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Originally posted by SIAsensacion
I'm not sure if you were referring to me when you said "people pooh-pooh it as whining," because I CERTAINLY don't think it's whining when people try to connect with their culture and are proud of their Italian, German, etc. heritage. Actually, I think its great when people know where they come from and are proud of this. What I DO think is whining are the people in this forum who have said that African-Americans don't get lumped together, why should white people. My point was that African-Americans certainly ARE lumped together, no matter their background. But, to put extra emphasis on the positive, I think its great when people still have ties or create new ties to their cultures--I think you can get a lot of understanding and a broader perspective of the world when you learn about a culture or country outside of the US.
It's true, labels suck, but unfortunately, this country is obsessed with labels, and everywhere you turn they are asking us to fill in a bubble and lump ourselves into one category. Can you imagine a bubble sheet listing every European country so that white people wouldn't be put in one category? LOL that thing would be pretty long. At least we are saving trees but not being so specific.  I'm totally for people identifying as Italian-American, etc, but from the govt's perspective its a little unrealistic. But, if you want a more historically and culturally significant label, maybe people should start using caucasian or European-American more often (but then again, what about the white people from Russia that actually live in Asia? lol. I guess caucasian would be the more inclusive of the two). I think the reason people still use "white" and "black" a lot is that its just a lot shorter and quicker than using European-American and African-American.
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It's very true that African Americans do get lumped together. But as I said it's mostly based on looks. I had two roommates from the Virginia Islands last year and they would tell me all the time how people from down there HATE to be lumped with African Americans, and they are lumped with African Americans because we both come from the same country and have similar features. But their culture is completely different. I think it's easier for people to lump other people together than ask.
And about the secrecy (sp?) thing. . .this sorority isn't a regular MCGLO. Well at least not to me. All of the other MCGLO's I've researched have an intake process that is extremely secret and would never allow it on t.v.. I'm kind of wondering if they changed it for the t.v. show. . .can't they do that since they're local?
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