Compliments That Can Be Taken as Subtle Racist Comments

1. 79

   Santi Salinasposted 4 years ago

   In 2020, Americans are becoming more culturally conscious of the things that they should and should not say. However, there are a few things that some still say that can be taken the wrong way.
   
   As a Hispanic American, I am no stranger to subtle racist remarks. I remember when I was 17 a white woman at my job had said to me, "Wow your English is really good!" While to her this sounded like a compliment, I started took it as a racist remark. She clearly assumed I was an immigrant who came America not knowing how to speak English properly. This general assumption got me to think how some people assume that these "compliments" are appropriate to say to certain people. News flash, they aren't. I was born in America, having a Hispanic background, and English is my first language. Saying that my English is good isn't a compliment but it is a way of you telling me that others like me are incapable of forming words in English. There are other things as well that should not be said and here's why.
   
   When a white person tells a black person that they are "so articulate" it is not a compliment but a subtle racist comment. The reason, articulate means that you are able to speak coherently and fluently. Telling this to a black person is a subtle way of saying that they are not talking like they should be. Some white people assume that all black people talk in colloquial tongues only using slang words and are not capable of having a formal conversation. Stating that a black person is articulate is basically saying that they are a special case and all black people cannot have a formal conversation.
   
   While there are many more "compliments" to get into, there is also the issue of sensitivity. Some believe that we people are being "too sensitive" and to just take the compliment and go. I strongly disagree with this because these compliments are racially specific and can hurt people if they take it the wrong way. So in my opinion, no we are not being too sensitive. The compliments are too racist.
   
   Thoughts on this? Do you think that these kinds of compliments are racist or are minorities being too sensitive?

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   1. 83

      gmwilliamsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, such compliments are racist because it is assumed by some Caucasians that Blacks & Latinos are incapable of communicating articulately.  They subconsciously assume that Blacks & Latinos have a ghettoized dialect.  They also assume that Blacks & Latinos are, for the most part, in the lower socioeconomic classes. They also believe that all Latinos speak with a heavy accent & that Blacks speak a version of ebonics.  They associate most pathologies w/being Black & Latino.   Blacks & Latinos are the most despised sociocultural groups in America.

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2. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 4 years ago

   Also, if we look deeper, this is a socioeconomic, not a racial nor ethnic thing.  Blacks & Latinos who are of the solidly middle, upper middle, & upper classes aren't associated with the stereotypical imaging of the Black & Latino.  Such stereotyping imaging is more associated with Blacks & Latinos who are lower middle, working, lower class & the underclass.  Blacks & Latinos from the more affluent  socioeconomic classes see the negative stereotypes & as a result, view lower socioeconomic Blacks & Latinos as problematic.  The former view the latter as responsible for the negative opinion & imaging of their respective sociocultural group by Caucasians.   Affluent Blacks & Latinos are seeing poorer Blacks & Latinos as harbingers of incoming racial animus by Caucasians & are voicing this.  They are blaming poorer Blacks & Latinos for the present racial discord in American society.

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