anglo

[Michael Newman]

>
Now that it's been established that Anglo=White, I am wondering why
people switched from White to Anglo at all. Was it to avoid saying
White? I am not sure because it's really not used much in the NY
area, where we do say White or even the more misleading 'Caucasian.'
However, I noticed that when I was in Ohio that some people appeared
uncomfortable when I'd mention people as belonging to racial
categories.

My problem with Anglo is that it appears to imply a cultural
identification with Englishness that I don't feel. I suppose it's the
same impulse that causes some Latinos to reject the term Hispanic.
Maybe I should just get over it.

On this point, I noticed how a number of inner-city kids don't
consider me White because I'm Jewish. There's like a sense that
Jewish isn't a category within White. They even had a debate on this
subject, with about a 50/50 split on whether Jews were White. Of
course, most Jews think we're White.
--
Michael Newman
Assistant Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders
Queens College
Flushing, NY 11367