Re: "Then you would consider the WASP acronym an over simplification?"
Like all labels, it of course simplifies things.
Whether the acronym is useful to anyone is up to them to decide, not me.... (But, no, I don't find it particularly useful for anything... unless maybe it is in a history class devoted to the 'Black Power Movement' in the 'sixties. :-)
W. - 'white' - an oversimplification of skin color (no one is really 'white', nor 'black', nor 'yellow', we ALL have EXACTLY the same pigments in our skins... just in varying amounts), used as a shorthand way to indicate 'race' (but it only describes 'racial' distinctions from a sociological or political point-of-view... it actually has NO descriptive validity when it comes to indicating 'race' from a genetic or medical point-of-view).
A.S. - 'anglo-saxon' - another over-simplification used as a shorthand method of indicating 'race' (mostly in America only...), used more in the sense of meaning: 'not African-American, not Native American, not Asian'. So, is fairly redundant with the "W." that precedes it in the acronym. (No particular scientific validity either when it comes to characterizing 'race' from a genetic or medical point-of-view either, since anyone who appears 'white' is likely to be characterized as 'anglo-saxon' whether in fact they actually have any descent from those particular Germanic tribes or not. :-)
Whereas the French use the description 'anglo-saxon' EQUALLY loosely, as a shorthand way to denigrate pretty much anyone who supports a robust Capitalist economic system (again: totally regardless of genetic descent).
P. - 'Protestant'. Well... at least that last part of the acronym is still fairly close to an agreed-upon meaning. <g> (Despite the fact that *many* 'white' Americans, say, are actually not members of those religious denominations....)
That, and of course there is the recent Vatican edict declaring that Catholicism is the 'one true Church', and Protestant 'Churches' are not really 'Churches' at all.... :-) |
