[Jennifer-R31040]

Hi Lisa. Terms like ‘people of color’ seem to get on people’s nerves more than I would have thought. I myself am ambivalent about those kinds of terms. I just call myself black. I call a person from Mexico a Mexican. I call an American with native Mexican parents a Chicano. I call Indigenous people Native Indians or Native Americans. I call Chinese, Japanese, East Indians, Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians by those names if I happen to know where specifically they are from, and Asians if I don’t. However, I realize that it’s not really up to me to decide what’s appropriate for them to be called. Some of the more ignorant nomenclature, mostly created by Europeans, is also offensive, and many people decide to say what they wish to be called. ‘People Of Color’ speaks to the political coalition that some feel should exist between ‘people with darker skin’, as there IS a commonality amongst most of us. That commonality is that Europeans have screwed us over at one time or another, and that we continue to be marginalized in a Eurocentric world. You mention that you think this term sets white people apart as some nondescript monolithic group. The fact is, Europeans did that themselves. People’s individual ethnicities, especially in the U.S., became subsumed under the belief that being white was much more important than whatever other nationality one might profess, particularly in reference to anyone who was not white. You’re white or you’re not, forcing everyone else into otherness. I wonder if you’re as offended by that. I hope so. __________________________

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Name : Jennifer-R31040, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

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