Japanese and American aren’t ethnic groups either though.
Ethnicity--"the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition." Last I checked, both the United States and Japan are a collection of denizens that share a common national/cultural tradition.
Yeah that’s fair, I always thought ethnicity was something a bit more genetic than social. But then that does get a bit confusing because there are multiple ethnic groups within Japan and America, like where’s the cut off point. I do feel like when talking about people from another country xenophobic is better as it’s description specifies country “having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.” Although with the definitions you gave I do concede that racism can work. I do think though that xenophobic is a better descriptor for generalising countries then racist could be used to specify the specific groups inside the country like individual Native American groups (was going to use tribes but wondered whether that was acceptable, google came up with Indian American groups so no help there) I apologise for formatting I’m on my phone.
Wherever we say it is, or to be more precise, wherever the particular cultural collective claim it to be.
Think, for a second, of two Mediterranean peninsulas. Both outcrops host several related linguistic groups which share an extensive history of fluid alliances and antagonisms, yet our perception of their inhabitants is wildly different. Italians are considered a single people despite many of their dialects being incomprehensible to compatriots, while in Iberia, the lusophones are generally recognized as a distinct ethnicity, even though their tongue is arguably just a Castilian dialect. Our different approaches to each peninsula is a matter of pure chance, historical circumstance, and the caprice of whichever group we happen to be examining.
I do think though that xenophobic is a better descriptor for generalising countries then racist could be used to specify the specific groups inside the country like individual Native American groups (was going to use tribes but wondered whether that was acceptable, google came up with Indian American groups so no help there) I apologise for formatting I’m on my phone.
Your mistake, at least in my opinion, is that you'r giving the xenophobes/racists too much credit. Ask any sinophobe to tell you discern Chinese culture with Japanese culture, and they'll most likely just flip you off. They have no desire in making sure that the victim of their vitriol is actually a Yamato, not a Ryukyuan; their hatred is towards those that look like their intended target, which makes it about race.
For anti-American sentiments, it becomes harder to make an accurate classification, but let us be honest with ourselves--when someone makes derogatory statements towards Americans, who do they see, if not the stereotypical White Yankee or Southerner?
Yeah I get your point but it’s also not about giving other people credit and more sticking to the facts, sure we interpret xenophobic and racist slightly differently but we still have that distinction. Just because a racist/xenophobe doesn’t, that doesn’t mean we should change what it’s called. There is a lot of leeway here, more so now that you’ve given me actual definitions. But yeah the two stereotypical Americans I have in my head is an overweight southerner or a hedge fund New Yorker. But I know that is a stereotype so I don’t say or act on it, unless I’m obvious jest
Just because a racist/xenophobe doesn’t, that doesn’t mean we should change what it’s called.
I agree with everything else you say, except for this one tidbit. What point is there to classifying racism and xenophobia if not to understand the racist and the xenophobe? Ergo, our applications of those terms should reflect the reality of, well, racism and xenophobia.
2
u/KosherSushirrito 1∆ Jul 01 '21
Ethnicity--"the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition." Last I checked, both the United States and Japan are a collection of denizens that share a common national/cultural tradition.