A
student at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has made an interesting discrimination claim. Paulo Serodio says that he was harassed and suspended for calling himself a “white African-American” because he was born in Mozambique and later became a U.S. citizen.
Serodio says that teachers and students became enraged by his description during a classroom discussion of cultural diversity and that he was harassed with mocking posters and told to stop using the term to describe himself. He was later suspended for “conduct unbecoming” a student.
For the story, click here.
I wonder what the problem is? He is White, yes? He was born in Africa? Yes. So he is being truthful. So what is the problem.
I have often wondered why different races had different classifications. The one that I do not understand is Caucasian Not of Hispanic Descent. But I am an American mutt.
i went to high school with a girl who was born and raised in south africa by south african parents. she was asked by colleges to change her racial designation from african american, because she has white skin. but is she not an african american????
Uh oh. The W word.
I think Christopher Hitchens wrote something once about filling out stupid forms that mandate Whites to fill out the ‘Caucasian’ bubble and having some success with them changing their forms…
Is the students name,John Boenner?
There is more variation within races than between them. He is just as African-American as anyone with African ancestors who came to the United States, so long as his cultural history is African. I am Canadian-American because I was born in Canada and am now American. The problem seems to be that African-American has two meanings: one of those who have been in the United States for many generations and one of those who themselves have come from Africa. Those living the US for many generations might not have dark skin either; many of those with light skin because of multiple generations of intermarrying with those of European decent also are harassed when they call themselves African-American. Many of the darkest-skinned Africans who move to America are not grouped into the first category of African-Americans, based on color of skin, but into the second category, based on location of origin, primarily because their skin is too dark to fit into the first category of African-American culture. As more Africans immigrate to the U.S., I propose separately identifying the two categories as “culturally African-American” and “geographically African-American” or “African-by-birth-American.”