Racism in Europe?

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The term "yankee" is thought to be a variation on the word "English," used by Native American Indians who had trouble pronouncing it. It became popular during the American Revolution when the English used it derisively to describe the New Englanders who were in a state of rebellion, particularly those around Boston, the center of the rebellion. The song "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was used by marching British soldiers as an insult to the colonial militiamen, sometimes called the "Minutemen." After the British defeat at Lexington and then after they were chased out of Boston, the Minutemen adopted it as one of their own fighting songs to taunt the British.

Much like the British, the Confederates of the South used the term derisively during the Civil War. And much like the British during the Revolution, the Confederates discovered how painful it was to underestimate those "Yankees."

 

@NonSequitur: American and European mindsets are quite a lot different. It's a bit more tricky with Australians and New Zealanders, but I think there's still a unique feeling that transpires from posts. At any rate, I think it's difficult for a European to follow American trains of thought and vice versa, leading to many misunderstandings and misconceptions, not to mention a couple of stereotypes.

 

I've read somewhere that the word Yankee originates from the early days when New York was crawling with Dutch and English settlers. The English came up with the name, which was more or less a curseword they made up for the Dutch. A lot of Dutch People happen to go by the name of Jan, and the English assumed we ate nothing but cheese. So there you have it....Jan Cheese, which later evolved into Yankees.

Is this true ?

 

Let me tell you something, almost every white person I've came into contact with in Birmingham is racist, especially those who live in the affluent areas of the city. Almost everybody in my college class is racist, anyone I've ever worked with has been racist, I'm not lying, or joking. I'm not talking about racism towards black people, because many of them are racist too. Most white/black people don't like Pakistanis/Indians/Bengalis in this country, especially people in Bradford/Leeds/Birmingham etc, and hatred is growing, especially since these guys are blowing themselves up on trains etc. Anyway, that's the way it is. In the UK, I think racism is very big, and it isn't getting any better.

 

I'm sorry but that's rubbish Sarevok. Who do you hang out with? The BNP members? I know very few people who are actually properly racist, and that's very VERY few. There are racists here, but not as many as you are trying to make out. I'd be ashamed of this country if racism was as bad as you're trying to make out...

 

It is that bad, have to be honest, sorry.

 

I'm sorry but I think you're wrong . I work for a bloody builders manufacturer and deal closely with the warehouse guys and none of them are racist, I mean we have a Pakistani called Rajesh there who can barely speak English but I've never heard or seen anyone treat him differently he's just like one of the guys. None of my mates are racist really, in the nasty sense of it.
Don't get me wrong, people might say racist jokes or say things like 'I bloody hate Pakis' or things like that but most of it is just tongue-in-cheek and they don't really men it, as I say I don't know very few people who are actually properly racist.

 

Racism is not that bad in England, from my experience. Like Barmy, I worked with people of all sorts of races. Racism is far far worse in other parts of the world. Places like London are so multicultural, it's amazing.

 

That's still racism, and a sentence I hear about 20 times a day.

 

Well, perhaps it's different in Birmingham than in London, then.

TBH, I'm a little surprised Chandos or Tal didn't just shut down this thread; it's got enormous potential for rules-breaking, though people seem to be holding themselves back so far.

 

London? Visit Millwall, or Tottenham, and ask random people what they think of our Black/Asian communities.

 

Theyll probably just look at you gone out and walk off mate, lol.
And theres a big difference in saying thigns tongue in cheek and not really meaning them and saying things maliciously and truly meaning them. People always seem to forget this these days...

 

I think something may have gotten lost in communication. Sarevok was talking about Birmingham and HB was talking about London; I think Barmy was talking about London too, since he lives there IIRC. So I'm thinking maybe it's just a matter of location, i.e. less in London, more in Birmingham. Though it does still depend on the individual; I have a hard time imagining that every single person in a particular community is racist.

BTW Sarevok, are you Black/Asian? Perspective can often skew things, and I imagine that the persecuted would see slightly more than there is, while someone on the other side (are Barmy and HB white?) would see slightly less. Combine the both and you can get quite the disparity.

 

The few people that I knew from Millwall WERE of Pakistani origin anyway, so I assume they think Pakistanis are OK. I'm not saying there were no racists, I'm just saying that I found the racism in London to be not all that bad, especially given that people of all sorts of cultures live there and everyone has a chance of getting a good job and making something of themselves. My office was full of people from all sorts of cultures so somebody must have not discriminated in giving them all a job.

 

Touchy topic indeed. I can only really comment on the U.S. First of all, if you look at census figures, the U.S. isn't that racilly diverse. The non-caucasian population is only about 30%. However, that is somewhat misleading, because it doesn't factor in several things. For example, people of Hispanic/Latino decent can be considered caucasian, and everyone from the middle east and India, are also technically, caucasian. So it's very difficult to say exactly what the breakdown is of race in the U.S. Yes, 70% of the country is caucasian, but the percentage is certainly lower if we say "caucasian and from European decent".

So I don't know if it's even correct to say if an Englishman is being insulting to a Pakistani that he is being a racist, as both the Englishman and Pakistani are both caucasian. It certainly reeks of bigotry and prejudice to dislike someone simply based on their country of origin, but I don't think that it's necessarily racist. As an example, it's considered OK for an African American to call another African American a n-----, although it's certainly not OK for someone of another race to do so.

The Hispanics are another race that's almost impossible to classify. There are significant contributions from three distinct gene pools in their population. I think everyone can agree that there are Hispanics that are as Caucasian as any European, while others appear decidedly African, and yet others whose ancestry traces back to the indiginous population of South America. So I don't even know what we can call them, if they are even a separate race, or a combination of three.

As far as I can tell, having lived in the north, south, and presently the middle portion of the eastern seaboard of the U.S., racism is slightly more prevalent in the south, in regards to both Hispanics and African Americans, although you find good and bad everywhere. In regards to Arabic and Indian populations, you don't see all that much of it. Keep in mind that as I have already stated, I don't know if such bigotry even qualifies as racism. It may be that we don't see much of it because these people make up a relatively small percentage of the population. It's almost impossible to tell exactly what percentage, as they all are classified as caucasian on the census forms, but I would guess that the Arabic/Indian populations in the U.S. cannot amount to more than 5% of the U.S. population combined.

 

That has been one of the theories, since no one knows for sure. The one you suggest has been popular for many years. But scholars, in recent years have challenged that particular one. There was also a Dutch pirate in the late 1600s named Captain Yankee and that may also be connected with the Dutch origins of the term.

Yet, language scholars cannot connect the term "Yankee" - if it is an insult used against the Dutch - to New England, where there were mostly English. New Yorkers were never thought of as Yankees until after the Revolution. But New Englanders were called "Yankees" even before the Revolution. Why would the English settlers in New England be referred to by an insult directed at Dutch settlers in New York?

 

I have no idea how the term Yankee originated but it was used by the British early in the rebellion.

"During the War of Independence this song (Yankee Doodle Dandy) was sung with derision by the British troops about the American soldiers, however after the battle of Bunker Hill, the Americans took it up as a war cry."

From Here

 

There you have it: European history in a nutshell!

As to the Yankee issue, I've also heard the "Jan Kees" argument...

 

You are right, but I am sorry to say this confusion only exists because americans tend to be ignorant. Calling south americans - Caucasians and mestizos alike - Latins, or "Hispanics" is just nonsensical and historically inaccurate. As far as I am concerned, this issue only happens in the US.
I am appaled every time I hear someone like Jennifer Lopez being called a "Latin" - whom are a branch of the Indo-European Race. If you got your terms properly - and used them accurately - none of this misunderstanding would exist. Unless we are basing the notion of "White" by that of the original American settlers, which was to designate Northwestern Europeans. Then, indeed, south americans, mestizos and Latins alike, would not be considered White.
I say this because I have heard from Northwestern Europeans - a Dutch once for instance - things which implied they view South Europeans as a different Race from themselves, not properly White.