'I Want to Be Like You'

Spurred on by nothing more than the slow wheels of progress, there has been a paradigm shift in the thinking of racial archtypes (note I didn't say stereo) in recent years.
While as little as 10 years ago, many African-American women who looked a certain way, wore their hair a particular way were fashioned as trying to be "European," nowadays it's just as easy to see Caucasian women emulating the styles of black women.
This 'I want to be you' commune is not new: Take a youth, any youth, and surround him with positive, strong role models then you will in effect create a positive, strong role model.
Does that mean that we are post-racism in society? Noooo. It means that we can no longer afford to subconsciously judge a person just on race.
Take a young girl and surround her with diverse friends and exposure to different cultures, and it's likely you'll create a person that emulates the best from various cultures, styles and faiths.
It's natural: 'I see you' 'I understand you' 'I want to be you'.

In Britain, they're called 'Uber-Chavs'

Britain, long known for being ahead of the curve in most ways than one, is seeing a phenomena of young, single women born to young, single women reach adult - and basically do nothing with their lives (well, unsavory things).
This Telegraph article quotes the deputy head of Cantrell Primary and Nursery School in Bulwell, Nottingham, as saying: "We must talk about a class of uber-chavs. They are not doing anything productive and are costing taxpayers a fortune.
"It is very difficult, almost impossible, to take these people now and provide basic social and work ethic skills."
Sound familiar? I'd venture to say the U.S. has had them some "Uber-Chav" for some time now.

The Ethnic White Man, Reconsidered

Ethnicity is not something you identify with white people, especially here in the South: Most white people are just considered, well, white.
No depth, no texture to their lives, they are just seen as white. But here on my vsit to New York City for the first time, I discovered something all together different: The ethnic white man.
Here in the South I had been used to the nonlinear white male; those blue eyes of his I saw as a single color, not a multifaceted spectrum of colors like they truly are. I thought they all acted the same, dressed the same.
I should have known better.
One of my best buds in Detroit is Polish; he swears by his grandma's pierogi.
He talks totally different than this other guy I met in New York, who is Romanian (and can incidentally play basketball like MJ himself) and cool as a fan.
Another acquaintance I made in New York is a Russian Jew. Just heard this group of Italian-American women having a conversation. They sounded sooo different than the Southern twang I'm used to. Not to get into archtypes or even stereotypes, but they were all different, so different from what I am used to, being raised in the South.
I am in New York (Manhattan) for the first time and I hear alot of things are segregated like the Old South up here (ethnic enclaves galore). We'll see. Everything is a bit overwhelming, but this is to be continued ...