记得几年前有位中文博主回忆在那存在这种饮水机的日子。当他问同事应该从哪个饮水机喝水，同事怂怂肩说，当然是White 。
我没有在美国长期生活过，但不难了解： =============================== The short answer is that Asians were considered “colored”, and are still considered to be “colored” by certain parts of American society. That is an oversimplification. In truth, Asian Americans have had a complicated history . Until 1952, Asian American immigrants couldn’t naturalize. They couldn’t become citizens. So, they couldn’t vote. Children of Asian Americans who were born in AMerica were citizens, though, and could vote. Apart from that, whether Asians were white or colored depended on who you talked to, and whom you were talking about. Chinese Americans were white in some places, colored in others. Arab Americans were mostly white. Indian Americans were white if they looked white, but colored if they had a hint of brown. There was actually a guy named Bhagat Singh (not related to the martyr) who argued in front of the Supreme Court that since he is “Aryan” by descent, he should be considered eligible for naturalization. The Supreme Court scratched their collective heads and said “Not all Aryans are white” At the same time, Jim Crow era laws restricted many African AMericans from voting. This eventually lead to the Civil Rights Movement in the 50s, which resulted in the Voting RIghts Act that eliminated discriminatory practices during voting. Naturalized Asian Americans got the right to vote as part of this act. https://www.quora.com/When-black-people-and-white-people-had-to-use-different-water-fountains-which-fountains-did-Asian-people-use (Google Translate) 简短的回答是，亚洲人被认为是“有色人种”，并且仍然被美国社会的某些部分认为是“有色人种”。 那是过于简单化了。事实上，亚裔美国人的历史很复杂。 直到 1952 年，亚裔美国移民才能入籍。他们不能成为公民。所以，他们不能投票。不过，在美国出生的亚裔美国人的孩子是公民，可以投票。除此之外，亚洲人是白人还是有色人种取决于你和谁交谈，以及你在谈论谁。华裔美国人在一些地方是白人，在另一些地方是有色人种。阿拉伯裔美国人大多是白人。印度裔美国人如果看起来是白色的，就是白人，但如果他们有一点棕色，就会有颜色。实际上有一个名叫 Bhagat Singh 的人（与烈士无关）在最高法院面前辩称，由于他是“雅利安人”的血统，他应该被认为有资格入籍。最高法院挠了挠他们的集体头，说“并非所有雅利安人都是白人” 与此同时，吉姆克劳时代的法律限制了许多非裔美国人的投票权。这最终导致了 50 年代的民权运动，这导致了投票权法案消除了投票过程中的歧视性做法。作为该法案的一部分，归化的亚裔美国人获得了投票权。 =========================== 根据生活经验，华人/汉人，或东亚人，大多数肤色较浅，特别是江浙和中原人士，还有朝鲜人和日本大和族，皮肤实际上比大多数街上见到的白人要白，若以调色板作标准。只有爱尔兰人和北欧裔无论怎晒都晒不黑，皮肤较白而不是粉色。南欧人，高卢人，日耳曼人普遍比华人更容易晒黑，且晒得更黑。波斯人算是亚洲人吧，很白，除了冇金发外。 是不是你是华人，肤色较浅甚至比白人更白，当年在有些地方有资格在白人专用饮水机饮水就能沾沾自喜？自觉与欧裔白人同伍，比非洲黑人，比印度人刹帝利高级呢？ 显然，首先，以肤色判断人，把人分作三六九等分别对待，应该是出于病态心理，或愚蠢的解决问题方法，或邪恶动机。 肤色，是人类在史前几万年几十万年在不同地区进化为适应环境所成。只不过到了近几千年，近几百年，各地方的人群出于各种原因大面积混杂，才在有些地方形成根据肤色的种族歧视。在古代各大型帝国如罗马帝国，波斯帝国和奥图曼帝国，很多是跨种族的，在帝国首都，更是各种颜色人士混杂，似乎未听说过以肤色为纲的种族歧视。 我没有对白人至上主义有过系统的研究。根据我以往读过的文章，大致有两个起源： 1. 美国的黑奴制度。 2. 十九世纪一些鼓吹“黄祸”的德国和美国政治人物和工人。 而美利坚合众国的各国的自主权根据联邦宪法很大，各自对宪法的理解和执行相差甚大，于种族歧视和平等机会议题上有差不多一百年各自为政，直到五六十年代以黑人为主体的民权运动才令到相关议题在各国/邦/州有相对一致的处理。
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