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Forum nameOkay Activist Archives
Topic subjectAgain, on the contrary
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=2242&mesg_id=2355
2355, Again, on the contrary
Posted by dhalgren718, Sun Mar-21-04 03:41 AM
My wife is very aware of her African ancestry. The difference, she knows African immigrants, and knows there is a very clear distinction between say, Ghanaians and American creoles. They are distinct ethnic groups at this point, and she makes that clear. I am also aware of my 'Abrahamic' roots, but am an American Jew - not European or Israeli or Ethiopian. It's so fucking fashionable to excise the 'American' from everyone's nationality because most it carries a taste like ash when spoken, but despite the distasteful roots of the hyphenation; there is a distinction. African-American culture is unique and incredible - and it's African-FLAVORED, but not African... any more than Italian-American style is by definition how they get down in Milan, or Chinese-American is how they do things in Hunan.

But that's a whole 'nother other discussion.

And again, I'd like to make clear that I'm making my case as example of the exception: not as a platform of conversion. I understand the arguments as posted, I just don't agree with them. I am not talking about creating a world where everyone marries everyone til we have this middle-ground monoculture. I am saying that love and politics can remain on separate plains, and as an extension of this, convergent relationships can exist without the constant power play or ego-tripping that seem to categorize said relationships on this board. I'm also going to post this paragraph further down, just to make sure this disclaimer isn't missed.