Andres64 wrote in message ...

A few days ago the local DJs mentioned a story about a kid that got
suspended from school because he entered an "African-American (student?)
of the year" contest. Here are the "facts" as I heard them: The kid is
*truly* Arfican-American" he was born and lived in South Africa. So,
why did he get suspended? He was white. Can you say "P.C.?"

That's funny. I recently read of someonewho was from South Africa who did
some job hunting in the US, and sent out resumes well in advance of his trip
here. He ran into people who were surprised to see a white guy walk into the
interviews. They thought they were going to be able to fill a quota
position. I once worked with a group of such people. They really should be
called Afrikaan Americans.

on Thu, 05 Feb 2004 12:08:42 -0500, Andres64 <AndresC64DONTSPAM@excite.com>
wrote:

A few days ago the local DJs mentioned a story about a kid that got
suspended from school because he entered an "African-American (student?)
of the year" contest. Here are the "facts" as I heard them:

I suppose "facts" must be things we heard, but which we can't (or don't bother
to) verify, and may not include all or any of the facts, but tickle us
nonetheless. If "facts" don't tell the real story, or the whole story, so what?
We like the story.

The kid is *truly* Arfican-American" he was born and lived in South Africa.

The DJs said his parents are American, did they?

Does he have dual citizenship?

Or does simply coming to America make a South African citizen an American citizen?

So, why did he get suspended?

Are you asking? Because I think even you suspect that you don't have all the
facts -- without cute quotation marks.

He was white.

Yes, "white," as opposed to "colored," or "black," to use the notorious
categories of citizenship created in South Africa in the mid-20th century. (And
not created by the "blacks.")

Your comment *must* be a joke. It simply can't be that you are not aware, that
you have never heard a rumor to the effect, that at one time in South Africa,
and not so very long ago, there was no such thing as a "South African African."
In South Africa, "Africans" were classified as "black," and therefore citizens
of their [white-ruled] government-appointed "homelands" -- thereby losing their
citizenship in South Africa and any say in Parliament, which governed the
"homelands." "Africans" born in "South Africa" needed passports to enter South
Africa. How's that for a killing joke! (Still think the P.C. Police in the
United States have cornered the market on irony?)

By the way, the white/black dichotomy holds in the United States, but in South
Africa, being "white" didn't tell the whole story. You'll be shocked, but it
actually used to matter whether you were English or Dutch. Isn't that
ridiculous? I mean, what's to choose between the whiteness of an Englishman and
the whiteness of a Dutchman, right? If you can't make distinctions based on the
color of a person's skin. . .

Can you say "P.C.?"

Yes, I can say "P.C." I can also say "bug up your *****," and that's what I'd say
ails any whiner who claims that he just is trying to expand our understanding of
the term "African-American."