Grab, I appreciate your 21 Feb 06 - 05:38 AM comment about being uncomfortable around persons who have a different culture from you because you don't want to be unintentionally offensive.

It is unfortunate that sticking to what is known & comfortable combined with combat fatique of living in a hostile world and the avoidance of possible conflict & questions {innocent or otherwise} cause quite a few people of color to self-segregate in settings such as university campuses when they are the minority. Undoubtably, this voluntary segregation makes it difficult to bridge cultural chasms and get to know each other.

Related to this point, Shambles, in your 20 Feb 06 - 07:21 PM, you speculated whether you would reveal your racial grouping if you had joined a forum that you discovered had almost all Black members. You wrote that "if I ever did decide to make it clear to the rest of the contributors what my racial grouping was - it would not have been because I was either proud or ashamed of it."

Let me say that I first posted on Mudcat as a guest on a thread about the song "Kumbaya". In that post, I felt that "revealing my racial grouping" would add context and background {if not a certain measure of validity} to my comment. Racial pride or lack of pride has nothing to do with it.

As an armchair folklorist, when I collect, document, and share text versions of children's rhymes [my primary area of interest] and spirituals, & other songs, I feel that for the historical record is desirable, helpful, if not critical to provide as much demographical information as I possible can. This includes race/ethnicity, gender, age, geographical location, time [usually indicated by decades], and the way the songs {rhymes} are performed.

IMO, these variable can result in changes in the text of these songs and rhymes. Having demographic information can also result in a more correct interpretation of words and phrases. Demographics may also point to differences in the performance of a song even when the lyrics are the same.

So-in a nut shell-that's why I reference my race in some Mudcat posts. However, unless the topic is race or etymology, or other cultural topics where knowledge of my racial background is pertinent, I don't include it in my post.

For example, when I posted on the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon thread, I didn't say "As a Black person, I love the fractured fairy tales feature of that show". Race had nothing to do with my enjoyment of those segments.

However, it could be said that even if I don't reveal my racial identity, being bilingual {in standard English and some types of African American "Ebonics"}, the fact that I am African American might be surmised from my posting style.

But then again, it might not.

It bes that way sometimes. And sometimes not.