THIS IS WHY I HATE DOING THINGS WITH MY EXTENDED FAMILY

[brigdh]

Relative: So, what kind of people were you studying in Oman?
Me: What do you mean?
Relative: You know, what kind of people?
Me: Ancient people? I don't know what you mean, 'kind of people'.
Relative: Well, how do you classify them?
Me: Farmers?
Relative: No, like, were they Egyptians, or…
Me: Omanis?
Relative: Okay, they were Omanis.
Me: Well, no, not really, given that the country of Oman did not exist in 2000 bc.
Relative: So what do you call them?
Me: Just local people? I don't think archaeologists talk about people in the way you're asking.
Relative: Yes, they do. I have these Indian artifacts, and they can be Paleoindian, Archiac-
Me: Those are time periods, not kinds of people.
Relative: But later, you have Cherokee, or other groups. What were their groups?
Me: Oh, yes. They almost certainly organized themselves into tribe-like groups, but we don't have any writing, so we don't know what they called themselves.
Relative: But what kind of people were they?
Me: We don't really look at race in this time period, it doesn't work that way.
Relative: But what I'm saying is, I have these Indian artifacts, so they must have lived in America, and are therefore Americans, and not... you know... Africans.
Me: But what does that mean?
Relative: Well, it means a lot to me. *chuckles*

AND THEN IT IS TIME TO WALK AWAY AND TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE.

I'm not sure why I feel the need to post about this, except that it makes me feel better to rage.

Comments

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

Arrrgh!

I carefully chose what relatives to spend time with, if I can choose at all, for a lot of the same reasons... :(

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah. My nuclear family often makes an effort to shield me a bit from the rest of the family (or at least not complain about my refusing to interact with them), but unfortunately, not today.

[eac.livejournal.com]

...I'm a little baffled by this, though I somehow connect it to the (probably very passe now) controversy about what color ancient Egyptians were. Because it's very important no one think they were African, right?

Blah.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Right. Except not.

[eac.livejournal.com]

Uh, yea. Not important. I hope that was understood. :)

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, we're all on the same page here.
Poor Brigdh!

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

You know, thinking about it a little, I'm pretty baffled by it, too. At the time I was too angry about the idea in general to wonder where it was coming from, but now that you point it out, I'm confused. It seems like a weird question to ask of this time period (especially when it's the only question asked, as this was), since beyond a few attempts to prove that light-skinned people did everything cool (as you point out), race in this time period is usually not a big issue. I have no idea what the underlying point was.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Blessings upon your learned head.
(Sheesh.)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Seriously!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

*Nod,nod* There's family, and then there's people you are related to.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Possibly a slight confusion between anthropology and archeology?

...I dunno.

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

Ouch. It's always so much sadder when it's one's family, isn't it? You're supposed to love them, even those horrid and bigoted, and yet...


By the way - I haven't got a time to comment yet, but I very much enjoy your book reviews for 50books_poc. I'm vary of writing on the subject, being from a country that isn't really multicultural, and consequently sadly uneducated and probably prone to being unintentionally offensive, but I try to learn, and thank you for giving me the ways. Besides, there are never too much book recommendations! :)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! Not a good day, my baby.

Pets you.

[polywogger.livejournal.com]

The mind, it boggles.

One wonders if you answered "the indigenous people" if they'd be satisfied, and wander off talking about the indigenouses that you studied abroad...

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

*boggles*

I'm impressed that you can decipher the level of coding there, though. I don't think I'd have figured out what he was asking, even after the reference to Africans. I'd still be there, blinking confusedly, asking whether he meant, like, Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon or something, and assuring him that we'd gotten beyond the era properly covered by paleontology by 2000 bc.

[gen50.livejournal.com]

perhaps it is because i am asian,
but i definitely dont have a color/race bias
i think green is good (well there's spock, kermit, and brainiac 5)

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

So, what kind of people were you studying in Oman?
Tall Lesbian amazons who ate their males.

[childofatlantis.livejournal.com]

At the risk of nitpicking, or something - I'd never seen the phrase you use in your cut tag (http://commodorified.livejournal.com/298969.html?thread=3116505&format=light#t3116505) until recently, and it kind of bothers me.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, yeah, I see what you mean. I think it didn't occur to me because I've always used the word 'skanky' differently from that of 'a skank'; while the second to me is about female sexuality, the former just means dirty, smelly, nasty, most often applied to inanimate objects or ideas, and not so much to people's behavior. But maybe that's just a personal quirk of mine rather than a real distinction between the words, because clearly they are related. So, thanks for pointing that out.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I use skanky the same non-sexualized way-- I think it blends with skeeve in my brain, and someone pointed it out the other day and I was like '...oh!'

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like skeevy much better. Thank you for reminding me of that word!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

...oh, heavens.