This anthropology major is cracking up right now...

over this: Stuff White People Like. I found it through a comment on Greg's blog, The Parish. A few of my favorite posts:

#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture "It is generally acceptable for a white person to learn a few terms in a language spoken primary by non-whites (such as Chinese, Tagalog or Portuguese).  They can then use these phrases to order certain ‘more authentic’ dishes in restaurants."

#8 Barack Obama "Because white people are afraid that if they don’t like him that they will be called racist."

#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report "Take note that Tuesday through Friday during the working week, you can break ALL awkward silences with white people by saying 'did you see the Daily Show/Colbert Report last night?'"

#56 Lawyers "law school is pretty much the only option for anyone with a BA that wants a decent paying job." [snicker]

#85 The Wire "For the past three years, whenever you say 'The Wire' white people are required to respond by saying 'it’s the best show on television.'"

Love it! I've recently been getting into a lot of the things on the list (Arrested Development, yoga, sushi, Whole Foods) so this white girl's stomach hurts from laughing!

After some googling on the blog's author, Christian Lander, I came across this LA Times opinion piece, White Like Us, whose writer, Gregory Rodriguez, comments:

Lander is doing to whites what scores of journalists and politicians do to non-white minorities every day, "essentializing" complex identities -- that is, stripping away all variety and reducing them to their presumed authentic essences.

[...]

As unusual as Lander's site is, it is also part of a sociological trend among whites who live in increasingly non-Anglo cities and regions: their transformation into a minority group. Whites used to think of themselves as standard-issue American -- they had the luxury of not having to grapple with the significance of their own racial background; they were "us" and everyone else was "ethnic." Not anymore.

I can definitely see how some non-crunchy whites may know how minorities feel after visiting Stuff White People Like!!

Comments

[zalm]

Once you've made it through that site, you'll most likely also enjoy Stuff Christians Like:
http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/

The first entry? "Putting a God Spin on Popular Secular Ideas"

[Natalie]

Zalm thanks for the link!! It's just as funny as the white people one, yet it also has some thoughtful writing, as well. I was laughing out loud at the "double sermon" post...this Baptist girl has definitely experienced those!