Comment on Is this just how it’s gonna be till Election Day?
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 4 months agoIf Harris was born in the US, moved to Norway when she was 3, went to school in Norway, studied in Norway, then returned to the US, what ethnicity do you think she would identify with?
Identity with, or identify as? You can choose the former to an extent, but the latter is biologically inherited.
Why would you connect such unconnected things as phenotype and heritage?
Fine, since you’re getting hung up on definitions, instead of “phenotype” say “inherited physical characteristics”. I don’t feel like getting into an argument about genetics, it’s beside the point. The point is, people inherit physical characteristics common to their enthnicity, and that is what “race” is. It’s not a bad thing, just a descriptor.
The connection is not “You have black skin, therefore, you are African American”
The connection is “you have black skin, and wiry hair, and African ancestry, and X and Y and Z, therefore you are Black.” And it’s less a connection than a definition. No value judgment, just a statement.
It sounds like what you should be arguing against is “you are Black, therefore you are inferior”. Which would be a really easy and common argument to make without all this bullshit “race is imaginary” crap.
barsoap@lemm.ee 4 months ago
So Obama isn’t African American, got it.
Ethnicity is not genetic. Are you one of those yanks spewing nonsense such as “I’m 23% French that’s why I like mayonnaise”.
That anyone said that is something you’re imagining. As to why, see my previous reply.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 4 months ago
I told you, ignore the genetic bit if you want to quibble about it. I’m talking about inherited physical characteristics. What would you call it? Pick a word, whatever. That’s what I’m talking about, and that’s the basis for race.
barsoap@lemm.ee 4 months ago
That’s genetics.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Ok, there you have it. I think that’s an incorrect usage of the word, but for the sake of discussion, let’s call it genetics. It’s a real, physical, biological phenomenon and it’s not purely a social construct (except in the vague sense that all of interpreted reality is a social construct).