WTH is "whitewashed"?

CASIGKAP · #1 08-06-2004, 09:35 PM

So I've heard this term quite a bit. I've heard it said that certain people are "whitewashed". I've never paid much attention to it until a friend of my little sister said that I was whitewashed. I have only met the friend once & did not really speak to her.

What made me whitewashed? Is it b/c I don't speak in an accent like Cheech Marin? Or is it b/c my boyfriend is white? Or perhaps it's b/c I like to eat pot roast better than chicken enchiladas?
I don't get it. Why am I considered to be whitewashed by one ignorant moron simply b/c I don't fit her mold of what a Latina should be?

Can someone please explain this to me? Also, a little off-topic, does this rule also apply to "wiggers"?

Give me a break!

Kevin · #2 08-06-2004, 10:08 PM

Actually, don't worry about it. They're just classless punks that don't have a clue.

Be yourself.

If being "white" means being educated, etc.. to them, they're doomed to fail and you'll be able to exploit them someday

You can still be an educated person that conforms to a certain culture, yet still appreciate where you came from. In the words of Theresa Heinz Kerry, tell 'em to "shove it."

James · #3 08-06-2004, 10:13 PM

I agree.

Quote:

Originally posted by ktsnake
Actually, don't worry about it. They're just classless punks that don't have a clue.

Be yourself.

If being "white" means being educated, etc.. to them, they're doomed to fail and you'll be able to exploit them someday

You can still be an educated person that conforms to a certain culture, yet still appreciate where you came from. In the words of Theresa Heinz Kerry, tell 'em to "shove it."

PiEp299 · #4 08-06-2004, 10:14 PM

Whitewashed from what I know, means that you speak more polished english(not alot of mexican/so. american slang), if your dress is considered more "white" than latin american, etc. for some reason is considered "white". You're in college and in a "white" sorority. Your boyfriend being white is also part of it.
The other term you asked about is used by some to refer to white people who "act like they are a black person". In other words they tend to be more into the hip-hop culture as far as dress, appearance and slang. Eminem would be the example there.
That's the best I can explain it.

DeltaSigStan · #5 08-06-2004, 10:22 PM

I just happened to hang out with mostly white kids during high school, but was friends with the Asians. One day, they said "You need to hang out with your own kind more, cause you're white-washed". It never occured to me the color of my friends until they had mentioned that. I just don't happen to be interested in the things a lot of Asians my age are into.

So, that should give you the idea.

CASIGKAP · #6 08-06-2004, 10:44 PM

I get it. What a load of crock.
You guys rock!

Taualumna · #7 08-06-2004, 10:57 PM

"White-washed" means something different in different communities. For example, speaking with a "polished accent" does not equate to being "white-washed" in Toronto's Chinese Canadian community. Not liking chicken feet doesn't mean that you're "white washed" either. Not being "FOBBY" ("Fresh off the Boat" or immigrant. "FOBBY" in Toronto can mean that you're very hip or way on the other side of the spectrum) does not make you white-washed. However, if you have a lot of white friends, if you don't recognize any of the Hong Kong celebs, and if many of your social orgs are predominantly white, then yes, you might be "white-washed" according to some tacky people.

Tom Earp · #8 08-06-2004, 11:18 PM

I am of the old school I guess.

If you are white washing people, you are giving a line of crap--Lieing.

If it has something to do with color and race, they are full of crap!

Do Moronic sound good?

Maybe is slang, as You Bitchin=Good?

Maybe it is Act Stupid, Do Stupid, Be Stupid?????

#9 08-07-2004, 12:49 AM

Being called "whitewashed" doesn't bother me anymore.

It beats being called "Twinkie" or "banana".

IowaStatePhiPsi · #10 08-07-2004, 02:16 AM

what I would give to be called "twink".

as for whitewashed: that's what you do to fences and basement walls, not people.

#11 08-07-2004, 08:04 AM

Being called "Twinkie" or "Banana" in my family is a big deal because, well, not too many of us have been privileged enough to receive higher education. To them I'm yellow/brown in a white person's body.

I'm a daughter of an immigrant and a local Hawaiian and where I was raised most kids spit out their own kids by the time they were in high school. I grew up speaking Pidgin English and raised on "local" (a mixture of Filipino, Japanese, and Hawaiian ideals in my family) values, and as I attended HS, I was still "local", but the way I spoke, ate, carried myself...EVERYTHING! became different. I couldn't speak the languages I was raised with even though I could still understand it, but it was evident that I was becoming more accustomed with the things my family wasn't used to.

I am very familiar with my roots and am proud of what I have accomplished without ever forgetting where I'm from...so when they give me isht (and they still do) and tease me for sounding like a "white person", I don't feel bad when I snap back and say, "I have a fcuking degree and I'm still making more money than you do..." and I don't feel bad. My mama and daddy wanted more for me than 892374928374 kids and a big house (that's the measure of success where I'm from), and I'm glad that they dreamed for bigger and better things for me and that I took advantage of that.

But that's just me.

Taualumna · #12 08-07-2004, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by OohTeenyWahine
My mama and daddy wanted more for me than 892374928374 kids and a big house (that's the measure of success where I'm from), and I'm glad that they dreamed for bigger and better things for me and that I took advantage of that.

But that's just me.

That sounds very different compared to Asian families in Continental US, Canada and the rest of the world. Here, if you don't have a degree, you're pretty much a disgrace to the family--success is measured by where you go to school. I have a cousin in Hong Kong who wants to major in the liberal arts. When she was going through the application process last year, I had suggested to her that if she wanted to major in that, then she might want to consider smaller, liberal arts colleges. Her parents, however, were set on her attending larger, well known schools, such as the Ivies or schools like the University of Toronto or UBC in Canada. Schools like Middlebury and Amherst were pretty much out of the question!

starang21 · #13 08-07-2004, 04:03 PM

white washing is when you don't understand nor respect the nuances of your culture and heritage in order to gain acceptance from white people. ie "losing sense of self."

Tom Earp · #14 08-07-2004, 04:11 PM

Thank You Stranag21!

that may have made it a lot clearer!

I always almost thougnt it was Tom Sawyer and the Fence!

Isnt it true, that when people try to find their way into The Particular Organizations that they feel comforatable with that Whitewashed as a Termonolgy is used?

#15 08-07-2004, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taualumna
That sounds very different compared to Asian families in Continental US, Canada and the rest of the world.

Being Asian in Hawai`i is VERY different from being Asian elsewhere.

Here, you're not "Asian". You're "local" -- a mixture of cultures and their ideals that has raised kids a certain way dating back to the plantation era in at the beginning of the 20th century.

So, when people ask me what I am, I'm not Asian. I'm local.