This game has you sort people into ethnic groups based upon their picture. I admit that the pictures are most likely intentionally small but for the most part it should help demonstrate to you how "race" is social construct that varies between cultures and individuals.
EDIT: lol you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.
Haha, well, I don't know. It seems they picked some of the most 'in between' and deliberately confusing faces they could find. I remember walking down the street in Atlanta and I could very easily tell who was black, mexican or white lol.
The problem with a hispanic latino category is the fact that all the other "races" there fit into. Latinos are conglomerate of european native american and african descendents. Also seeing as native americans are the closest group to asians genetically some of them look very similar.
Still I think most of the people on TL would call some filipino people mexican if they saw them walking down the street.
It's kind of a silly test. There were so many of them where I was like "well this guy/girl looks mixed but I guess I have to pick a category" then at the end it's like "LOL YOU GOT IT WRONG HE WAS MIXED!" -_-
I couldn't for the life of me find more than one black person. Turns out the one guy I was sure was black actually wasn't and two of the left-over people I had randomly put in the black box were actually black. Only guessed one right person in each category, except for black.
i did horrible. pics are too small and people seem to be racially mixed. seems to force errors.
still i guess there is a somewhat of a point. in the future, race may be harder to distinguish exactly. for example i've heard from a friend that there's not really any Japanese-Americans in the sense that of Japanese in America. Most of those Japanese-Americans have married with Americans so their kids are racially mixed.
btw here is another quiz, to guess whether the person is korean, japanese or chinese. the pics are larger so the quiz should be better. http://alllooksame.com/
after taking the alllooksame quiz, i have to say a lot of race has to definitely to do with culture. sometimes i cant tell what kind of asian someone is at 1st glance but once they say something or do something, i can usually tell, or at least have a better guess. btw im asian
The german/black lady that identifies as black when she is pale is interesting....
While I don't really agree with categorizing people based off of what they look like, self identification is something I could see a 1st grade teacher do to avoid conflict >.>
I got 2/4 native, 2/4 hispanic, 3/4 black (would have never guessed the white girl was black....) 3/4 asian and 3/4 White (the irish/asian guy got me).
On May 02 2011 10:11 Angra wrote: It's kind of a silly test. There were so many of them where I was like "well this guy/girl looks mixed but I guess I have to pick a category" then at the end it's like "LOL YOU GOT IT WRONG HE WAS MIXED!" -_-
Ya they set you up to fail. It was a pretty dumb test.
My teacher had my class do this and fill out a worksheet about racial perceptions or something like that. They picked people who looked ambiguous or used other factors like lighting to trick you into misplacing people, and then say "ooh look how wrong and prejudiced you are." Another section of the website has statistics that are almost certainly biased. It's not a very good test or website, imo.
On May 02 2011 10:11 Angra wrote: It's kind of a silly test. There were so many of them where I was like "well this guy/girl looks mixed but I guess I have to pick a category" then at the end it's like "LOL YOU GOT IT WRONG HE WAS MIXED!" -_-
Pretty much this. It's like a multiple choice test where none of the choices are actually right...
I suppose they're criticizing the current US government's system, but I can't help but feel that this "test" is attempting to aim criticism at the test taker.
It's generally harder to tell what race/ethnicity a mixed person is. But we all already know that we shouldn't make assumptions about people (i.e. prejudice) which is the obvious message of this poorly designed test.
What a joke. Look at the people that claim that they're black, who do they think their kidding?
Reminds me of some people I've meet that are just as white as me(blue eyed and blond ect) but claim to be "Native American" because they say they're 1/16 Blackfoot or whatever.
got 3 white and 2 of the rest but Hispanic >< I knew that would be the group I'd fail on, when there's mixing I really can't tell half-Hispanic from half anything else.
this reminds me of that can u guess which asian country the guy is from quiz. terrible quiz, basically they got a chinese guy dressed him up in very japanese styled clothes with japanese style facial hair etc. and screw you up. and stuff like that. btw just saying that there ARE visual differences between koreans chinese and japanese, there not definite but many times you can guess correctly
Not only is this test a nice way to illustrate how little most people understand races, but it also illustrates how the average TLer has shit reading comprehension! Well done, PBS!
OGM TEH PICZ R 2 SMULL
On May 02 2011 10:29 Skilledblob wrote: When I walk through Berlin you bet I can tell who is no European
That's just because they're not wearing leather pants.
On May 02 2011 10:02 Nothingtosay wrote: The problem with a hispanic latino category is the fact that all the other "races" there fit into. Latinos are conglomerate of european native american and african descendents. Also seeing as native americans are the closest group to asians genetically some of them look very similar.
Still I think most of the people on TL would call some filipino people mexican if they saw them walking down the street.
On May 02 2011 10:02 Nothingtosay wrote: The problem with a hispanic latino category is the fact that all the other "races" there fit into. Latinos are conglomerate of european native american and african descendents. Also seeing as native americans are the closest group to asians genetically some of them look very similar.
Still I think most of the people on TL would call some filipino people mexican if they saw them walking down the street.
I get called Mexican all the time >.>
My sister is asian american and gets mistaken for being hispanic all the time.
Like someone else said, it really feels like they're intentionally using people of ambiguous ethnicity just to make a point. Plus most of the people had diverse backgrounds, and a few were exceptionally debatable. In particular I'm thinking of the Palestinan guy who identified as white and the Puerto-Rican (Spanish)/Irish/English girl who identified as Hispanic/Latino. Spanish people are white! Spain! Part of Europe! lol..
Anyway, I'd take things like this with a grain of salt.
On May 02 2011 10:49 Jibba wrote: Not only is this test a nice way to illustrate how little most people understand races, but it also illustrates how the average TLer has shit reading comprehension! Well done, PBS!
On May 02 2011 11:19 jester- wrote: Hilarious how that white chick is classified as black. How the heck do they expect any one to guess these correctly?
"Hmm, she is whiter than I am and since I'm a white person I'll assume she's white."
<Wrong! She is black!>
Apparently race is determined by facial bone structure. That's what I've heard at least.
No Berliner has ever worn, or ever will wear leather pants.
The European nationalities easiest to identify visually are Finns and Russians. For most others, it's a spectrum of possibilities. When I was in Riga one of my idiosyncratic tourist activities was pick out people on the street and guess whether they were Latvian or Russian. Also like guessing a German's regional origins by their accent.
I got 9 right... how the hell was that guy "Hispanic/Latino?" fucking small pictures. I don't like this game -_-. Then there was this dude with ocean sized glasses that distorted his face so I had to completely guess with him. asdlfjkahskljdfalskdf Ok rant over.
17 right, but only because I figured they were trying to cherrypick examples of mixed people that would throw someone just going by looks off, so I guess that's metagaming it or something. Still, you can't tell me that some of the black people in their example are 50% or more, and hispanics can look like any of the groups mentioned, really. The "fullsize" photos from clicking on the images still are extremely small and don't really help.
On May 02 2011 11:40 Thermia wrote: 17 right, but only because I figured they were trying to cherrypick examples of mixed people that would throw someone just going by looks off, so I guess that's metagaming it or something. Still, you can't tell me that some of the black people in their example are 50% or more, and hispanics can look like any of the groups mentioned, really. The "fullsize" photos from clicking on the images still are extremely small and don't really help.
Yea I got 15 right as well, but again only because I assumed they were going for something tricky. Way too low resolution for a proper test, however I like the idea, hammers a point across. The idea that we even have these tests and include these statistics in national surveys etc. is terrible though
My picks are way more accurate than the US classifications imho.
Most of those persons are completely mixed but its just stupid to classify a guy from Palestine with a clear arabian apperance as white and the brunette with blue eyes as black.
Whoever made this test should get another hobby/job.
This test was really lame. A ton of these people are mixed race and separating Asian from Native American is retarded, seeing as Native Americans are descended from Mongoloids.
One of the people I put in Black is supposed to be white, but then her info says she's mixed white and N. African. So... I wasn't wrong. It was the US Census that defaults her to white.
I put the Filipino/Irish guy in white. Well... that was his Irish half I was putting him into, seeing as he was far more Euro than he was Asian. Kind of ridiculous that he's classified as Asian considering Filipinos are already Spanish/Negroid/Mongoloid mix, then further injection of Euro with the Irish heritage. His genetics aren't anywhere close to Asian dominant.
The English/E. Indian girl I put in white. Obv, that's her English half I'm seeing. Yet, she goes in Asian? LOL
The only two that I totally missed were the two black girls who have "some" euro ancestry. It sounds more to me like they have a ton of white ancestors in their background, they just weren't legitimate marriages so they call themselves African despite heavy euro genetics.
On May 02 2011 11:40 Thermia wrote: 17 right, but only because I figured they were trying to cherrypick examples of mixed people that would throw someone just going by looks off, so I guess that's metagaming it or something. Still, you can't tell me that some of the black people in their example are 50% or more, and hispanics can look like any of the groups mentioned, really. The "fullsize" photos from clicking on the images still are extremely small and don't really help.
Yea I got 15 right as well, but again only because I assumed they were going for something tricky. Way too low resolution for a proper test, however I like the idea, hammers a point across. The idea that we even have these tests and include these statistics in national surveys etc. is terrible though
Well the fact is that most people do fall clearly within a White/Black/Latino/Native American/Asian category, enough so that it is still useful for statistical purposes.
Race is a social construct.... Yeah, I'm gonna believe that one...
No matter what some random "face test" or geneticist tries to convince me, I'm not quite ready to throw away my common sense just yet. The reason scientists have been unable to determine distinct races based upon individual genes is because races are not determined by individual genes. Anyone who looks at race as more of a statistical probability finds much more evidence that confirms what we've already long believed.
But this is the course science often takes. We deny something based on faulty data, political correctness, and cultural sensitivity, and it's only a matter of time before it is all proven wrong. I remember back when the psychologists and sociologists tried to convince us that male and female brains are identical, and society makes up all the difference.
On May 02 2011 09:51 nennx wrote: Edit: Oh, you can click on them to see them bigger :D
DAMN~! OP needs to edit his OP
That said, I still got stuff wrong even when looking at the bigger pictures.
I can understand there being contension, because there are different concentrations of certain race per person, and when it comes to american indian (stupid term) and latino, how do you distinguish between them? they are both natives of America(s), some are just more northern than others.
What's stupid is how there's no Indian or middle-eastern category, which is probably what that black/latino (what most of you would have categorized him as instead of the white which he is classified as) guy was.
It's also crazy/incomprehensible-to-me how that dude with the really short curly hair is considered latino and not black. I guess this is due to him maybe being ~50% latino origin.
There were some other pretty incredible things too, more-so tricks in my opinion.
On May 02 2011 09:59 aimaimaim wrote: lol .. Those guys have like racial mixing. That's cheating!
Not gonna say it isn't fair, but it did throw me off. I know a bit about how facial features (Not simply color, eyes, hair, etc.) can tell you a person's ethnicity, and I only got like 8 right.
A couple of people really threw me off.
P.S. The Native American/Asian thing is what I mean when I say that I got confused. They're very similar, so with mix-raced people being up against eachother, it's very difficult to distinguish. I couldn't (I only got like 1 Native American correct).
Tell you what. When a Norwegian couple gives birth to a child thats black as night i'll believe this laughable theory that race is a "social construct".
i think i got 4/16, all luck based. What's really staggering is the obviously white looking people who are categorized as black! I guess with mixed races you can say people are just about anything now
I do think it's a bit silly that one guy, who's ancestry is from Palestine, goes under the "white" category. That seems a bit misleading, to me. He looks hispanic, he even SAYS he knows he looks hispanic, in reality he's from Palestine (his blood is, anyways) and yet....WHITE.
The only thing that messed me up was telling the difference between Native Americans and Asians. I don't see very many Native Americans all over the place.
I don't like how some pics were taken with flash so it makes them have lighter skin. Either way, I would still have failed to choose correctly. Some of them are just 100% misleading... unfair test imo.
On May 03 2011 08:12 FubsyGamr wrote: I got 8/20 right
I do think it's a bit silly that one guy, who's ancestry is from Palestine, goes under the "white" category. That seems a bit misleading, to me. He looks hispanic, he even SAYS he knows he looks hispanic, in reality he's from Palestine (his blood is, anyways) and yet....WHITE.
Self Identification is bullshit. law enforcement and Immigration should have birth certificates, immigration documents, passports, etc. Lighting was also very funky and the pics were bad.
That isn't to say people lie about their race, but the clarification gets fuzzy if you are of mixed race/insecure.
No way those Black people were black and vice versa..
race is determined by color AND facial features, color being the stronger factor of indication.
Thus, a clearly black man or woman is by definition a racially black man or woman. They might have a smaller nose than most blacks, or some other features, but it still makes em black..
Just as whites are whites, and asian people have very characteristic eyes and different skin. Just like native americans look different too, but are clearly indian.
It's those common trademarks that should determin race.
This test was fkin stupid
Was weird tho.... the asian looking guy with black skin.. wtf?
I would still call him asian tho, mainly because of the eyes.
Guys please... it has nothing to do with racism at all or anything remotely related..
It's just facts, that most black people have bigger noses, darker skin,
asians got special eyes and lighter, more toned skin
whites, espepcially scandinavians, alot have blond hair, blue eyes.. green eyes.. etc red heads
mexicans and latinos, hispianic got darker skin, but not as dark as blacks, and they got usually smaller bones, but not as small as asians. Sort of a mixture,
On May 02 2011 09:54 iamho wrote: There's no way four of these people are black..
Why? Black doesn't mean they look like they are 500th generation central Africa... Tiger Woods is half Asian.
Tiger Woods might be half asian, but he looks predominantly black to me. Which makes him, a black.
To you race is simply a matter of what someone looks like? That is not what it was intended to mean (as stupid as the concept of race might seem to many people). How do you even measure how predominantly someone looks a certain race? It's completely subjective.
Yeah this test uses hand-picked photos but demonstrates its point beautifully, race as commonly understood, is just an arbitrary categorization and thus it is completely useless.
Among others, I've always found the "asian", "african american", "caucasian" and "latino" designations hilarious. Asia has almost 4 billion people, with absolutely no common ethnical or cultural background, not even in a particular country. Assuming someone is african just because he is black is rather arrogant as well. Latinos don't speak latin, hispanics aren't from hispania, caucasians aren't from the caucasus, whites aren't 0xffffff white.
Maybe it's just that I'm so progressive but I don't see your race/ethnicity as having anything to do with your heritage, but more a way to simply describe a person. Like if someone asked me if they remember their friend George and I was like "who?" they might say "the asian guy who was talking to me at the store."
It's just a descriptory tool used to rapidly identify the many complex variables of facial/skin tone structure so you can communicate it more efficiently.
On May 02 2011 10:19 trias_e wrote: Pretty hilarious test. Talk about reaching as far as possible to get the result you want.
basically this pick 20 of the most ambiguous looking people, go out of your way to find people who have certain traits that make them look like another ethnicity to prove a point. i am 100% sure they put the guy who resembles morgan freeman just to trick most people. i mean i get it, but it's really irritating.
This is a horrible test, the different lighting in each picture, and 8-bit quality pixels makes it 10x harder than it should be. It's as if they were trying to make people think they couldn't really tell.
Just finished the test it's quite obvious the people were chosen specifically because they don't look typical for their race.
One of the people the test says is black has blue eyes, this is a trait I've never seen. One of the quotes from another person says that people always mistake their race. One of the women has clearly had plastic surgery. One of the guys in the latino section says he is portugese (that is not latino) One of the people in hispanic has pale skin, blue eyes and in the ancestory it says "puerto rican, irish and english"
This test is really garbage. I'd be willing to bet a dna test would put most of these people in different categories. If you think about it, all native Americans descended from Asians and were then isolated from all other races until Columbus. Portugal and Spain are known for being a melting pot of Arab (because Arabs ruled Spain for 200 years) and African who mixed in after the ending of slavery. Most of the people who identify themselves as latino can be almost any mix of Caucasian, Spanish, native American, and Portuguese. That is essentially what gave rise to the Latino race, was Spanish, European, and Portuguese mixing with native Americans.
I suspected this test was a setup when I first posted after taking the test and then clicking on the people and seeing that most of them are actually mixed, but identify as whatever makes them a minority I am sure now that my original suspicion was correct. This test is a joke.
i'm terrible O_o, only got 5 right. but isn't it disingenuous to give us ONLY photos of only head shots, give us ONLY 5 generic group types, then throw in a ton of mix raced people who they KNEW would throw us off and then say " See, you're bad".
I got 8 right, but it is stupid considering most are mixed race, if not all. I mean how can that woman who is half german and clearly white, class her self as black?
Stupid, stupid test. Not only was it damn obvious that most of them were mixed race people, they made the pictures way too small AND pixelated. If they actually wanted to make a point, theyd have made the test fair.
They purposely chose people of certain races that didn't look like that race / looked like they were another race.... so I don't see how this really proves anything.
i knew that palestinian guy was white. too easy knowing how US categorization works. i figured they threw in an indo-aryan guy to be tricky. Yes people from that region are white. So technically that indian girl can be white too really if she associates herself as bening part of aryan orgin. its all a big mess. Didnt even consider him looking like a mexican because of my pre conceived idea of test being tricky, but i suppose its possible.
the real silly part imo was asking me to distinguish who are latinos from whites and american indians. Okay so heres a ethnic group originated from.... among many, WHITES and AMERICAN INDIANS and you expect me to know just from looking? lol.
If you're interested in how people actually use the real differences between the races you might be interested in this FDA guidance. I work in the clinical trials industry so I was surprised to see the "selection" offered up in the test, which is obviously flawed for many reasons as you all have pointed out.
For ethnicity, we recommend the following minimum choices be offered: Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino
When race and ethnicity information is collected separately, we recommend the following minimum choices be offered for race American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black or African American Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander White
American Indian or Alaska Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment. Asian. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. Terms such as “Haitian” or “Negro” can be used in addition to “Black or African American.” Hispanic or Latino. A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The term, “Spanish origin,” can be used in addition to “Hispanic or Latino.” Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Respondents shall be offered the option of selecting one or more racial designations. Recommended forms for the instruction accompanying the multiple response question are “Mark one or more” and “Select one or more.”