Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS
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Trevor has a discussion with a surfer in Malibu. BUY "THAT'S RACIST" NOW: http://www.trevornoah.com Follow Trevor on Twitter: http://twitter.com/trevornoah Subscribe to Trevor Noah: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=trevornoah
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Also please excuse all the Idiots thinking africa is just full of huts that is the shit rhetoric we are being fed by various orgs leaching off of charity.
10. comment for Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS
Sorry
20. comment for Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS
Great video!
Have a nice evening :D
30. comment for Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS
I loved America, everyone was super polite and easy to talk to (I went more into the county but also spent some time in NY)
I told her it did, but that our xamã would conduct a ritual, we danced and it would stop. Her response was "wooow!"
50. comment for Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS
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And well that is true but not my point.
It didn't matter to her that I was black myself, or that I had been in Cameroon several times. She just wouldn't understand.
In her defence... hm... no, nothing comes.
So in Capetown it was just like Trevor said and we managed to adapt within a hour or so.But the we were on huge crossing and a school class with a teacher was waiting for the green light and everyone really everyone was just crossing including us. The teacher,teaching the chdren how to behave right in traffic, looked me in the eye while I was crossing and I had the feeling in her eyes I had a 666 written on my forehead.
100. comment for Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS
Really?? india?? smh
_'Aids dietary supplements
now with more fiber and regrets!
I miss Jon Stewart.
Ahhhhh, thanks for the explanation!
I say "I'm a pacific Islander."
then they say "Omg so your HAWAIIAN?!"
I swear if I had a dollar for every time they said I was Hawaiian, I'd probably be able to buy as many chicken nuggests if I can.
As a Filipino, what really grinds my gears are Filipinos (mostly American-Filipinos who've never visited the country) who claim they're Pacific islanders. No Filipino who actually lives in the Philippines would claim that.
btw, nothing cleans better than hands and water. Read this up to know yourself :]
https://www.scoopwhoop.com/humor/toilet-paper/#.sseckgy2d
You script writers are quite cool too !
Do you understand he was just being helpful and nice to you?
Thanks :)
I understand the resentment but I think it's kind of ridiculous that someone can fail to understand that if no one had taught them a language in the first place, they wouldn't be able to be speaking it right now to talk to me and the other people here.
Btw, I get that stereotyping is a serious issue, and there's a lot of it. Everyone lumps countries together. But it's worth considering that we all do it, even though we don't always notice we're doing it - you both seem to think I'm from the USA, and I'm Canadian. Different culture, much more multicultural, more knowledge about different countries. That just came to mind, so I thought I might as well point it out :)
I may have travelled too much on virtual places like Youtube, lol.
I dropped it a month ago XD
Kinda relates to Trevor's "there's no hope line."
Hopefully, you won't have to get into this kind of trouble next time - I, too, I trying to help here. Sorry for interrupting.
Again, not trying to change culture or whitewash things. English is a useful language to know, since so many people speak it. If you don't want to perfect it, I have no issue with that, but you're being really over-aggressive, since I was just trying to help...
I'm not trying to make you white. I was saying it just in case you wanted to learn more, since English is a fairly useful, but incredibly confusing, language to learn.
Based on the commenter's non-English same, I thought it was fairly likely that English was their second language. I was trying to be helpful - I even stated that I hoped it was helpful and not annoying.
I used to study French, and I know that if I said something wrong in French, I'd want someone to correct me so I wouldn't repeat the mistake.
With your 'You yank piece of shit,' you're being worse than patronizing, yourself. You seem to think you're superior to all Americans - so much so, that you both assumed that I was trying to be patronizing, and assumed that I was American. Which I'm not.
Not sure if it's a typo or if English is your second language, but:
'No,' always means negative. So, if you know about American life, you use know. Hope this helps :) (and hope it wasn't annoying).
They can hold it in, then laugh once they get home :)
On the bright side, you can laugh at the ridiculous tourists :)
A lot of charities show images of people in huts, in villages without electricity or running water. I understand why they do that - to raise money for the people who actually live in those conditions - but I think it's the main reason some people think African civilization is just a bunch of straw huts. Those ads should start mentioning the fraction of people per country who actually live in those conditions.
forget about cities, everyone have CARS lol
If anything America is one of the least ignorant and most accepting and for some reason people seem to forget that
(From a Haitian guy)
???
Other countries and cultures are vastly different from each other especially America
What you said makes no sense to me
Ignorance stems from people who are unwilling to accept other cultures regardless of how different they are
I'm American, and I feel the same way. Its kind of weird though. The United States is a country with a culture that is spread around the world, yet so many of the people here don't seem to know anything, or care to know anything about the rest of the world.
source : lived in india.
people the wild animals in Africa you see on tv are all in national parks
...That's dumb, but y'know.
:) I did explain. I myself had some misconception about Europe but I read and fix.
Carefully and politely explain to her, that ANCIENT EGYPT ISN'T MODERN EGYPT, GODDAMN IT!
I can assure u other countries have just as many ignorant idiots like in china where they regulate immigration so they have very few black people and literally they think that black people are dark becuz they just got dirty
Where did you get those shoes from Man? Pretty cool!
No the one next to it
Some think Europe is forest. I've seen others in this comments sections talking about people who asked if there's TV in the netherlands, or who complimented people from Scotland and the Wales on their english.
The president of South Africa said that he could shower to get rid of AIDS. He's an idiot.
Also, great surfer accent. I would totally believe he grew up around people who talk that way.
To be fair, there are some pretty terrifying laws in Saudi. Things like execution for sorcery. (There was an execution for it in 2014, so not exactly an old, forgotten law). To be more fair, you didn't put those laws in place.
Im kidding. I know where Barbados is and i know it isnt part of jamaica. Lol
Lol. Connaissant le côté ultra ironique de La Vie, il est très possible qu'elle en rencontre un un jour XD
Bon, un peu comme la France et la Belgique, j'ai l'impression.
Belle et triste image. C'est en effet toujours en après coup que les souffrances passées deviennent drôles (sauf en cas de cynisme genre moi), mais bon, on survit bien.
Thank you. Again: human suffering. I know people can get it.
And yes! Precisely. I started with French and THEN Portuguese/English, but it's sitll something few people here are used to.
J'avais un job étudiant et ma patronne, très sympa d'ailleurs, était martiniquaise et elle répétait à tout le monde que jamais elle ne sortirait avec un homme martiniquais, c'était assez drôle à entendre :D
Sinon les Mauriciens et les Réunionnais aiment bien s'envoyer des pics aussi
Oui sa réplique était drôle après coup, mais moi je savais pas au début du coup entendre ça au téléphone ça te plonge le coeur dans un bac glacé
Don't worry, I sincerely got your point. I had a client who was from Brasil. She was black and of course spoke Portuguese. Portuguese speaking Blacks are not that common in France so people are still getting used to it.
Don't worry, I was just trying to make sure everything was clarified. I know that my situation is uncommon in France and more common elsewhere, I really do get that a lot. My Mom did a lot more, obviously.
J'ai entendu cette réplique quelques fois quand ma mère était au téléphone. C'est pire dans son cas, vu qu'encore une fois, la plupart des français manquent d'information sur les pays lusophones (donc qui parlent portugais, hein)
...Ok, c'est un peu cruel, mais d'un point de vue cynique, sa réplique est plutôt drôle XD C'est un peu comme si une japonaise s'excusait d'un commentaire aux abords racistes au téléphone avec un Coréen x)
Tiens tu vois par exemple, j'avais aucune idée que les Martiniquais et les Antillais ne s'aimait pas, alors que si je venais des Dom-Tom, je suis sûr que j'aurais fini par le découvrir.
I have no reason to put your words in question. If you went through that, you are better placed to speak about it. My bad.
Je suis Mauricien, étudiant à Paris et une fois au téléphone au travail, une dame m'a dit "de toutes façon, vos origines ne me conviennent pas"
Elle a rappelé cinq minutes plus tard et quand mon collègue s'est mis à l'engueuler, elle a rigolé en disant "Je ne suis pas raciste, je suis Martiniquaise"
Je pense qu'elle a cru que j'étais Antillais à cause de mon accent. Ils s'aiment pas entre eux :)
Second, unlike most black people that are in France, my origins and culture don't come from the DOM-TOM. They come from Angola. This is why I mentioned that I faced Racism from both sides: because some black people didn't acknowledge me as "one of them" because my customs are different, and some white people didn't either for the obvious reason that I'm black. To put this in perspective, it's like you're a black person from the DOM-TOM moving to South Africa. Black people there may or may not act xenophobic with you for the simple reason that, obviously, your customs are not the same.
So you see, what I meant was pretty simple too. But again, it's not all of the people who are like this - and i mean heck, it was worst 30 years ago, so I can't complain too much.
Of course you're surprised. You're like the 10th person this year telling me you're surprised this year. Mais sérieusement, mec, t'as raison d'être surpris, mais moi je n'ai pas de raison d'exagérer. C'est ma vie. En fait, c'est la vie en général. Je suis pas le seul dans mon cas.
To put things into perspective, there are 11% afro-americans while blacks make up like 5% of the whole french population, citizens plus residents.
But that's still sufficient for people not to be surprised by a french speaking black because well many come from former french colonies like Côte d'Ivoire or Cameroune
I don't know where you live but I'm pretty sure it's not in the Paris region.
I'm not minimising your experience, i'm just surprised having lived here for nearly 7 years
And even when australia is a english speaking country, no one understands them anyway. ;-)
Anyway, I wish I was.
Point is, there's something you don't seem to realize. The Black people you're talking about are French-speaking ones from overseas. I, on the other hand, come from a family that mostly speaks Portuguese (because they were born in Angola), so my culture is vastly different from theirs, even if I'm French too. In fact, go around the country and ask French people if they know what is and where is Angola. Most of them won't know, but they will know where and what Martinique and Congo are. Because, again, it's part of their French culture, while Angola was colonized by Portugal.
I've faced racism from both sides: a few (so not all of them, because France is still an awesome country) white people who didn't want anything to do with me 'cause I'm black, and black people who told me I was "too white" to suit them because of the way I spoke.
If you've faced racism too, which you apparently have, then you should know that someone talking about their lives and asking if they're "exaggerating" can be quite offensive. Please be careful: I'm cool with it 'cause I'm used to it, but France isn't the same everywhere. We both know that.
I've actually faced racism from some blacks who said my origins (Indian) didn't suit them.
But what gets me is because I have an accent and black I'm African
Coming across the exact same questions from Americans (though that was mostly online, I haven't been there myself yet) didn't even surprise me. Oh, except the part where they refused to believe that I was Black AND French. But seriously, it's just ignorants or people who don't travel much in general. I've had even some good friends who totally forgot that I was French, despite me hanging out with them.
I thought that was the end of it, but it turns out they went and told all their friends so I was asked to repeat the story over and over. I changed it each time, exaggerating more and more, and they STILL believed me (so did their friends). Finally, one of their friends was like: "Wait, didn't you say you were brought here by animals? So then how does an air hostess teach you English on a plane???"
That person hated me for the rest of our (unfortunate) encounters with one another but I honestly didn't care. I try to surround myself with people who think for themselves. If you're gonna sit there and let me drag you in circles that you buy into just because of stereotypes......BYE FELICIA!
Another thing I'm tired of constantly hearing:
"Is your hair real?"
"Can I touch it?"
"Is that your actual hair?"
"(after I went to school with natural hair one day and had extensions in by the next day) OMG, your hair grows so fast! I wish I had hair like that!"
Honestly.....
What language do you speak in Kenya?
It's so stupid how some people think that a person who's immigrated across an ocean was born in a hut...
Tell her you were chased by a tiger. See if she ever figures out that tigers are form Asia :)
" Dont tell me he planned to invade you on his own."
What's the deal with you, saying that? You don't believe me? who cares!
.... Ha Ha Ha ...
Blatant Racism at its finest, thx u for proving that not only whites can be racist
Maybe not climb it but go visit and see it.
But I get that not everyone is outdoorsy or even has the means or time but I can definitely see why people ask you.
Btw I'm from your southern neighbour
and we simply love your country
Is water/milk/whatever safe to drink ? (even the water that goes down the toilet is safe to drink over here)
Do you shower ?
Do you have a moustache / wear a beret
insert cartoon stereotype here?Do your rifles come with a white flag instead of a bayonet ?
I could probably go on. Like, forever. =)
But you could also swing by with a knowledge of where which big city is and where what culture is predominant. That's really easy: West and southwest is carnival, south is Lederhosen, east is Nazis, north is fishheads.
Me, I'm a fishhead myself.
People have their sterotypes and stupid or uneducated think they are true.
I'm not talking about all Californians, or stupid questions in general, if that's what you're thinking. I'm talking about this specific scenario.
'Are there waves in Africa,' is not a legitimate question to start a conversation. That would be 'what are the waves like in Africa,' and even then there's an element of ignorance, since waves are different in different parts of Africa.
And if she was trying to give him an opportunity to say something smart, she wouldn't have run back to go surfing the second she got it out. Which she did.
If that was the one stupid question, I'd agree that there's a possibility she's just just bad at social interaction. But after two or three mind-numbing questions, there's no doubt that she actually does think these are legitimate questions.
Are you saying she was trying to learn? Or trying to let him say something smart?
Because whatever reason she said those things for, she was highlighting her own ignorance. If she thinks 'Are there waves in Africa' is a legitimate question that will give him the opportunity to say something, she really is uninformed.
As for 'Have you ever had AIDS?' from what he was saying, she believed him when he said you can get AIDS and recover. And she wasn't trying to learn about something general, if she was asking if he personally had it.
She was trying to be knowledgeable, but in asking questions, she showed that she's never so much as looked at a map with African countries labelled on it.
"She was trying to be friendly." "She didn't actually care about the answers."
Yeah that's really polite & friendly
Maybe in most of SA, but not Johannesburg?
I found out what it was. It's "Voetsek" and it means get lost. thanx for replying anyways :D
"Wow you picked English up well.."
Couldn't help but think that he didn't. ..
It's the spring break crowd, but that's a crowd that's mostly American.
Again, I understand that most Americans wouldn't act like that.
But if you average out respectfulness across all tourists from each country, the US would definitely not be at the top. Yes, every country has some disrespectful tourists. But the US's worst tourists are some of the world's worst.
Please don't go on about how respectful americans are abroad. I went to the Dominican Republic, and went on a boat ride. It was supposed to be a family-friendly thing, but most of the passengers were americans, and they were incredibly drunk. Once we were off the boat, they were grinding against each other in public, and one fell over and couldn't get up...
I understand not all Americans act that way, but Americans are certainly NOT the role model for respectful behavior abroad. For many Americans, there's a strong sense of pride, but for quite a few, the strongest sense is one of entitlement.
llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
Americans are way more respectful than brits abroad, because as another guy said, they believe people are proud, and they show deep respect. I don't know welsh that much (I hook up with a girl once, just the accent was particular), but english tend to criticize a lot and (less than the french of course, but far from Irish, the most friendly), and the drinking and the "overweight" ladies.. damn, americans behave a lot better in that respect than brits (excluding northern Irish) .
To be honest, I think you "oxford englishmen" exported to US show a sophisticated profile that most brits don't fulfill at all. There is a gloomy lack of hope, social resentment and all comes out with the alcohol (a great deal of violence in not absent either). Don't take this as an attempt too be acid, I'm interested in your opinion, maybe welsh people are way different.
Maybe he just pronounced it incorrectly and instead of correcting him, you've chosen to assume he's ignorant and didn't know the difference between a continent and a language used on that continent.
Now who's ignorant?
That's my point some populations share the same name as their country and some don't, so if u don't really know which are which ur bound to accidentally say something like that
Well Americans/British are called the English and their language is also called English
So...
But then again, ignorant people live everywhere, America doesnt have a patent on them :p
Well do you?
lmfao What are you talking about? And, I know that. Fuck you, and the honkeys.
But then again, German education. Not much hope there.
Were you on a semester abroad or are you a long-term student in Germany? (It's late, I don't know if that's the right word. Whatever)
You had a great response XD
Wow! That's awesome!
it's annoying
I work in a restaurant in Victoria, BC (Canada). A group of American ladies (a little in their cups), asked me: "Does Canada have a capital?" Without missing a beat, I told her "Yes, Moncton, New Brunswick."
Sigh.
Yes. Yes there are. Heat waves.
Reminds me of how Japanese people don't realize that other countries have seasons.
As far as the Republican debates go, they are pandering to the most extreme right-wing, nationalist 20% of Americans that actually vote in the Republican primaries. Once the general election starts, they'll all drop the racist rhetoric because they know they have to speak to the normal Americans that won't put up with that shit.
IF you are still in the USA, just listen to the Republican debates. All of them (directly or indirectly) keep hinting that most colored (latino, mid eastern, south Asians, etc) are illegals & should be sent back .... even though one of the candidates (Bobby Jindal) is a colored fellow, born of immigrant south Asian parents.
( I am presuming you are non-white).... in USA, when they ask this question to a (non black / non native) colored person, they usually are "politely" trying to find out if you are legally or illegally there in the USA.
Most white Americans assume that most colored people in USA have entered illegally (and the rest as refugees).
You're**
It should be added though that Noah has never used this stereotype in a condescending way. He actually mentioned that it is obvious for a big country, which is also a world power, to not pay as much attention to other cultures than the other cultures pay to the U.S. But, of course, that doesn't mean that ignorance is a good thing, and Stewart himself has frequently pointed towards that. That is the second difference & cliche: When an American criticises aspects of U.S. culture, people can say "Yeah, that's true!" and they are ok with it, because they'll simply say that they themselves don't belong to that group of Americans who are being made fun of. But as soon as an outsider criticizes an aspect about U.S. culture, many Americans react as the stereotype would have it, namely very insecure and overcompensatingly patriotic, as if any criticism was always directed at everybody. Which is sad, because how can you face imperfections if you're too insecure to face them. In this regard, the stereotype that the world has about the U.S. is that of an immature & insecure culture that has to showboat all the time, like a teenager who wants to seem tough and perfect and gets angry as soon as somebody thinks differently. In that regard, people might also say that, for all the stereotypes that exist about them, countries like Britain or Germany are a bit more mature in that respect. History clearly showed them their imperfections and, hence, many people there will be more willing to acknowledge issues within the country/culture and hesitate to use the patriotic defense mechanism. American culture, on the other hand, still seems largely committed to the exaggerations & myths of American exceptionalism, instead of holding a more balanced view of its achievements and imperfections.
In this regard, Noah might be a great help to the U.S. audience, because he likes to point out issues without being mean or condescending. And that's important: If you know that someone likes you and doesn't mean any harm, you'll be more willing to listen and maybe accept criticisms here or there, especially if that person jokes about himself as well. If people are just mean and "hate America" then obviously nobody wants to listen to them.
Still, it is certainly clear that facing up to social issues, which is the center of any satire show, can be uncomfortable. So if some people need the old "U!S!A! U!S!A!" patriotic wellness treatment, then they'll probably not gonna like Noah. I expect "If you don't like it, go home!" to appear very frequently in comment sections under future Daily Show videos.
Big shoes? this man is funnier than John Stewart ever was. I think the generic repetitive format of the "daily show" is bad for him, and perfect for a cable-tv hack like John Stewart.
Can anyone explain me what this joke is about?
Taking shower to clean sticky smudge?
I guess there is South Africa and then there is the other Africa.
lol how many Africas are there?
I don't even watch the news
rape allegation by press, was asked, if he worried about getting HIV from
having unprotected sex with the woman that he didn't know her status; he replied saying, "no,
because I took a shower straight after". He went to court for this and was acquitted.
…. u serious?---i give an smile… looking into her eyes…. shake my head…. then i told her.. in Europe they did have rice…. but another brand.. then what she uses in BRASIL… hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhaha best experience ever with dumb ass ppl(I'm British)
http://magicseaweed.com/South-Africa-Surf-Forecast/3/
I mean that with no disrespect. As a younger man I was horrible at picking up clues when a woman was interested in me.
Also, this guy is smart & perspective, and seems to have standards. I doubt he would have had any "fun" with her that wouldn't quickly be negated by her being stupid.
Its not good to take everything that's offered to you anyway.
blah blah blah
And I was being 100% serious.
Emotional
I find you amusing and pitiful. I guess those could be labeled as emotions but the term emotional wouldn't really apply.
What the one where I tried to pass on words of wisdom to someone that was missing out on a lot of fun? Or the one were I stated I am a faithful man no longer chasing after women?
Shrug Keep attacking random strangers online I am sure it makes you happy... there is no way deep down this is just a manifestation of your dissatisfaction with your own life.
I am happily married and faithful so nice attempt troll.
And no one told him to marry her and have lots of babies.
My shop teacher asked a foreign exchange student from Japan if they had phones where she was from and how she got her clothes because he assumed everyone lived in temples on the mountains and wore kimonos all day.
Him: Where's that?
Me: Island nation off the coast of Australia.
Him: You mean Austria.
Me: No. No I do not. Because 1) Austria is landlocked and 2) NO. I mean Australia.
Him: Australia isn't a real country. It's made up; like Oz or Narnia.
Me: ...
Americans know shit about any other country or continent.
In fact all in all they know shit about anything.
I guess this is neccessary to stay in the opinion that the mess of a third world country they live in is "the greates country in the world"
I do however agree that asking if they have computers in Africa is a dumb and ignorant question. However I do think acces to computers and the internet outside major cities is limited and instead many people use mobile devices to acces the internet. I do not believe his question was remotely meant to be anything into the direction of how accesable computers and the internet are in the rural areas of your country though :p
I'm all for spreading the word about the accomplishments of intelligent people like Mark Dean, but please try to be accurate when doing it. I doubt he would appreciate people going around telling the world that he invented the computer for IBM.
thank you for the luck love +RobotShlomo
You'll be fine. Just get ready for a lot of people saying "You talk funny. where you from?" (said with a laugh, I don't like doing the "LOL"). Dallas is a fairly big city with about 1.2 million residents, and it has a large Hispanic population.
The pickup truck is a hugely popular vehicle in the United States, mainly because it's versatile and many use it for work purposes. You can bolt a toolbox on the back and use it to carry all your tools. The company I used to work for had three of them.
I wish you luck in your internship.
Where are you moving to?
Yeah, we're not taught anything about Africa. By the same token, we're barely taught anything about our own country. Only about 33% of us know the three branches of government, which is sad.
I'd write more about it, but my wife is getting tired – she's peddling away on the bicycle generator that is supplying the electricity for me to connect to the internet. Better give her a break!
:)
Trevor is not joking about the facts (a long story), he is taking a satirical stab at Zuma's approach and response to the situation. He is definitely being sarcastic and in a way tearing into the people who supported Zuma during the trial despite the evidence against him.
Amazingly, despite this evidence, he was acquitted.
Now enjoy the trip
You're not understanding what I'm saying. It's no worries though I just looked it up.
Central America is not one of the 7 continents.
So what continent do the Caribbean Islands and the countries between Mexico and Columbia belong to?
But I think in Spanish The Americas is one giant continent called America and that's where people keep getting this from.
Cheers from Canada.
Lame.
Lame
1a : having a body part and especially a limb so disabled as to impair freedom of movement
1b : marked by stiffness and soreness <a lame shoulder>
2: lacking needful or desirable substance : weak, ineffectual <a lame excuse>
3: slang : not being in the know : square
4a : inferior <a lame school>
4b : contemptible, nasty <lame racist jokes>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lame
1. You can't be from Africa, your white!
2. You can't be from West Africa! The only white people are in South Africa!
3. Did you wear shoes?
4. Did you grow up in a mud hut?
5. How long a drive is that? (yes they really asked that)
To a friend of mine...
Does anyone wear clothes in Africa?
and
Where is Africa south of Mexico?
(First time I've seen ya man! Your hilarious)
which president and how did people find out
Trust me bro, lots of people in my country India believe Africa is a country. smh
every where and species have their way of life.
we are humans and also animals but still different as you see black and white hispanic and all and
same way the birds are together but there are herons and eagles, both different but living a particular way of life not influencing each other.
If not for the white mans influence would we care about riches so much in our great continent or flying to the edge of the world just for some nice views and short pleasures? Or worst to be like the white man. (NO HARM MEANT)
Ignorance is a deep word to use in a place of life like AFRICA.
PLEASE RETHINK YOUR STATEMENT MATE .
PLEASE What is ignorance anyway ?
Is it ignorant to pick a couple of leaves stitch together and be barely able to cover yourself
or is it ignorant to go to a forest, massacre a lot of plants to get cotton, linen or whatsome don't and that is logical.
What is IGNORANCE PLEASE?
America may be ONE of the richest countries in the world but that doesn't mean everyone is highly educated. Nor does it mean that those with an higher education don't lack common sense or aren't just plain assholes. Since you've spent time in our country I would like to assume that you studied the history of America as well. Also please don't say "most people" because you don't know "most people" in America. It's better to say, the majority of Americans I've met".
I think I can explain why it may sound like the opposite case:
The biggest umbrella terms when referring to race or ethnicity to someone in the US are Black/African American (if not solely African), Asian, White/Caucasian, Native American, and Hispanic/Latino. You can look at someone, and likely tell which of those category they belong in. And I'm fully aware that they are ridiculously broad terms - and they're actually used in real documents. The Census, official tests like what we call the SATs (the scores of which are pivotal to which college/university you can go to - biggest test in high school), and many other official-y documents. A lot of people want more specific terms, especially for one like Asian - that actually refers to Eastern Asians. Asia has several countries in them. Just because you don't look Eastern Asian doesn't mean you're not Asia. And Africa has several countries within it too. And black is just a color. You can be black and Brazilian. And Caucasians? Seriously? Let's not even go there.
But anyway, when someone says someone else is hispanic, they don't really believe that that person is from a country called Hispania or something. They just mean that the blood in their veins probably comes from a Spanish speaking country.
They know that "hispanic" isn't actually a race or anything. It's just an umbrella term.
I'm sorry, I rambled. I hope I actually answered your question though. I have a habit of rambling and never getting to the point. XP
Most people know those terms refer to those from Spanish-speaking countries (because they're so many of them). A decent part of the population is hispanic. Especially in the southern part. Arizona alone is expected, by 2050, to have 50% of the population comprised of Mexicans. Not Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, etc. Just Mexican. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know someone who's hispanic, and you probably know which country they or their parents are from.
We know. Trust me, we Americans know. Well, most of us, anyway.
Which article is placed before that term..."the" or "an"...is useful only if one needs to shout something like "The Americans are coming" or "The Americans are so rude" or whatever else goes into the sentence afterward.
I'm glad you don't lose sleep over the whole situation, but as far as people being aware, of knowing, and not just assuming everything...well, Carlos, you've got a long wait for that to happen. I gave up on it some time ago after years of seeing how fruitless my endeavors were to teach students to think for themselves, ask questions, not accept everything at face value, dig deeper for the truth. I might have reached a few, but it's a losing battle, and I've given it up as a full-time occupation...that is, as a teacher. Now I can only throw around a few cautions about using common sense and checking things out before jumping on bandwagons, and I can only hope that somewhere along the line someone takes it to heart.
So, we are both Americans...North, South, or Central...and neither of us happy about the hidebound attitudes of a lot of people. But that's about all we can do...besides fill up commenting spaces, of course.
I just have my point of view. Is it going to matter in the end? No. I'm not asking for a change, i stated it before, i just want the people to know, to actually know and be aware of why they do what they do, and not just assume everything is the way it is because that is the way it should be.
Best regards.
Americans don't refer to themselves as North Americans, and, in spite of the decrease in good education, they don't think Canada and Mexico are part of the United States of America. I have heard and read, more than a few times, references to South Americans. How do the people from the individual countries feel about that? Do they feel slighted in Chile or Bolivia if they're referred to as simply South Americans?
What about Mexico? One of the official names of that country is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, so are they to be called "Estadounidenses," too?
You can dislike and gripe about names all you want, but the fact remains that Americans will probably continue to be referred to as "Americans," not USAmericans," by a great many people. There are certainly many more serious issues to get upset...and do something...about than a name for a people that's been used for close to 2 centuries.
Best regards.
in terms of being prepared for college my lack of skills is MY OWN FAULT but I knew more studious kids who were SHOCKED to find they werent prepared to do college level work
(Prepare yourself; the following is a rant!)
Yes, the richer the country, the more educated. But that's going by how many people graduate high school, how many go on for associates', bachelor's, and master's degrees or higher. Those statistics don't measure the quality of the education that got people those degrees.
One of the reasons I took early retirement from teaching college was because of the consistently poor preparation given to high school graduates to deal with college. I was banging my head against the wall of inadeqaute public school education and the narrow-mindness of college administration for years. Many high school graduates had never written an essay, and, of those that had, their teachers had given out passing grades if the content had gotten even close to the topic, ignoring the horrible grammar and punctuation entirely. Even one of my colleagues, an English professor, passed students in the basic college writing courses based on content (generally with topics like "What I Did Over the Summer."). I then got these same students in my courses, and they were unable to write the necessary essays...didn't understand formatting, didn't know where to put a period (!), and couldn't express their own ideas. Every semester, I had students who plagiarized because they didn't know how to put information into their own words. Some of these students actually had Honors English as seniors in high school, but this is how badly the public schools had let them down.
These are not isolated instances from one college either. The quality of education in the US is definitely not good. Just look at the errors on the Internet in articles written by journalists...people with degrees in writing. Nor has it been a sudden dumbing down; it's been happening for decades. The middle school and high school I went to in the 1960s no longer had geography as a subject (luckily, I went to a parochial elementary school through 8th grade, so I had a better educational foundation).
And one part of the problem with not knowing much about Africa is, of course, a degree of racism. However, another, larger part is the attitude of many Americans: we're insulated from the world to a greater degree than most other countries. You can drive for days here and still be in one country...America. Even though there are regional differences, the language, the basic customs, the money, the laws, etc. are all pretty much the same You can't do that in Africa or most countries in Europe. The American perspective is insular, and the majority of people simply don't care about the geography or country boundaries of the rest of the world. The most you'll get, by way of a world view, is when it comes to food...we love lasagna, tacos, egg drop soup, sushi. Eventually, we'll probably try to claim some ethnic dishes as "all-American"! Pizza has probably come close to that already!
If it's any consolation, a whole lot of Americans know very little about America, either! Few can name the capitals of most states or can tell you the names of most states on an unlabeled map or even know much about the state they live in. More of them, though, can tell you that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt finally got married!
I agree, but wealth does not equal common sense or good education. There is so much corruption, so much stupidity among so-called representatives of the people that education has been given less and less importance: funding cut, teachers devalued, and the knowledge the children should be getting turned into rote and "teaching to the test," and the almighty dollar made a prime concern. Stupid people can't be changed, no matter what their nationality or ethnicity, but ignorant people can be educated. Sadly, too much money goes into the pockets of those who have more than enough already, too many of the laws and decisions are made by big industry rather than the people, and the ignorant stay ignorant...even encouraged to be ignorant because that type of population is easier to control. America is like this, as are many other countries...countries that are rich, "civilized," and so on. It's a façade, and it's crumbling. I worry about what will happen when it's all torn down and enough Americans finally wake up and realize that "for the people, by the people" have become empty words.
I lucked out by having a father who was born in Italy and a mother whose parents were Polish immigrants; I grew up in an ethnic household where I learned that the world was not comprised of one huge United States and a lot of little places called "other countries" scattered around it. But that type of attitude isn't true of just Americans...it happens in states and in counties as well where some people are so insular that they treat their own state or county...or even neighborhood...as though it's the center of the universe. It's a hard wall to break through, but the Internet has helped, especially by giving us a chance to share videos of people like Trevor Noah.
I could go on but since I'm an American I dont think it really counts
but if you asked them to name some african countries...well good luck with that
I'm surrounded by idiots here!!
You clearly have never been to America.
The thing that annoys me most about that is that nobody in Sweden knows what Swedish Fish are. It's not a thing in Sweden. Sorry, America: we don't know what you're talking about. And you can keep Swedish Fish, we've got really good candy in Sweden.
As a Swedish person, thanks for clearing up that common confusion.
Secondly, switzerland is in central/south europe, just north of Italy. Sweden is 2000 kilometers away. That is longer away than New York is from Miami.
Thirdly, Swedes speak swedish, a north-germanic language, while Switzerland is a multi-lingual nation of Italian, French, German and Romansh. So, their "dialect" is not similar, as they dont speak the same language.Language =/= dialect. Language groups like germanic have a huge range of languages and variants, just listen to a dutch or Icelandic and tell me they are similar.
In short, only lazy ignorace is the reason for people getting the two mixed up. The only similarities they share (except for a democratic system that most western nations have anyway) is that they both start with the letter S, and both were neutral during the second world war.
We have vibrations instead, not waves
Im dead of laughing
'
"It would be so funny, if it wasn't so sad..."
"Wow you listen to music from Nigeria? How is that possible? Wait, Africa HAS a music industry?" I'm from California, USA. This is the response I mostly get....California is one of the most diverse places in U.S.
The same thing applies when I state I listen to Laotian, Trinidad and Tobago or Bulgarian music.
I think certain people should rely less on the news to get information on other countries because news here RARELY reports about other countries and when they do it's always about negative stuff. More books should be read! Or at least use more than wikipedia to try to research about other countries.
Of course, not all Americans are like this. It's just ignorance is so LOUD that it covers up all the knowledagble people....always..no matter what the country is. I am very fortunate to be associated with people that do research about other countries.
I've been to Jordan, Saudi, Morocco, Qatar, Israel, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman.
I saw a pizza hut ONCE in Dubai.
2). There is a 12 hour difference between Ethiopia and the USA. A lady once said to me, the reason for that was because Ethiopians don't have watches!!!!! I can't
3). Can you guys read and write? This is despite the fact that Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that has it's own alphabet and writing system!!
3). This is the number one question i get asked, Where is Ethiopia? You don't look African, Are you Indian? Do you guys have food? *ugh*
There are so many more, but out of sheer embarrassment i won't write them down. It's incomprehensible how dumb most American can be.
Never mind the fact that those people who walk the streets asking questions edit out all of the smart people who know the answers.
lol, I call attention to it all over the place on here. I do it in person as well. I was not raised to think like that. To generalize is to be rather silly and unrealistic. Like I said before, it defies logic. I point it out whenever I see people doing it. It does not matter what race, gender, nationality or whatever you are. I have had this conversation with many people online and offline. You know what usually happens? People generally realize that yeah, it is a rather narrow minded thing to do. Evolve your thoughts on this, it won't hurt you I swear. If anything, you might learn a thing or two and that is not a bad thing.
LMAO, oh stop, you are being silly. The only one who is butthurt here is you since you are the one being condescending and angry. I've lived here my whole life. I think I know more about the people who live here than your boss who only worked here a few years. Also, give me a break with that BS logic so many of you foreigners seem to have about all Americans thinking they are some how superior. There you go with that generalizing again. It got you nowhere before and it will get you nowhere now. It's just pure ignorance. I can't even take you seriously because you can only see things one way. How can you expect me to when you keep invalidating your arguments with the same bit of warped logic. Get real. I stand by what I said. You don't have to like it. You can keep being willfully ignorant all you want to. It won't make what I said wrong. You can not generalize an entire group of people based on the actions of a few. It is what it is. Take it or leave it. You acted like an ass for a split second. Does that mean everyone from your country will do the same? NO, IT DOES NOT. Nor would I think that the majority of people from your country would do the same. That is just you and you do not speak for all of them. This is simple, basic, common sense. I'm not explaining a complex concept here. Don't get upset because what I'm saying points out how flawed your thinking is. Maybe try to learn something from it instead. Truth can be a bitter pill to swallow sometimes. Would the medicine go down better if I sugar coated it instead of being very matter-of-fact about it? Like I said, it is what it is and you can either stay with the flawed thinking or open your mind. The choice is yours.
There's nothing to chill out about, I'm perfectly calm, I'm just saying what I think. Why do you assume that Americans would not know anything of African culture because of our media? You would be wrong. I've seen many positive things about Africans in our media. In case you haven't noticed, we do have more than one media outlet to get information from. I've seen Africans depicted in many ways much like I see other people depicted in many ways. People/cultures are multifaceted and I've never seen them only depicted in just one way. I've seen the best, I've seen the worst, and I've seen everything in between. But, I can't expect you to know that if you haven't lived here long enough to be exposed to it or people who know this. I find it funny that you have so many assumptions based on so few people though. I've met plenty of Africans, a lot of them pushy and arrogant. That however, has not shaped my entire view of the African people and I do not expect that every time I meet one, that they will be like those few. Also, when someone asks me something because they genuinely don't know any better, I educate them. Being black around a lot of white people, you get that sometimes because some are just not exposed to black people very much or at all. I'm not upset about it and I don't take offense. I understand. The best way to learn something, is to ask a question no matter how silly or simple it seems.They walk away knowing better, I walk away knowing that their horizons are a little more broadened. So yeah, you probably get a lot of silly questions, but that is pretty human and to be expected if one is not exposed to some things. Much like some of the things you say, they come from a place of not fully knowing. Do I fault you for it? No, you just haven't really been exposed to anything else, so that is all you have to really go on. So I understand why you see things that way. I'm just saying, it's rather faulty to only see them that way.
Italy did own a significant portion of the world at one point (Including some of northern africa)
Also, in schools in America we only learn the geography of Africa, not the history or anything important.
Love u Trevor
Trevor: What? I used my monkey grip under the plane.
ROFL!!!
Been there. Haven't we all been there?
I love you!
The shark: ask him this...
Painfully stupid people in California (Reference Frank Zappa's "Flakes.")
The only impression of waves I've seen actually.
Here at the Baltic Sea - we would never get any waves that are good for surfing.
Priceless
hot and funny.. what more could a girl ask for?
he's from south african, I'm fully aware of that, but he's mimicking cali girls' accent
lmao hahha
thanks for the advice