Dumb Ethnography Megathread

[Bluehawk]

"So are you a Who-two or a Tootsie?"

 

[Is Milse Póg]

Also talking about tribal genetics, whilst many people seem to think that all kenyans are good at long distance running that's a pretty big fallacy considering there is more genetic diversity between african tribes than there is between the entire world.

The irony is that the majority of subsaharan africans are more or less from a single ethnic group. If anyone tells you they can differentiate between your average Nigerian and a Zimbabwean, they are probably lying.

Well, linguistically most are from the Niger-Congo family, specifically from the Bantu subfamily (They invented agriculture before the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa).

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

"So are you a Who-two or a Tootsie?"

Well, linguistically most are from the Niger-Congo family, specifically from the Bantu subfamily (They invented agriculture before the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa).

Given the nature of subsaharan societies, and the fact that the bantu migration is the most recent movement of peoples on the continent, it's not crazy to assume that language and ethnicity are linked.

 

[Is Milse Póg]

"So are you a Who-two or a Tootsie?"

Well, linguistically most are from the Niger-Congo family, specifically from the Bantu subfamily (They invented agriculture before the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa).

Given the nature of subsaharan societies, and the fact that the bantu migration is the most recent movement of peoples on the continent, it's not crazy to assume that language and ethnicity are linked.

Indeed, also having agriculture and settling early probably bolstered their numbers quite a lot.

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

The reason they were so succssful was because the rest of africa was inarable and populated by hunter-gatherers like the pygmies and khoisan, and possibly some extinct/assimilated ethnic groups. The Bantus were herders and farmers and they gradually steamrolled the hunters out of relevance by farming on hunting grounds and cutting down forests.

What's interesting is that the khoisan survived the bantu migrations, but only in tiny pockets separated by thousands of kilometres. For example the Maasais in Kenya are related to the San bushmen in Namibia. They look quite similar and have some similar cultural practices. The Pygmy ethnic group is similarly fragmented.
There are some obvious comparisons to make with the existence of isolated non-indo-european languages in Eurasia, like Basque and Georgian.

 

[Calradianın bilgesi]

brown...

For some reason Americans don't have this as an official race category. I thought I was white until this year because I remember reading something about Turkish people being classified as Caucasians and all the forms I filled out for American college applications forced me to tick the box 'white' since I was not Hispanic/Black/Asian/Arabic etc. Then this year I had this conversation:
'Someone: Of course what I can suggest might have no relevance to your experiences as a PoC
Me: I didn't know I was a PoC
S:Well, apparently
Me:Alright then'
I was mistaken about my race whole my life. But at least I have the right to make racial jokes more comfortably now.

 

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

I mean, if anything that just proves how farcical the whole "race" and "poc" thinking really is

 

[Temuzu]

I thought I was white until this year

In news today: Local Turk claims he is not white. Our household expert Ancalimon has more.

Really though, did they not cover this at school or something?

 

[ColonicAcid]

American census considers anyone from Europe and the middle east as "caucasian".

They're weird like that.

 

[Calradianın bilgesi]

Am I the oppressor or the oppressed stop confusing me

 

[ColonicAcid]

Schrodingers ethnicity.

You're both.

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

I mean, if anything that just proves how farcical the whole "race" and "poc" thinking really is

The worst part is how being even the tiniest bit african in america makes you legally black. You can have a paleskinned "black" grandma and suddenly you are the same as any other african american, but it doesn't work the other way around. Black people are combobreakers.

Am I the oppressor or the oppressed stop confusing me

You are √-1 oppressed.

 

[Almalexia]

Even a Quadroon has been too diluted, so functionally speaking, they're as good as African.

 

[crodio]

Schrodingers ethnicity.

so Judaism? 

 

[Areze]

The worst part is how being even the tiniest bit african in america makes you legally black. You can have a paleskinned "black" grandma and suddenly you are the same as any other african american, but it doesn't work the other way around. Black people are combobreakers.

This always makes me laugh. It's like, white supremacists carry on at length about how 'superior' their genetics are, but apparently those genetics are so fragile, and so weak that the slightest bit of non-white blood is enough to completely override it.

I guess they didn't think their position through.

 

[Temuzu]

All it takes is one drop of oil to ruin a fine bottle of wine.

I guess.

Schrodingers ethnicity.

so Judaism? 

I was going to make that joke, but I chose not to.

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

It's like, white supremacists carry on at length about how 'superior' their genetics are, but apparently those genetics are so fragile, and so weak that the slightest bit of non-white blood is enough to completely override it.

It's the same with the endless, whiny cries of "oh my! Europe is doomed! All is lost!" from reactionaries the moment a government decides to let a few people into its country. It's like a cathartic pleasure from the feeling of despair because of a fabricated threat. Not unlike a cuckold fetish.

 

[Is Milse Póg]

It's like, white supremacists carry on at length about how 'superior' their genetics are, but apparently those genetics are so fragile, and so weak that the slightest bit of non-white blood is enough to completely override it.

It's the same with the endless, whiny cries of "oh my! Europe is doomed! All is lost!" from reactionaries the moment a government decides to let a few people into its country. It's like a cathartic pleasure from the feeling of despair because of a fabricated threat. Not unlike a cuckold fetish.

Probably it's how they reacted when the Jews and Romani (Gypsy) arrived in Europe, both were fairly brown when they arrived.

The reason they were so succssful was because the rest of africa was inarable and populated by hunter-gatherers like the pygmies and khoisan, and possibly some extinct/assimilated ethnic groups. The Bantus were herders and farmers and they gradually steamrolled the hunters out of relevance by farming on hunting grounds and cutting down forests.

What's interesting is that the khoisan survived the bantu migrations, but only in tiny pockets separated by thousands of kilometres. For example the Maasais in Kenya are related to the San bushmen in Namibia. They look quite similar and have some similar cultural practices. The Pygmy ethnic group is similarly fragmented.
There are some obvious comparisons to make with the existence of isolated non-indo-european languages in Eurasia, like Basque and Georgian.

Ay, all correct, it is worth noting that assimilation played a big rule, this is why you go clicks in southern Bantu languages like Zulu and Xhosa, because they were common in Southern Africa (As can be seen from the surviving Khoisan languages).
It is also worth noting that today linguists divide the Khoisan language to 4 different and unrelated groups (Kwadi-Khoe, Kx'a, Tuu and Sandawe). The were considered related because when European linguists started to study them, they noticed that all of them contain large amounts of clicks, which led them to conclude that they must be related, but today the thought is that clicks are a regional (Areal) feature.
Also worth noting that Pygmys, unlike the Khoisan, gave up their native languages and switched to Bantu ones, while still retaining large parts of their culture and a distinction from their pastoral neighbors.

 

[ColonicAcid]

I wanna live in a pygmy village.

I would finally feel like an NBA player compared to them, living in blissful ignorance that I am in fact the tallest person in the world.

 

[kurczak]

The worst part is how being even the tiniest bit african in america makes you legally black. You can have a paleskinned "black" grandma and suddenly you are the same as any other african american, but it doesn't work the other way around. Black people are combobreakers.

I don't think anyone is legally anything in the US. The census uses self-identification so you can put there you're white even if you look like Biggie. If there's an APB on your racially ambiguous person, they probably just wing it and put whatever seems closest to the person making it.

It is amusing though how Americans (maybe just on the coasts) go out of their way to find something non-waspy in their family tree and choose to identify as it. The painfully typical model is people who have one Jewish non-practicing grandparent (or even a convert to Christianity) and didn't even realize it until their early 20s, but from then on they identify as Jewish and usually the most in-ur-face about it, second only to the Hasids. Everybody is also Irish and 1/16 Cherokee princess.

Also, talking to people in my mostly Black neighborhood, I get a strong feeling I'm cut some slack for being (Eastern) European white and not the stereotypical gentrifying Becky from Westchester.