Why do we say white and black?

Question

but with everyone else we say indian, asian, hispanic/latino/latina?

you dont hear terms like red, yellow or brown.

i never really understood it...i always heard people say white and black so i would say it too (im talking when i was little and learning words)

why is that?

Answer 1

becaus it sounds more striking than pink and brown

as people we always seek to make things sound more dramatic than they actually are

its aways been like that

Answer 2

When I was little, I said people were not black, they were brown and whites are white, they are peach. I still see it that way.  

Answer 3

lol this is a good question. i wish i could answer it. i'll just wait and read everyone's responses until then. =]

Answer 4

Because people these days are too stupid to think about the real skin tones. Duhhhhh!

Answer 5

There are four races in the world supposedly,

red, yellow, white and black.

But it is the black race that has protested so much against the white race,  and the `sixties protests and marches, and riots brought it to a climax until finally a law was passed that prohibits discrimination..(Civil rights)

The other races (red &yellow) more or less stayed out of it.

So, after a while it was really white against black and black against white, it started with this I think.

Blacks placed themselves in the forefront so to speak with their constant oppostition to white rule.

Answer 6

I think its because white and black heritage is so broad. But for indians and stuff its not. For example when you think about all the cultures of white heritage there are many, from welsh to german, british, to irish. That is like a lot of people there, so I guess they figured if you are of fair skin you will just be considered white without being specific and offending people. Same for blacks, as there are many from Haiti, Jamaica, Africa, and other places, they figured if you are somewhere close to africa or have a darker complexion than that of typical brown you will be considered black.Again not to offend people.

But yea that are latino and indian and stuff its a more specified distinction that you are likely from a given latin place so that is what you are. Same for asians, they figure if you fit the general look of what it means to be asian then you are taken to be from a asian country. Not an expert on any of this just my opinon though.

Answer 7

This is a great question! I know what you mean. I don't really know why it's right to say black and white but not the others..

Answer 8

Because we generalize, and it's easier that way. Do you really think when you were little you could remember all those different races?

Answer 9

It's maybe cause all the first discrimination was against blacks.

And not many other cultures lived here.

People got stuck calling them blacks and blacks calling them whites.

I'm not sure. Lol.

Interesting question.

[:

Answer 10

dunno really, good question! imagine calling chinese people 'the yellow guy' or asians the ' browny/greyish family round the corner'. it sounds weird. PLEASE NOTE: THERE WAS NO RACISM INVOLVED IN THIS ANSWER WHAT SO EVER! I AM NOT A RACIST PERSON.

to HUSKERC9, thats a good point. from now on im going to see it that way.

Answer 11

Actually, in the old days you could hear the terms: yellow (asian), red (native american) and brown (african). My great grandmother (being a women of her generation) would use them.

But then ppl started thinking of those terms as racist. And frankly, i think the terms white and black are somewhat racist. ppl are not and should not be defined by color.

Answer 12

There are other colors used in profiling if you think about it. You've heard of an oreo, yes? Well there are also bananas.

Answer 13

beacuse have ppl that is really drak we called them black ppl,and we have ppl white as sun light we called them white ppl

Answer 14

cuz we dont want to caucasian (white) or ***** (black), and latin asian indian and evrything else not considered racist, just ethnicall, while white is considered racist but socially correct

Answer 15

because white and black is easier to say then "caucasion (sp?)" and "african-american".

my teacher calls chinese people yellow though. but when i ehar someone call someone else yellow i think tehy'd look sick xP

Answer 16

"White" people are called so because they come from dozens of countries. UK, Germany, Russia, France, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, Romania, etc.... Do you suggest we discriminate between these peoples in description? How about the 95%+ of these people that have ancestry from multiple countries? The easiest way was to describe them in the one thing they all had in common. They are "white" or peach as one person said. It goes the same way for "Black" people. This isn't a derogatory term, it's just the way our society has described different people. Other countries don't have this "problem" due to the fact that they are usually composed entirely of one ethnic group....their own. Americans can't go around saying, So a Swedish/Irish/Scotsman went into a bar with a Israeli/Italian/Romanian.  

Answer 17

Befor races began to mix on such a large scale poeple that were taken from africa actually had a very dark skin color....the poeple that took these darker folks had no real reason to be very exact in their description so they just said they were black skinned people then just black people

well whats the opposite of black?.....white tht being said to stress how different each group was one group was white the other was black

Answer 18

because if we went by what color people really are they would get made and think you are making fun of them. plus everyone is a different color so it would be hard to think of colors for everyone. whities are the lightest and so is white and blackies are the darkest skin tone and so is black. plus if you say black people are brown and call them brown then some other races like mexican or indian can also follow under brown

Answer 19

I'm yellow like spongebob

Answer 20

When upper-class whites came to America, they wanted to get people to work for them for as little as possible. At first, lower class whites and blacks were working for little to nothing for the upper class whites. At least until the upper class whites created the whole white and black thing. They convinced lower class Europeans that they were better than Africans because they had lighter skin and different features. Being that the lower class whites were facing hardship, they decided to believe this because they wanted to feel some type of self-worth. Before long the rich whites convinced the poor whites to help them enslave blacks. Rich whites felt that this was the best way for them to get free labor and their plan worked-- hence, the "black/white" separation we now have today. Slavery is no longer allowed in the U.S. today; but, unfortunately, our society is still trying to break free of the mental detriments of it.

Elementary and High schools arent going to teach you these things. The history of slavery is a bit different than what they teach us when we are younger. They tend to be very vague with what they teach us in secondary school. You probably wont learn about it until(if) you become a history major in college.