Black people aren't actually "black" colored, white people aren't actually "white" colored either...

[DuctTapeJedi]

You need to stop thinking in Black and White, and live more in the Grey area ( I had to say it.)

OT: Our language is full of arbitrary distinctions that don't make any sense.

 

[Nudu]

We're all varying shades of brown.

 

[Breitenstein]

Some languages use their word for "blue" to describe dark-skinned people.
Or, for example, according to Wikipedia,

In Sudan, it is considered polite not to use the word for black, aswad, to refer to people's skin color. Instead, darker-skinned Arabs are called akhḍar 'green', while black Arabs and Africans are called azraq 'blue', as part of a seven-tier scheme for distinguishing skin tones that also includes "white," "yellow," "red," "brown," while "black" has derogatory connotations in Sudanese society. More commonly, the term "asmar" is used to describe males with dark skin. The female equivalent is "samra'".

 

[Queen Michael]

I'm not pink-colored, I'm light beige.

 

[staika]

I don't know you should see my one friend, now he's white in a literal sense.

OT: Why do we call people black and white, well because thats what people call them and at this point its better to just roll with it then try to change it. Besides what would we call them now, I can't think of anything that would sound good or make any sense.

 

[LilithSlave]

So why on Earth do we continue to refer to ourselves and other people like this?

Because any cultural norm that has ever been a norm is ridiculously hard to kill. Especially if it doesn't repulse people on a constant basis.

But maybe if we keep this up people will actually start using terms like "brown" and "pale" that actually makes a remote piece of sense instead of referring to people of European, Asian, and African into three arbitrary terms for colour and flipping out at anything that doesn't fit into these neat little nonexistent categories and calling everything else "mixed race" like it's actually possible to be of mixed race.

Because if you're actually going to refer to someone by their skin colour, do so and be accurate instead of calling that bronzed Italian American "white" and that pale skinned Goth girl from Asia "yellow".

Do we need picture examples?

Apparently, this is a "white" person.

And this, is a "yellow" person.

Could have fooled me.

And I don't even need a picture of Barack Obama. Everyone calls him black. But is that what his skin color looks like?

 

[Dogstile]

Fun fact; white skin is actually mutated black skin.

Fun fact: Everything that makes up you as a person is the result of a mutation.

That's not me being a prick and trolling you, that's evolution *nods*

 

[Daystar Clarion]

And while we're on this, why do people park in a driveway and drive in a park way? What's up with that?

And airline food. What's up with that?

 

[intheweeds]

So why on Earth do we continue to refer to ourselves and other people like this? It doesn't make any sense at all. Wouldn't it be more correct to refer to black people as brown-skinned people and white people as light-ish pink-skinned?

Brown usually refers to East Indian people where I am. There is a large East Indian community near me though. In my understanding, aren't the terms self-identifiers? Meaning those communities choose which terms they prefer? I know a lot of East Indians which choose to refer to themselves as brown, but I don't think it's my place to decide for them either way.

 

[AnarchyUK]

Side point, if you are yellow, go to the doctor as you have Jaundice

 

[gewata]

The KKK would have been much harder to take seriously if they all wore pink pointy ghost suits

Captcha: Tim interine

 

[Thaluikhain]

The OP has a point.

Also, lead pencils do not contain lead.

[small]Though, everyone that raises this point mentions the graphite, and forgets the wood its wrapped in[/small]

EDIT: Ok, I have to say it:

The KKK would have been much harder to take seriously if they all wore pink pointy ghost suits

That can happen, though, if they wash all their clothes at once, and the dye runs.

This is why they don't like mixing whites with coloureds.

 

[Robert Ewing]

It's generalization...

You need it, other wise you'd have to make billions upon billions of racial 'colors' to define one person...

The fact of the matter is, when you say 'look at a white person' You know exactly what it means... Same with 'look at a black person' you know who to look at.

White and black and Asian are perfectly fine classifications. So what if they aren't TOTALLY white or TOTALLY black? You still know what it means. You're just nit picking.

I'm fine with being called white. And most of my black and Asian friends are fine with being called Black and Asian.

I don't think I'd be fine with being called an 'Ivory puce male.' I'd hate that. And I asked one of my friends (Whom is black) if he'd like to be called 'chocolate brown male.' And he said "Hell no, that sounds way more offensive than just black."

 

[ZeroMachine]

The KKK would have been much harder to take seriously if they all wore pink pointy ghost suits

Captcha: Tim interine

Spoiler: Why, I do not know WHAT you are talking about

Anyway, for the sake of content, yeah... it's already been said. Why go through all the trouble to change such an arbitrary social norm? It would just be silly.

 

[LeKiller]

So why on Earth do we continue to refer to ourselves and other people like this? It doesn't make any sense at all. Wouldn't it be more correct to refer to black people as brown-skinned people and white people as light-ish pink-skinned?

It's easier that way, and if people become more politically correct they'll say Caucasian and African American.

 

[staika]

The KKK would have been much harder to take seriously if they all wore pink pointy ghost suits

Captcha: Tim interine

Bravo your post almost made me fall out of my chair I was laughing so hard (Thank god I'm not in the library).

Spoiler: You sir deserve a cookie

 

[Spookimitsu]

So why on Earth do we continue to refer to ourselves and other people like this? It doesn't make any sense at all. Wouldn't it be more correct to refer to black people as brown-skinned people and white people as light-ish pink-skinned?

Wouldn't it be easier to just do away with meaningless labels that only keep us separated mentally and spiritually?

 

[Slash Dementia]

The KKK would have been much harder to take seriously if they all wore pink pointy ghost suits

Captcha: Tim interine

And that would be pretty funny, too.

I think it's just a matter of it being easier to say. If we call 'black' people "brown", what would we call Mexican people? Sometimes-lighter-Brown?

Do we call Asian people "lighter light-ish pink-skinned"? It's much easier to not change what's already there, and people know what we're talking about already.

 

[Trucken]

My skin is actually white. I have basically no pigments and burn like a ************ in the sun. So, yeah... I got nothing to add...