Who are the "People of
Color"
17/12/04 03:12 Filed by Saswat Pattanayak in:
Saswat | Editorial
By Saswat Pattanayak
One undergraduate student writes to me
that the term
”people of color is very
offensive and I am surprised that it was used in the
survey," referring to the post-test survey conducted
after the dialogue program. Incidentally, she was a
participant in a video I had created to record
dialogue reactions.
I do not disagree with her statement, and in a way
completely at a loss to give an authoritative answer
(considering that there are none). But this is what I
had to say:
As for the "People of Color", the phrase has been
approved by the UN to address non-white populace in
the world. Since usages of Negro, or other terms to
address Asians (some call mongolian and some even
chinks) were considered to be gross, the
politically correct usage today is People of Color.
People of Color is used to identify the colonized
people throughout the world who were oppressed by
the Whites over the ages and I guess in want of a
better term to describe them, we are today using
this. "Color" is of course better than "Nigger" if
you realize and hence there is no issue around it
yet.
At the same time, I recognize that you do not wish
such a term to exist. And I have highest respect
for that sentiment. Maybe we could phrase a better
term this time around. I personally also would like
to be called differently.
To some extent I have reservations against
"African-American" or "Asian-American" phrases too.
I feel they just reinforce a racial hegemony of
defining others in terms of the dominant class.
Your resentment to a conventional term indicates
your forthrightness and honesty. Keep it up and do
let me know if you come across a better phrase. I
will join you in requesting for a better phrase.
Tags: Saswat, Racism, Academic, USA