Singing Potatoes
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Sunday, 19 June 2005
A Riddle

What's the funny thing about this picture?

Rathbone, Poitier, Vander, Williams; Jones, Matthews, Jones, Theron

Yeah, okay, maybe this one's too easy.

Posted by godfrey (link)
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Comments
I give up.
Posted by Squelch on 19 Jun 2005 10:02
They all wanted to be called Mr. Tibbs?
Posted by The Lunchbox on 19 Jun 2005 21:31
Ok, give us a hint.
Posted by blindleadsblind on 20 Jun 2005 13:00
Hint #1: The original title for this post was "Fun with Taxonomy".

Posted by Godfrey on 20 Jun 2005 16:16
All of them are African-American?
Posted by Squelch on 20 Jun 2005 19:56
Close!

Only half of them are: Basil Rathbone, Musetta Vander, Dave Matthews and Charlize Theron, all South African.

Sidney Poitier was born in Miami, of parents from the Bahamas; Peter Williams, Grace Jones and Clifton Jones are all Jamaican.

Of course, black Carribeans are ultimately of African descent, as white Africans are of Dutch heritage; yet both population transfers took place around the time the colonization of America was getting into full swing (Africans to Jamaica at the end of the 1500s, and the Dutch to Africa in the mid-1600s).

And yet, though the first European colony in America, founded in 1498, included both whites (Spaniards) and blacks (slaves) by 1501, today some people still use the term "African-Americans" as though blacks aren't quite real Americans yet. I guess those three years make all the difference.

What got me thinking about all this was a government form with boxes for "White / Hispanic / Asian / African American" in the "Race" section, and I wondered which box Boer immigrants would check.

Posted by Godfrey on 21 Jun 2005 03:50
Wow. It's all really funny actually. I had a bizarre debate with a former coworker who kept insisting that all black people in America shared the African-American experience. My family is from the Caribbean, and my experiences and culture vary greatly from that of those whose heritage is long-established in the Southern slave trade.

The woman argued that our issues were the same. I argued that they were vastly different, especially since people from the West Indies have suffered prejudice and discrimination not only from white Americans, but from African-Americans as well.

Needless to say, the debate ended right there. ;o)
Posted by blindleadsblind on 21 Jun 2005 08:44
Now that just blows my mind. I mean, I knew there were differences in culture, but prejudice and discrimination? Based on what?

Posted by Godfrey on 21 Jun 2005 14:42