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How did I offend him?

I was doing voluntary work at a local charity shop and I have positive relations with most of my colleagues (I hope).
This guy and I were having a casual conversation and he mentioned something about himself/race I can't particularly remember what precisely. I asked him "aren't you African?" which I thought was a reasonable question to ask but he responded aggressively towards this and began ranting about how i'm racist. :confused:He stated that he's Jamaican though I always thought Jamaicans were originally from Africa... I couldn't really justify myself or anything as he left right after

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Reply 1
Original post by quentinhamilton
I was doing voluntary work at a local charity shop and I have positive relations with most of my colleagues (I hope).
This guy and I were having a casual conversation and he mentioned something about himself/race I can't particularly remember what precisely. I asked him "aren't you African?" which I thought was a reasonable question to ask but he responded aggressively towards this and began ranting about how i'm racist. :confused:He stated that he's Jamaican though I always thought Jamaicans were originally from Africa... I couldn't really justify myself or anything as he left right after


Lol you absolute joker! My family originate from Jamaica and its an insult for Jamaicans to be called Africans lol stupid really.. anyway Jamaicans look different. And tbh Jamaicans are decendants from west Africa and India. Are features are different to Africans.. Tbh you made an assumption based on the fact he was black, he must be African. Its happened to me, then I say "no mate, Im from Harrow London and never been to Africa"

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Original post by T.I.P
Its happened to me, then I say "no mate, Im from Harrow London and never been to Africa"

Posted from TSR Mobile


Well that's incredibly pedantic
Ignore him, if he gets het up about something as petty as that then clearly he is not the sort of person that you would want to socialise with. It was an honest mistake.
Reply 4
Well what you said really is not a big deal, I would ignore him if I were you. BUT your question could come across a tad ignorant, as you had assumed he was African just because he is black.
Original post by quentinhamilton
I was doing voluntary work at a local charity shop and I have positive relations with most of my colleagues (I hope).
This guy and I were having a casual conversation and he mentioned something about himself/race I can't particularly remember what precisely. I asked him "aren't you African?" which I thought was a reasonable question to ask but he responded aggressively towards this and began ranting about how i'm racist. :confused:He stated that he's Jamaican though I always thought Jamaicans were originally from Africa... I couldn't really justify myself or anything as he left right after


You made an innocent mistake and have nothing to feel bad for, if not just feeling a bit ignorant. In that situation he should have just corrected you and you'd have known for next time. What a pedant!
Original post by T.I.P
Lol you absolute joker! My family originate from Jamaica and its an insult for Jamaicans to be called Africans lol stupid really.. anyway Jamaicans look different. And tbh Jamaicans are decendants from west Africa and India. Are features are different to Africans.. Tbh you made an assumption based on the fact he was black, he must be African. Its happened to me, then I say "no mate, Im from Harrow London and never been to Africa"

Posted from TSR Mobile

I don't see how living in Harrow makes one less African. Well, the guy I was working with did say his ancestors were African but you didn't exactly state why it's offensive.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by T.I.P
Lol you absolute joker! My family originate from Jamaica and its an insult for Jamaicans to be called Africans lol stupid really.. anyway Jamaicans look different. And tbh Jamaicans are decendants from west Africa and India. Are features are different to Africans.. Tbh you made an assumption based on the fact he was black, he must be African. Its happened to me, then I say "no mate, Im from Harrow London and never been to Africa"

Posted from TSR Mobile


lol
Original post by quentinhamilton
I don't see how living in Harrow makes one less African. Well, the guy I was working with did say his ancestors were African but you didn't exactly state why it's offensive.


Because Harrow isn't in Africa? Maybe I'm being to literal...

Anyway you made a mistake, apologise for offending him then you can both get.on with your lives like actual, sensible human beings.
Reply 9
You're a bit ignorant for assuming he was African, but then you're technically correct. On the other hand, as an African myself, It's a bit offensive to say that it's insulting to be called one. There aren't any distinctive features to differentiate an African from a Carribbean person. He also shouldn't have called you racist.
Reply 10
We're all African if you trace it back far enough. Having said that, it's not difficult to see why anyone would be offended for being mentally categorised like that. Not all people of darker skin are African, not all Oriental-looking people are from the Far East and not all Caucasian people are from the Nordic countries or the Swiss Alps. What about people of more than one ethnicity? Educate yourself and think before you speak.

p.s. This is definitely a case of sheer ignorance, though, and not racism. Your colleague was inappropriate to brand you a racist. There's a difference between being racist and saying something silly or offensive.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by wsxcde
no it's not its the truth. If you just go round asking black people if theyre african it's stupid. I'd expect many black men to say "no i was born in the uk and never been to africa" to me if i went round asking people that lol.


They'd still be African though...

The same way Asians born and bred in Britain are still Asian
Original post by bottled
They'd still be African though...

The same way Asians born and bred in Britain are still Asian


well they're not african because they're born in the UK so they are british citizens and british. I mean what do you think americans are do you call them europeans then?
Original post by wsxcde
well they're not african because they're born in the UK so they are british citizens and british. I mean what do you think americans are do you call them europeans then?


They are British citizens on African descent.
And some white people are British/American citizens of Caucasian or whatever descent.


Besides, wouldn't i be calling Americans 'British' rather than 'Europeans'
Original post by wsxcde
well they're not african because they're born in the UK so they are british citizens and british. I mean what do you think americans are do you call them europeans then?


I think if you're parents were born in Africa, that makes you African. You might be a British citizen as well, but you're still African.

My mum is Asian and my dad is English. I'd still consider myself Asian, as well as British.
Original post by bottled
They are British citizens on African descent.
And some white people are British/American citizens of Caucasian or whatever descent.


Besides, wouldn't i be calling Americans 'British' rather than 'Europeans'


yes, and say if both of someones parents were white and french, came to the uk, had a baby born in the uk which never learns fench, never goes to france, is born and raised in england, then again that is a british person and not a french person. And I dont feel you would be so inclined to call them a "british person of french descent" or yourself a "british person of italian descent" if you found out one of your ancestors is a roman. And black people in britain are.. british also. "descent" is a strange thing to want to bring up, how far back are you going to go or are you only interested in associating skin colour to segregate which groups you will label by a specific point in their descent or not.
Original post by wsxcde
no it's not its the truth. If you just go round asking black people if theyre african it's stupid. I'd expect many black men to say "no i was born in the uk and never been to africa" to me if i went round asking people that lol.


It's like asking a white american if they're European, technically they are, even if they've never been there.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by DanB1991
It's like asking a white american if they're European, technically they are, even if they've never been there.


and a white european is anglo-saxon/viking/celtic/roman? And a roman is germanic tribal, and germanic tribal originated from people migrating to europe out of africa..
I get asked about my race all the time , I've been asked if I'm Spanish , Moroccan , Pakistani you name the cappuccino skinned culture and I've been asked if I devend from it . I don't find it offensive to be honest its just someone taking an interest because it mustn't be obvious to them . I'm actually a 1/4 African and more british than anything else so when someone comes and starts talking in Urdu I am stumped :colone:
Original post by wsxcde
yes, and say if both of someones parents were white and french, came to the uk, had a baby born in the uk which never learns fench, never goes to france, is born and raised in england, then again that is a british person and not a french person. And I dont feel you would be so inclined to call them a "british person of french descent" or yourself a "british person of italian descent" if you found out one of your ancestors is a roman. And black people in britain are.. british also. "descent" is a strange thing to want to bring up, how far back are you going to go or are you only interested in associating skin colour to segregate which groups you will label by a specific point in their descent or not.


I'm using the word 'descent' mostly because I'm trying to be precise with my words, as Im sometimes rather vague and that leads to confusion.

However, even though the difference between a British born person and a French born person in that scenario is way different than that of a say... Japanese person born in the uk in that scenario.

At the end of the day, on an aesthetic level, yes, people who are of a different skin colour will look different than your typical British person. But to summarise my argument, unless I've misinterpreted what you've been saying , i feel you're conflating nationality with race. They aren't the same thing, and that's why on some application forms you have stuff like 'black british' and not just s blanket term of 'British' for all

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