I won’t use this term ever because it is racist! I will only refer to it as SSA.
Please read the link to bring yourself up to speed
https://www.africanexponent.com/bpost/rethinking-the-term-sub-saharan-africa-36
It’s time again to rethink human rights.
This phrase/term is used to easily and it’s disturbing!
We need to talk
Should also add that isc is probably a racist term as well.
Is the division racist, or is it because the North African countries are linguistically and culturally Arab, and therefore Egypt (for example) is more relevantly discussed in tandem with Saudi Arabia and Qatar than Namibia or Senegal? (Note that Sudan is generally included in North Africa, and yet the Sudanese people are mostly black-skinned.)
Do you consider Israel an Asian country? How about Russia?
Of course not everyone in the Middle East speaks Arabic. If language is so important why hasn’t anyone suggested that Quebec be merged with Europe?
Well, there's La Francophonie. And I do seem to recall that people (including those in the relevant countries) refer to Spanish- (and Portuguese-)speaking countries in the Americas as "Latin America", despite the wide variation in races. And of course, when Canadians talk about "North America", they aren't including Mexico or Costa Rica.
Which human rights do we need to rethink because people use the term "Sub-Saharan Africa"? Just curious.
Hi cco
I provided a link in the opener explaining how the term is racist.
It’s a must read for anyone who doesn’t want to be inadvertently using terms that are demeaning.
If a people’s find a word/term or phrase racist. We don’t use it. I don’t think there’s any debate there. I usually take it a step further and want to know why it is. That’s kind of what I’m getting at when I write “rethink human rights”. Good chance I’ll build on this later.
I most certainly refer to Mexico when speaking of North America! CDMX is the largest city in North America... Are people really referring only to the US and English-speaking Canada in relation to N.A.?
Egypt is very different from the Maghreb, with a strong Berber (African) influence. There are Berbers of all colours, from Black to blond...
What on earth is ISC? I've never heard the term.
I've heard North America used to mean "The United States and English Canada" constantly since I immigrated here. In fact, a job I had last year involved researching something in "Europe and North America", and when I asked the boss for his definition of "North America", he said "les Êtats-Unis et le Canada".
What on earth is ISC? I've never heard the term.
That is called South Asia now.
ISC= Indian sub continent
I believe this term is also racist. I searched for anything to support my suspicions but nothing turns up so far. In the meantime I will never use the term/word “sub” whenever referring to a country or region.
I have heard North America used to only refer to Canada and US.
And then there’s the term Central America. Latin America
Either way there’s a bunch of subtle references used in the English language that I find inappropriate!
I just wanted to share this with fellow babblers so that we can correct
There are 5 nations in north america
Keep counting. There are more than five in Canada alone.
If a people’s find a word/term or phrase racist. We don’t use it.
Worth a consideration, if their argument is good. Note that some people think maps are racist, but I'm not sure we're all going to turn ours upside-down, or burn them if they're a Mercator Projection just because they think so.
Keep counting. There are more than five in Canada alone.
If a people’s find a word/term or phrase racist. We don’t use it.Worth a consideration, if their argument is good. Note that some people think maps are racist, but I'm not sure we're all going to turn ours upside-down, or burn them if they're a Mercator Projection just because they think so.
North America is a continent of three states and many many nations. Most maps used today are a reflection of the historical colonialist values of cartographers, so in that sense they are racist.
I'd suggest more "eurocentric" than "racist" since if I'm not mistaken, cartographers were putting North at the top prior to the discovery of most of the Southern hemisphere. The choice had more to do with European explorers, navigation by the North star, and magnetic compasses. Prior to that, it was common to put East at the top, which was certainly not done to try to be inclusive.
..i posted this in another thread last week.
5 States-Canada, US, Mexico, Denmark and France
I have often heard Canadians who believe that North America is Canada and the States. I thought that the Chinese used North at the top and that there is speculation that the Chinese had better maps than Europeans at the time of Columbus. This article is interesting.
Confusingly, early Chinese maps seem to buck this trend. But, Brotton, says, even though they did have compasses at the time, that isn’t the reason that they placed north at the top. Early Chinese compasses were actually oriented to point south, which was considered to be more desirable than deepest darkest north. But in Chinese maps, the Emperor, who lived in the north of the country was always put at the top of the map, with everyone else, his loyal subjects, looking up towards him. “In Chinese culture the Emperor looks south because it’s where the winds come from, it’s a good direction. North is not very good but you are in a position of subjection to the emperor, so you look up to him,” says Brotton.
...
Whatever the reasons, north up is an idea that seems to have stuck. Take this famous Nasa image from 1973. This photograph was actually taken with south at the top, because the astronaut who took it was spinning around at the time. Nasa decided to flip it over to avoid confusing people.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160614-maps-have-north-at-the-top-but-...
5 States-Canada, US, Mexico, Denmark and France
nope. there's over 20.
https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/countries-of-north-america.html
According to Wikipedia, North America is made up of 23 nation-states.
Wikipedia - North America:
In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 579 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's population, if nearby islands (most notably the Caribbean) are included.
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territ...
The carribean is not normally included and established canon makes it 5 (not including indigeonus ones) unless you include central america but then you wouldnt call it that
Thing is, the Caribbean isn't included in South America either, so that just leaves being part of Asia, Africa, Australia or Antarctica. :0
ed'd to add: Europe.
That is true, but when we speak of Southeast Asia, we include the countries that are wholly or mostly continental, as well as the archipelagos, including the very large nations of Indonesia and the Philippines.
The problem of including the Caribbean countries in a larger whole is the division between North, Central and South America (especially in English). Sure, Cuba is very close to Florida, but Trinidad is very close to northern South America...
been thinking on this for few days.
when i've heard the term my mind always went from desert to jungle visualization not to people.
i guess because of the alpine and sub-alpine geographic terms we use.
now i see it a bit different and not so hostile to the notion.
Arctic and sub-Arctic. Tropical and sub-tropical (such as Florida and Cuba). Some of these things are overthought. What is true is the European centrism - why Middle-East and not West Asian?
Remember "Near East"?
We could use the backdrop map from the now-canceled Nightly Show on Comedy Central in the U.S. (Which is also an illustration of the title of Leon Rosselson's most-famous song) 
Arctic and sub-Arctic. Tropical and sub-tropical (such as Florida and Cuba). Some of these things are overthought. What is true is the European centrism - why Middle-East and not West Asian?
Remember "Near East"?
yup. and now there's south east Asian.
i don't know.
North America is a continent of three states and many many nations. Most maps used today are a reflection of the historical colonialist values of cartographers, so in that sense they are racist.
I prefer the definition of North America that includes everything south as far as Panama, which is the definition that geographers generally agree upon, and which Wikipedia uses.
The things I don’t like about maps is that they’re 2 dimensional. And the world is a sphere. On a small scale they’re a very useful tool that I use on almost a weekly basis.
Heres an excellent example. A couple days ago I contacted someone I found on kijiji selling something I wanted to purchase. She texted me her address. I checked my map app on my phone, navigated my route and was able to give her an eta.
I have a globe of the Earth and I suggest everyone invest $200-300 in buying a quality detailed globe. I know they’re pricy, but the true real perspective you get from owning one is way worth more!
The perspective of orientating North to the top is not something I personally feel is racist. However I have a problem with using a common well known distortion in maps of the Earth.
When I was growing up I had this desk with a map of the Earth on it. Along the equator, the scale remains the same but the further north or further south, the scale perspective changes making Antarctic and northern countries look larger in comparison to those on and closer to the equator.
On this desk map, Greenland was the size of, if not slightly larger than South America. On the bottom of this map, this fact is mentioned.
Here’s another good example I found that proves humans are not very intelligent. When I go to China, either Hong Kong or Beijing, no matter the airline, in a direct flight, the route is from Toronto then directly north over Hudson Bay, then Nunavut western Arctic Ocean then south over Siberia, Stanovoy mountains Manchuria and finally Beijing (or something close to this)
I found this very odd the first time? But it’s actually the shortest route! Using my globe and my headphone wire stretched from Toronto to Beijing proves this! When I tell my friends about this, every one is also very surprised by this route!
Now we all know the Earth is round, but we also all easily forget this fact because really, humans are not that smart! We’re easily fooled and tricked!
Part of being a progressive is the ability to tell yourself once and a while that hey, I’m wrong and I have to change.
The Argentine comic book character Mafalda (a little girl wise beyond her years) turns her globe so the Southern Hemisphere, including her country, are at the top.
Unfortunately I've never been to China, or anywhere in Asia (not even Levantine countries or Turkey) but even the flight to Europe goes far to the north of where we might expect it to.
I have been to the far north of Québec, Nunavik, but not to the territory of Nunavut north of Nunavik. I have a cousin working up there, but the cost of a ticket is prohibitive for people not working up there.
If we would just turn our globes 90 degrees, so the equator runs vertically, every part of the world could have a turn being at the top except the poles.
If we would just turn our globes 90 degrees, so the equator runs vertically, every part of the world could have a turn being at the top except the poles.
oh too funny. feeling blessed have had 2 belly laughs in 2 days on line.
