When "Neighborhood Watch" Gets Out of Hand

Originally Posted by GPK

Just curious, but why is Zimmerman even being called white? He is as white as I am black.

His father is white, and his mother is white, Peruvian by nationality. The broad class known as "Hispanic" is not a racial classification.


Ocala Mike

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by Ocala Mike

His father is white, and his mother is white, Peruvian by nationality. The broad class known as "Hispanic" is not a racial classification.


Ocala Mike

Oh yes it is - it is treated that way. I remember forms I had to fill out while attending public school where they had an acronym "N.O.I.S.E" for racial classification.

The letters corresponded to (these are NOT my terms, so if they are not in vogue now - this is a time capsule)

N - Negroid
O - Oriental
I - Indian
S - Spanish descent (corresponding to Hispanic or South American)
E - Eurasian

The real answer is it's just more convenient to now refer to Mr. Zimmerman as white. Who's going to riot otherwise?

Originally Posted by joeydb

this is a time capsule

We've come a long way, baby. Those designations are, indeed, archaic.
The 2010 US Census instructions clearly state that "Hispanic" is not a racial designation today.

I do agree that the racial aspects of this case are murky and are being exploited by the usual suspects. More concerning is the vigilante behavior and stereotyping, in general.


Ocala Mike

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by Ocala Mike

We've come a long way, baby. Those designations are, indeed, archaic.
The 2010 US Census instructions clearly state that "Hispanic" is not a racial designation today.

I do agree that the racial aspects of this case are murky and are being exploited by the usual suspects. More concerning is the vigilante behavior and stereotyping, in general.


Ocala Mike

I'm glad things changed. That N.O.I.S.E acronym was ridiculous. They didn't even let you not fill it out. If you left it blank, they filled it out "for" you.

If it wasn't in acronym form, I probably wouldn't have remembered it.