Political Correctness...and race.

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I touched on this on another thread and thought I'd bring it over here.
Play nice, and please don't burn me!

Growing up 'coloured people' was a term that was considered to be politically correct, we were taught to use any other term to describe non-whites was offensive - including the term 'non-whites'. I've since been told that apparently the PC term to use now is 'people of colour' and getting it the wrong way round makes you a racist, but then I'd say 'people of colour' is just as offensive as it implies we have to clarify that we understand non-whites are people, and to me it also has pangs of 'whites vs everyone else'.

Then there are terms such as 'African-American' being the term of choice for many in describing black people.
This is a US-specific term - there may be some point I'm missing in people using this term, all I know is that if posting in a US-based forum this is the term people insist you use unless you wish to be considered racist. We don't have British-American or African-British. I'd think that using such a term is a bit risky as a person may be neither African nor American, or they may just be American and their country of origin or their parents country of origin has no reliance to them - not sure at what point can you just call yourself an American. Doesn't the precursor of 'African-' just segregate, or is this how we recognise a persons racial identity?

Why is it that 'white' is acceptable, but 'black', 'yellow', 'red' isn't? I wonder if it is politically incorrect to say that if I was 'African-American'/'black'/'a person of colour' I'd be happy with whatever term you used as long as it was not offensive, or that as a white person I have no problem being called white over being called a 'person of no colour'. If you're a white person do you get an opinion on what to call non-whites? Who decides what is politically correct - being dependant on country, culture, time, etc. does it have any real worth?

If you wish to discuss issues of race, particularly races that are not white, there seems to be a whole minefield to get through, so the arguments over politically correct terms gets in the way of meaningful open communication about the subject of race issues, people get caught-up over the terms and so miss out on the issues, or deny that there is any need to differentiate between races. Is all this political correctness a source of tension and in turn more harm than good, or is it a necessary evil until we're rid of racism?

Black is acceptable in the US. I don't know why only white and black are acceptable but not red and yellow. I suppose it's up to the Asians and Indians to determine what they find offensive. If they find it offensive, we don't use it. Blacks, in the US, have embraced black, so...

Yes, Blacks are fine with "Black" in America. "African American" maybe what you see in print, but "ask that Black guy standing there, hes my boss" is what you hear in everyday speech over here.

"White" is fine, but yes- you dont hear "Red" nor "Yellow" anymore. Its now "Native American" and "Asian American".

When I was a child I heard grownups say "colored person"( to mean 'black') a few times before that went out of style. I never hear the term "people of color" here in the states.

This is a post about political correctness, not what you use in every day speech.
I think the point of this post has been missed so-far.

Terms like African-American, Native American and Asian American are politically correct terms.

I was discussing this with my boyfriend before posting this, we've only ever heard 'people of colour' used in America, I was told it's because of the implications of terms such as 'coloured person' or 'coloured folk' in American culture, that these terms are somehow tied up with American slaves or 'coloured folk' being used as a demeaning term when there was segregation.

Anything but ni**er. Only ni**gers are allowed to say ni**ger.

ruveyn

I can understand feeling some sort of kinship to others who are of your race or shared experience but I don't think these terms are healthy. If I have to describe someone who is black to a group of non-blacks, I just say black as a descriptor but bring it up after that racial acknowledgement sparingly - if not ever. I fall into that category of "person-of-color" - I find the term stupid.

you're making a distinction without a difference.
If you're in a workplace among Black people it is ok to say "Black". Therefore "Black" is just as "politically correct" as "african american".

I agree with you 100%. I'm not white, and I find the term "people of color" to be racist because, as you say, it implies that the only thing that matters is whether or not one is white. The politically correct folks that push this term like to think they're not racist, but their use of the term only betrays just fundamental racism is to their belief system.

If for some reason you need to group all nonwhites together, just use the factual term "nonwhite". Same with "nonblack", "nonasian", or whatever.

With regard to other races, "red" has bad connotations because it is associated with times when "the only good injun is a dead injun" was actually a common belief, while "yellow" has bad connotations because it's associated with discrimination against asians, particularly in the decades following Pearl Harbor. "American indian" and "asian" generally work fine, though. "Brown" is another terms that's sometimes used for nonwhite nonblacks, with some genetic justification since American indians and east Asians are sufficiently closely related to be considered a single race. Or, you can go for "native american", "asian american", and "african american", but then you should really use "european american" instead of "white".


The political correctness is a way of preventing substantive discussion of race and racism, so as to preserve the present political balance where nonwhites are largely captive votes of the left. Note that that also involves preserving the present levels of racism, which isn't going to go away on its own. If you want to have substantive discussions of race issues - which would be a good thing - just go for it, and be willing to apologize or change your terminology if people reasonably take offense.

Colored folk / people used to ok in the States. Even Blacks used the term. But that's 50 + years ago. You won't hear it today outside of an old folks home. Coloured is still used in South Africa. But that's used for mixed race people who have some amount of African heritage.

I think the modern PC metric for any term is that if a group complains about it enough, it's out.

The ridiculous thing is that political correctness and the advocates of rights have never tackled the way "race" - a very fuzzy term - is allotted.

If I am 1/4 Italian, 1/64 Arab, 1/8 Turk, 3/64 Flemish, 1/16 Russian, and 1/2 German, I am "white" if that is this year's term for it.

If you are 1/16 Cherokee, 1/16 Scots, 1/8 Yoruba, 1/8 Touareg, and 1/8 Wolof, you are "black", if that is this year's term for it.

And even in 2011, a time of hoped for change, if we marry and produce a child, that child will be counted as black for 1/8 or less of his or her ancestry.

Maybe all kinds people are working to change that idiocy - but I have never heard about them,

What to call all the different races this week is just the tip of the iceberg. Wait until you've tried discussing social problems and behaviors common among different demographic groups. Then you've REALLY opened up a can of worms! If you mention a grievance with a local community, then it's AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!! !! !! RACISM!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

That problem goes up exponentially anytime someone from a country where people are conditioned to act in a mob mentality any time someone says something unflattering about another race-unless you are a different race other then white, then you can talk all the crap you want, and in some case even demand people get beheaded and it's politically incorrect for anyone to say anything about it. "Tolerant" people have the biggest double standards of any group I've met in my life!

Last edited by John_Browning on 06 Jun 2011, 4:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

I remember how I had found myself constantly correcting my late mother (who in fact had been born in 1926) when she said she was going to vote for the colored guy. I had to constantly remind her that his name was Barack Obama, and that he was black.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Hmmm, that might be the only thing I haven't heard someone call him (when I'm offline).

Interestingly, it's never anyone with any affiliation with the tea party.

And I would think "black" or even "African" would be preferable to "African-American," as that leaves open the question of what a black man in France would be.


Native American, yes, but normally I just hear "Asian." Sometimes more specificity will be given, eg Chinese or Japanese. Or Korean if the discussion involves videogames (seldom are Koreans mentioned in any other context, sadly enough).


I don't know if I have ever actually heard the words "people of color" spoken, but I see it in print fairly often. I can't see how "people of color" became the new PC phrase. It just sounds so fake. There has also in recent years been a trend towards the term "people of faith," which I find quite grating. I would imagine non-whites might have a similar reaction to being called "people of color."

Try cutting way back on the video games then. I did, and unless I see some news article where some Chinese or S. Korean guy is trying to break some video game related world record, I never hear about any of that except on here.

Yes, all of this is just that simple, and I learned that while driving a cab. Overall, I find it best to just ask someone else what term or "label" s/he might find acceptable ... and most people readily oblige.