Quote:
Originally posted by Taualumna
Yes, but there are some immigrant groups who come here, but still maintain their way of dress (at least some of the time). However. they seem to be at least somewhat accepted. Take Indian women, for example. Many wear saris to work (sometimes, anyway), yet they seem to do well. Indian children do well in school and often get successful jobs. They are more "old country" than, say, Chinese immigrants.
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Ok I am going to try really hard not to be offensive, b/c that is not my intent....
But you brought up a good point.
You say that Indian women sometjmes wear saris to work, and aren't discriminated against.
1) Picture a sari vs. what it seems like you guys are calling a "black" way of dressing for "african american youth culture" (taken from James).....for example, for a long time it was/is popular for guys to wear such baggy pants that their boxers hang out. That makes it much harder for them to assimilate- I would think an employer would much rather see a person in a sari, which is essentially a full length, somewhat fancy dress (ok not fancy but dressier than casual), than see a person with their underwear hanging out. Again, personal preference, but that immediately sets a person apart.
2) Indians often wear saris if they are still into their traditions, in some areas Jewish men wear yalmukes even while they go shopping/to the dr/work/whatever....but blacks have a much bigger presence in pop culture, on tv, etc. I know its not comparable to what whites have, but I think we'd have to admit that blacks own a bigger chunk of american culture than other minorities. (I'm not really counting Hispanics because while they have their own tv and radio stations and a relatively big chunk of advertising in some cities, their use of a foreign language sets them apart.) Where am I going with this?? Ok well the MAIN media messages people get
could, for the purpose of this discussion, be classified into white, black, and other. If the majority of black people on tv, in movies, etc, speak/dress/act in the way that James says sets them apart, its kind of like a constant message that they are a certain way, and that keeps them apart from the mainstream....I dunno I can't exactly link together what I'm trying to say, lol...
Don't get me wrong, obviously there are powerful, successful, professional black people in media/politics whatever- but I'd imagine it would be irritating when movies or books feel they have to have that one example of "urbanness"....I.E. "the token black guy"....and the use of that is very effectively keeping them apart from everyone else in the movie or book, and in the bigger picture, life.