I recently moved to NYC and was surprised by the ubiquitous use of the word "ethnic" to describe anything not caucasian. Is this a strictly NYC thing? In my classes we've been discussing all the baggage that accompanies the usage of ethnic (at least when used by the WASP majority--e.g. expectations for cheap prices which perpetuates a cycle of depressed economics etc), meanwhile I'm still just trying to understand the distinctions and political undertones of words I've never encountered before. I hope Texas is treating you well!
Hey Chou!
I use the word "ethnic" from a Caucasian viewpoint. NYC is made up of an enormously varied community of people from many different places, most of which are indeed referred to as "ethnic." In NYC "ethnic" tends to describe people who are not Caucasian & have strong ties to their heritage. For example, a man who immigrated from Jamaica as a child would be "ethnic" but a man with Jamaican heritage through ancestors would usually just be black. I think ethnic tends to describe the level of "foreign" culture practice in the home so for Chinese-Americans that speak, eat, and practice things related to their customs, they'd be ethnic, but Chinese-Americans who are very Americanized tend to just be American. I think NYC employs this term because so many of the people there are indeed "ethnic." When I refer to myself as ethnic I mean to say, I'm not Caucasian and although I'm extremely Americanized, my family is indeed very tied to their roots. Others don't usually refer to me that way, however.
Commenting by HaloScan
