Ebay auction Title

[thecatspajamas]

Perhaps once eBay ups the number of characters allowed for the listing title he can lengthen it to "African American Youths," but in the meantime, economy of words wins out.

I do find it interesting though that when I did a search just now for "black kids" in the title of eBay listings to compare to other possible search terms, the first 37 listings that came up had neither "black" nor "kids" in the title. Weird.

[gnaz01]

No, seems fine to me. I only saw 4 kids too, and what appeared to be dad or an older person.

[Jcfowler6]

I'm white there black what's the big deal?

[yanks12025]

Ok Guess not. Hey, I'm white also, I just thought it seemed harsh saying"Black kids". But never mind then. But why's he say 5 black kids who befriend the tall?

[barrysloate]

Happens to be a pretty cool photo. And the seller could have used "African-American", but other than that not a big deal.

[steve B]

Any term leads to trouble.
One radio call in show locally had a guy call in who claimed he'd nearly been arrested over filling out a form as "african american" the problem? He's white. He also was born in South Africa and has become an American citizen, so in his mind there was no more logical choice.

I view such things as an identifier, something my wife and I have discussed a few times as she doesn't agree. The example I use is that it's no different from saying other stuff that isn't seen as being wrong. Lets say you're sending someone to an auto parts store, and there are 3 employees, all roughly similar physically, size weight etc. One is a kid, one an older guy and the third black. The black guy knows more, so you want him helping pick a part. So how do you quickly describe who to talk to? I see no issues saying talk to the black guy he's the smartest one.

Perhaps someday we'll find a way to avoid needing such terms, but if it's the simplest way of differentiating among similar people I don't see any easy way around it.

Steve B

[barrysloate]

Steve- when you're speaking informally I suppose saying "speak to the black guy" is perfectly fine. But the title of an ebay listing is a little more formal, since it's in print and may be seen by a large audience from different social backgrounds. In that case "African American" would be better. I'm sure the seller meant no harm when he listed, he may have just done it quickly without giving it any thought.

[howard38]

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