I noticed that in the USA people are often strongly divided based on whether they identify as being “black” or “white”. Basically many people there make this a big part about their identity and separate communities based on it to the point where they developed different cultures and even different ways of talking and behavior solely based on whether they identify as “black” or “white”.

As far as I understand it’s based on the brightness of their skin color because of slavery but it’s not quite clear to me who is considered “black” or “white” since I’ve seen many people who for example have very bright skin and seem to have almost no African ethnicity but they still identify and talk/behave as “being black”.

I wonder why they still have this culture and separation since segregation ended in 1964.

Because in other regions like South America such as Brazil for example this culture doesn’t seem to exist that much and people just identify as people and they talk, behave and connect the exact same way no matter the skin brightness. People such in South America seem way more mixed and seem to not have this type of separation like in the USA based on external features like skin, hair or eye color.

To me it kind of feels like this is a political and economic reason in the US that they purposefully want to divide people for their gains. Because the extent to which this seems to have been normalized in Americas every day conversation both in private and in public/commercial spaces feels like brainwashing. And I wonder if this will ever improve since it seems to go as far as people being proud about these racist stereotypes and think this is completely normal. But considering the broader global context and America’s historical background it doesn’t seem normal. Especially with Americas context of slavery you would expect there to be strong efforts of fighting these stereotypes and having a political leadership that doesn’t see “color” and only judges based on individuals personality.

  • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    Usa has never tried to break with their own slavery/racism in the past. They have not admitted that it was wrong what they were doing, and that they will never do it again. Therefore it is still there and it remains strong.

    Although there are many who frown on racism today, it is only on the surface, only a show.

    It is like a law of nature: when you (as a people) have not learned from history, then you are bound to repeat it.

    • DankOfAmerica@reddthat.com
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      9 hours ago

      They have not admitted that it was wrong what they were doing

      This is a straight up lie.

      • There was a civil war about it. It was the most costly war for the country in terms of lives.
      • There was an amendment to the US Constitution about it.
      • The President at the time that slavery was ended is considered to be in the top 3 of the country’s history.
      • There’s a federal holiday to memorialize a civil rights leader. There are parades across the country on this day.
      • There are museums and exhibits all over the country on this topic.
      • There are tons of documentaries and shows on it.

      This is such a blatant lie, that I don’t even know what to say.

      • Majorllama@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        I kept waiting for that comment you are replying to take a turn and be a joke, but it never did. They actually believe America never admitted they did anything wrong when it came to slavery?

        I too am at a loss for words.

        • DankOfAmerica@reddthat.com
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          1 hour ago

          Yo, I have no idea. I’m starting to believe that a lot of these anti-American accounts are Russian trolls. They’re so unnecessarily antagonizing and hypocritical. Of all political entities in the world to criticize someone else… Europe? EUROPE? Let’s take a look at the hypocrisy.

          The US is racist!

          • Hmmm, I wonder who even came up with the idea of races?

          The US had slavery!

          • Umm, who started that slavery?
          • Who captured and enslaved the Africans?
          • Who brought them over and sold them across all of the Americas?

          The US supports the genocide of Palestine!

          • Ok, who gave that land to Zionists and why? What was the reason, hmm? And why Palestinian land??

          The US spends too much on military and not enough on social welfare!

          • Yeah, who’s going to save those fantastic EU welfare programs from Putin?
          • Btw, where are European countries buying their fancy high-tech military equipment from?
          • Who built those F-16s that European countries donated to Ukraine?
          • Why doesn’t the EU build its own military-industrial complex then?

          The US invaded Iraq!

          • Who drew up the lines of the Middle East to ensure permanent conflict?
          • Did someone forget Polend?

          The US is belligerent!

          • Odd, because I don’t think they started WWI nor WWII. Who was it?

          The US dropped atomic bombs!

          • Crazy, but what was Europe doing instead of sending troops to invade Japan?

          The US has terrible healthcare!

          • Interesting. Who is the leading researcher in medical interventions?
          • Who subsidizes the world’s medications research and development so the rest of the world can brag about buying that shit wholesale and using generics a few years behind?

          The US thinks too highly of itself!

          • Of all the continents, which continent isn’t even a continent?

          The US is too religious!

          • Remind me again, what were the Crusades?
          • And, why did so many Europeans even move to the US to begin with?
          • Can someone point on a map to where the head of Catholic Church is, please?

          As far as I can tell, Europe starts shit and the US is left cleaning up the mess. Then, Europe talks shit about the US for trying to fix the problems it creates while they sit over there basking in the resources they extracted. WTF is that?

          Extra: Texas is stupid for wanting to leave the union!

          • If Texas leaves (it won’t), should we follow the established naming convention and call it Texit?

          Edit: WHY THE FUCK DOES THE US EVEN EXIST??

          • Majorllama@lemmy.world
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            1 hour ago

            I think the left is way too anti-american these days and I think the right needs to recognize that we aren’t always so star spangled awesome anymore either.

            It’s disingenuous to pretend that America has done nothing good and are nothing but a bunch of fat racist losers or whatever they say.

            But it’s also disingenuous to try and pretend like America is number 1 in everything all the goddamn time.

            Since this is Lemmy I pretty much only ever see people taking huge stinking turds all over America and aggressively so. I’m not normally patriotic in any major way but listening to these people just straight up lie about America constantly starts to get to me at some point.

      • Glitterbomb@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        Please reread that amendment slowly, word for word. See if you maybe missed something the first time.

      • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        There was a civil war about it.

        I know that. I don’t deny that. But what was the outcome of it? They have reunited with gritted teeth.

        Memorials are a good thing to remember people, but not very meaningful for that what I have talked about.

    • Social_Conversation@lemmy.worldOP
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      12 hours ago

      I also wonder why so many Americans still casually use the N-Word. It feels kinda surreal to use this considering all the weight and suffering that was connected to that word.

      Imagine Jews or Germans with different ethnicity would be casually using the Hakenkreuz and slurs that Nazis used, as a slang in every day conversation in Germany. That would be unthinkable.

      • Takapapatapaka@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        I think it is mostly used by AfroAmerican people, and i believe it is relatively common thing to see groups of people calling themselves with a pejorative word used by other groups (i think punk and queer evolved this way too, though the n-word is a much stronger instance, i see the same pattern)

        • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
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          8 hours ago

          I think it is mostly used by AfroAmerican people, and i believe

          Have you ever asked one of them about the meaning or purpose of that habit?

        • Social_Conversation@lemmy.worldOP
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          11 hours ago

          I just don’t think it’s morally good to use a word that has been used as a racial slur and to radically devalue and enslave people and make it socially accepted for people with a specific ethnicity to say. Imo this is the essence of racism and exactly what went wrong in the past with exactly that word. It doesn’t matter if a word is only used by people considered “white” or “black”, it’s the same thing and just not right.

          For example in Germany they have a slang called “Digga” (used instead of “bro” or “dude”) which confusingly kinda sounds like the N-Word but it has nothing to do with it and has no racist or negative connotation at all and is used by everyone no matter their ethnicity. If Americans would use a similar slang that also has no racist background let’s make one up and call it “Brazz” and not make it exclusive to a skin type I wouldn’t see any problem. For example they already have “dude” and “dawg” which are perfectly fine. But the n word is just not okay if you asked me.

          • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            10 hours ago

            That’s why it is primarily used by black people in America—the word was used against them and now they are setting the terms for its future use. Just because it makes some people uncomfortable, that doesn’t mean it is ok for a white person to try to control how it is used, just like it wasn’t ok for a white person to make it a slur against blacks. The word is under new management now.

            And it sure does add a ring to rap songs.