Kyle, I just wanted to let you know that since I discovered The Trend Report a couple of months ago, it has been THE highlight of my Sundays. Your writing always has me thinking about it for the rest of the week while also affirming some things that nobody ever really talks about (or too afraid to), which has me wondering if I'm the one going nuts here. Thank youuuuuuu
Where are these groups of Europeans you hang out with? Lived in 4 European countries throughout my whole life, not once have I heard anyone refer to non-white humans as a different "breed."
Us not having non-white heads of government is definitely part racism, but also statistics.
The top 10 most ethnically diverse countries in Europe (basically all of Western Europe) is approx 90% white. But there are 44 countries in Europe - the other 34 countries are essentially 99% white. White people come from Europe. I don't know how this detail always seems to be glanced over. It makes statistical sense that most of our heads of state are white ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To the point of the article that you listed, it could be that the Welsh are horribly racist people, and that's why it took them so long to elect a black representative OR - hear me out - it could be that 0.9% of the population in Wales is black.
And don't get me wrong, there is PLENTY of racism in Europe. My own wife is black. I'm painfully aware of how bad it can get, and am really happy to see minorities in power.
But we can't overlook facts just because we love to hate. If 0.9% of the population in Wales is black, and they elected a black PM, that's something to celebrate not use as an excuse to put down a whole continent as racist.
this is definitely all very valid, Bianca — and i'm very happy to hear that what i've experienced is not-the-norm!!!!
so some additional context, which i think is interesting / a good cross-section: i've had the aforementioned experience happen at least three times in two different spanish schools / in spanish classes, where students are largely from all around the EU and running across age, industry, etc. the word "breed" has been used exactly as you think, once in the worst way (a la, describing immigrants) and another was a (seemingly benign) interaction at a queer bar where someone literally said to me, "you are so interesting looking. what breed are you?" this could be a matter of, say, meanings of words not translating but the connotation in english is...not great. it also highlights a local issue: i think this reflects more about barcelona / the transient nature of who is in the city more than anything else. i find it hard to believe this is happening in the same way in, say, paris, london, amsterdam, and beyond.
but you're right as well: it's a numbers item too — and this isn't to overshadow that this is a major deal, in wales and beyond! — because it is! i do think i was generalizing and i apologize for that: it's coming from...a disappointment in my own experiences (over the past near two years) that i've been in EU spaces and spoken to people where diversity comes up in one breath but then such believes are undercut in another, if that makes sense. i also think i'm painting it with a specific brush, having come from an extremely diverse place that champions diversity (LA, CA, USA) which i apply a false equivalency too: a la, such an observation, which combines contexts unfairly. i'm excited to see more change as this — and will be working toward that! thank you for holding me accountable and enlightening!!!!
Appreciate your response and willingness to take on the criticism.
Regarding your story, I understand. I can't speak for their intentions, but for extra context, in Latin derived languages there's often no differentiating word between race and breed - there's only one.
Spanish uses the same word for race and breed - raza
As does Portuguese - raçã
Italian - razza
And Romanian - rasă
You get my point... we actually don't have a word for breed. Because for us race IS breed.
To add on top of that, we actually don't use "race" as a differentiator between humans (because we're all the same race - human race.) Rasă, raçã, raza... is usually used for animals, for people we just use the color itself or geographical origins.
We started using our own equivalent word to the English "race," becase that's what you do in English, but in Latin derived languages it sounds insanely weird. I avoid using it in my own language because it's just bizarre to call people that are a different color to you - a differet race, we're all the same race.
this is great context!!!! and i can definitely see this: thank you, Bianca!! this just goes to show...we (me) can all study a bit more, to dig deeper into understanding things beyond the surface level. lovely!
Kyle, I just wanted to let you know that since I discovered The Trend Report a couple of months ago, it has been THE highlight of my Sundays. Your writing always has me thinking about it for the rest of the week while also affirming some things that nobody ever really talks about (or too afraid to), which has me wondering if I'm the one going nuts here. Thank youuuuuuu
omg zoe 😭 this is the goal and you have no idea how validating this is: thank YOU so much!!!
In case my inane weekly comments weren't proof enough - I second Zoe's thoughts!
georgia!!!!! yall!!!! 🙈😭
Where are these groups of Europeans you hang out with? Lived in 4 European countries throughout my whole life, not once have I heard anyone refer to non-white humans as a different "breed."
Us not having non-white heads of government is definitely part racism, but also statistics.
The top 10 most ethnically diverse countries in Europe (basically all of Western Europe) is approx 90% white. But there are 44 countries in Europe - the other 34 countries are essentially 99% white. White people come from Europe. I don't know how this detail always seems to be glanced over. It makes statistical sense that most of our heads of state are white ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To the point of the article that you listed, it could be that the Welsh are horribly racist people, and that's why it took them so long to elect a black representative OR - hear me out - it could be that 0.9% of the population in Wales is black.
And don't get me wrong, there is PLENTY of racism in Europe. My own wife is black. I'm painfully aware of how bad it can get, and am really happy to see minorities in power.
But we can't overlook facts just because we love to hate. If 0.9% of the population in Wales is black, and they elected a black PM, that's something to celebrate not use as an excuse to put down a whole continent as racist.
this is definitely all very valid, Bianca — and i'm very happy to hear that what i've experienced is not-the-norm!!!!
so some additional context, which i think is interesting / a good cross-section: i've had the aforementioned experience happen at least three times in two different spanish schools / in spanish classes, where students are largely from all around the EU and running across age, industry, etc. the word "breed" has been used exactly as you think, once in the worst way (a la, describing immigrants) and another was a (seemingly benign) interaction at a queer bar where someone literally said to me, "you are so interesting looking. what breed are you?" this could be a matter of, say, meanings of words not translating but the connotation in english is...not great. it also highlights a local issue: i think this reflects more about barcelona / the transient nature of who is in the city more than anything else. i find it hard to believe this is happening in the same way in, say, paris, london, amsterdam, and beyond.
but you're right as well: it's a numbers item too — and this isn't to overshadow that this is a major deal, in wales and beyond! — because it is! i do think i was generalizing and i apologize for that: it's coming from...a disappointment in my own experiences (over the past near two years) that i've been in EU spaces and spoken to people where diversity comes up in one breath but then such believes are undercut in another, if that makes sense. i also think i'm painting it with a specific brush, having come from an extremely diverse place that champions diversity (LA, CA, USA) which i apply a false equivalency too: a la, such an observation, which combines contexts unfairly. i'm excited to see more change as this — and will be working toward that! thank you for holding me accountable and enlightening!!!!
Appreciate your response and willingness to take on the criticism.
Regarding your story, I understand. I can't speak for their intentions, but for extra context, in Latin derived languages there's often no differentiating word between race and breed - there's only one.
Spanish uses the same word for race and breed - raza
As does Portuguese - raçã
Italian - razza
And Romanian - rasă
You get my point... we actually don't have a word for breed. Because for us race IS breed.
To add on top of that, we actually don't use "race" as a differentiator between humans (because we're all the same race - human race.) Rasă, raçã, raza... is usually used for animals, for people we just use the color itself or geographical origins.
We started using our own equivalent word to the English "race," becase that's what you do in English, but in Latin derived languages it sounds insanely weird. I avoid using it in my own language because it's just bizarre to call people that are a different color to you - a differet race, we're all the same race.
this is great context!!!! and i can definitely see this: thank you, Bianca!! this just goes to show...we (me) can all study a bit more, to dig deeper into understanding things beyond the surface level. lovely!
The J Lo/ celebrities thing is giving Ancient Greek Mount Olympus vibes “the Gods, they’re just like us” YEAH UNTIL ZEUS HAS A TANTRUM etc.
DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER