police officer's goat before by the use of out dated terminology to describe a person of which he just happened to be one, unbeknown to me, but he enlightened me to that fact and was somewhat snotty thereafter ),as plod like to put words into peoples mouths, and using tones as a description flies right over many a plod's head. Usually I get asked to exemplify and I would say a skin tone with similarity to say whatever nationality, as it is usual most country's even have their inter-country difference depending on where they are in the world, stereotypes are known, perhaps a vestige from our tribal past, tribal being largely familial in origin. But as some like to put words into people's mouths people like the plod then go on to say I am meaning a person of such and such ethnicity, to which I say, no, I said similar to not the same as, there is a difference. so what I am trying to get across, is I won't go into supposed ethnicity as in our modern world that can be indecisive, so to be accurate, one has to be accurate and I am a p.i.t.a to people whom I perceive as offensive, plod by experience, I distrust the plod and that from experience and that was just their questioning.
But using the terms; black or white is largely useless and no good for accurate descriptions of which I believe such institutions as the plod depend.
But an interesting page on the subject of colour and tone
|
|
|
|
